# Build Your Own "Vortex Fusion" Chiller



## serialc0d3

Check the gap of the output pipe to the lid. You want around an 1inch:



















I used Epoxy Putty to hold the pipes into place. That stuff hardens like steel.
If this is a temporary build, you could just use plumbers putty.










Here is a shot of my drain plug setup. This is optional but I will need it since I'll be using it mostly indoors.









The drain plug with the hose attached:










More to come as I did actually test this but didn't get a video just yet. I painted it tonight and will add a few more coats, then I will post a video of my results.

I will say that this design works perfectly. 
You can shoot fog into either pipe and it will come out chilled.
I got near same results as my garbage can chiller with 16ft of dryer duct and 80lbs of ice. 

This design uses less then 1 bag of ice and near the same results!


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## Otaku

Good how-to, thanks! I have one of those old Lite F/X 1741 foggers, too. I built an ice chest/Vortex chiller last year and it does a hecka job, but needs about 50 lbs of ice. How long did the ice last in your design?


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## serialc0d3

First coat of paint: (yea a little heavy for the first  )










The lid and an easy way to hide the tidy cats logo along with adding a little something. Just sitting there and not epoxied on yet.


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## serialc0d3

Otaku said:


> Good how-to, thanks! I have one of those old Lite F/X 1741 foggers, too. I built an ice chest/Vortex chiller last year and it does a hecka job, but needs about 50 lbs of ice. *How long did the ice last in your design*?


Not sure just yet as I haven''t really used it yet. I bet not too long since it's only a kitty litter pail and forcing hot fog through it. 

I'd like to use a cooler but the wife "won't let me" buy a cooler and then put a hole in it.  
I have an old long cooler but I think the cube ice chest cooler type would work a lot better with this design.

We have an annual halloween party for the family and it only it only lasts around 5 hours or so.


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## toddbigeasy

*thanks*

I will be making one of those for sure. I have tons of those kitty litter boxes saved.. thanks for the 'how to', appreciate it!


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## Terra

Awesome tutorial! I will be making one of these.  Thanks for the simple how-to.


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## Rev. Noch

Very nice! Any pics of it in action?


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## Runfromron

Well, since you are not "allowed" to ruin a cooler, why not squirt Great Stuff all over the outside for insulation, and make the chiller into a "rock" or amorphous blob, then paint it? You could get insulating value without sacrificing anything. Just a thought...

Good, cheap cooler design, by the way!

Ron


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## serialc0d3

Thanks guys.. 

Was letting all the coats of paint to dry for a bit. 
I should be getting it all finished this weekend and will post some in action shots and maybe if I can "borrow" a nicer vid cam then the one I have, I post up a video of it indoors and out.

Using Great stuff would be a cool idea. Especially if you could get it to look like a rock or something.
I actually got a can of that to start building those cool pvc candles I saw around here.


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## serialc0d3

I had a chance to test this tonight and wanted to post some pics..
I did get a video of a test outside and will get that posted soon as I get a chance to edit it.


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## Witchie Woman

serialc0d3, you are my hero! I printed your directions and went to my DH's shop . We made our chiller in no time and tested it with 1" of ice and before we sealed it. OMG, it worked perfectly. We are waiting for the seals to cure before we try it again but I can't wait, it's gonna' be great. Thanks again for taking the time to post your directions!


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## toddbigeasy

witchie what kind of fogger do you have?


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## serialc0d3

Witchie Woman said:


> serialc0d3, you are my hero! I printed your directions and went to my DH's shop . We made our chiller in no time and tested it with 1" of ice and before we sealed it. OMG, it worked perfectly. We are waiting for the seals to cure before we try it again but I can't wait, it's gonna' be great. Thanks again for taking the time to post your directions!


Not a problem at all. 
It's nice to know that someone has benefitted from me logging this. 
Makes it all worth it!


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## Witchie Woman

toddbigeasy said:


> witchie what kind of fogger do you have?


I have a 400 watt "The Fog Machine" that I got from Wal Mart two years ago. It was by far the "coolest" prop on my street for two years  The chiller with my newly designed cemetary scene will blow their minds this year  It is nice, sure, but it doesn't come near some of the pics I've seen on the HF!


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## chillingham_manor

I already built one but I was having trouble with the mesh. I never thought about the way you did it. I will be able to build more and actually use them this year. Thanks!


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## Custom Coffin Works

I just finished mine. I took the same type of pail and got a mesh from Home Depot used for roof vents. Worked perfectly. Now to spray it balck and decorate! Thanks for the Step-by-Step!


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## superspeedfreek

Very "cool" indeed, and looks rather nice too! 
I use the same cat litter but unfortunately I buy the huge bags and not the bucket. However it looks like I'll have to switch it up the next time, so that I can make one of these chillers for myself too! Thanx for sharing!!


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## buckaneerdude

Simple and ingenious. Nice work! I made an ice chest chiller that takes 2 bags of ice and runs the fog through dryer duct. I really like this design.


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## redrom

Thanks for the pics. I'm new at fog chillin, and based on what I can tell from the pics, the fog enters the lower chamber, expands, rises through the ice (ice on top of grate), then flows into the outlet tube near the top, then flows out. Is that right?


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## TNBrad

Redom 
I think your close. from the ones I have seen the fog enters and turns up as it opens in to the main chamber where the ice is the fog expands and falls through the ice lowering the ambient temperature of the fog. Then exits through the lower opening, by way of gravity driven forces..


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## TNBrad

This is a great idea terra I help the local Humane Society so might just have to say I want those kitty buckets. LOL


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## redrom

TNBrad said:


> Redom
> I think your close. from the ones I have seen the fog enters and turns up as it opens in to the main chamber where the ice is the fog expands and falls through the ice lowering the ambient temperature of the fog. Then exits through the lower opening, by way of gravity driven forces..


That's what I thought would be the right direction intuitively, but after carefully looking at the pics, it seems to be set up to rise through the ice.


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## serialc0d3

redrom said:


> Thanks for the pics. I'm new at fog chillin, and based on what I can tell from the pics, the fog enters the lower chamber, expands, rises through the ice (ice on top of grate), then flows into the outlet tube near the top, then flows out. Is that right?


yep, you got it.. 
You can also reverse it too and it works the same athough the way the vortex is designed, it expands up through the ice rather then down.


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## TNBrad

I think the drain line is the ONE UP thing about these.


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## Wartog

serialc0d3 said:


> Not sure just yet as I haven''t really used it yet. I bet not too long since it's only a kitty litter pail and forcing hot fog through it.
> 
> I'd like to use a cooler but the wife "won't let me" buy a cooler and then put a hole in it.
> I have an old long cooler but I think the cube ice chest cooler type would work a lot better with this design.
> 
> We have an annual halloween party for the family and it only it only lasts around 5 hours or so.


you could actually line the inside of that with styrphome and it would work just as good as a cooler. Im build on today.


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## Vlad's my Dad

Bought a 400w Fogger from Spirit In Burlington. Great tips on a chiller. Happen to have found an old cooler. Can't wait for the weekend.


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## Insanity

Add another to the list of those who cant wait to build this chiller!
Have yet to get a fogger but figure the small 400watt will be fine for apartment use.

I think I will be using dry ice since it is so cheap here.
Was also thinking of using aluminum or even steel pipe for the up flow.Would this help even more to cool down the fog?


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## serialc0d3

Insanity said:


> Add another to the list of those who cant wait to build this chiller!
> Have yet to get a fogger but figure the small 400watt will be fine for apartment use.
> 
> I think I will be using dry ice since it is so cheap here.
> Was also thinking of using aluminum or even steel pipe for the up flow.Would this help even more to cool down the fog?


A 400 watt would be plenty for an apartment. I would suggest a timer controller too so someone wouldn't need to keep pressing the button and waiting for warm ups. I finally got a timer this year for my 400watter. 

I would think aluminum would help over time and the pipes had a good chance to cool. Not sure how much but if ya have some scraps laying around go for it.


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## Attain

Add me to the list also. I guess I have a new project! Good work.


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## Insanity

Well I bought my fog machine today. Party City had the 400watt on sale for $22 though I almost feel I should have got the 1000watt for $44 but thought about overkill ... ?
Anyway that fog juice is the ripoff man! 1 gallon cost me $15 and it's probably cheap stuff.
It goes by the name Fun-Lites.The fogger name is Techno 400 Fog Machine but I think it goes under different names at others stores.

I'm going to build the chiller tonight.Think I will use metal pipping instead so it gets colder.
San Diego is hot even in these months but the nights have been getting chilly so hoping that continues for better fog cover.

About the fog juice. How long can it stay in the machine.If I were to test it tonight, can I leave whats left in the machine without it harming? I wont add much but not sure if I should clean it out after the test run.


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## serialc0d3

I usually empty mine out after using it although don't be afraid if you leave it in there. Actually I realized I didn't empty mine from last year and when I fired it up to test the chiller, it still worked fine.
I'm sure though that there is a risk that the pump could get clogged but IMO not after a few days or weeks.


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## Insanity

Yes, I have been doing some reading on foggers and chillers.
I have all my materials for the chiller and will build this weekend.
I opted for ABS as they had more of what I wanted in parts than in PVC
I'm going for the "pack it up" style in that I am using threaded parts so as not to have permanent outlets so I can pack into tight spots after use.I just know the spot I want to store it in wont be big enough with the chiller having pipes sticking out... it always happens!


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## buckaneerdude

I found a cube ice chest in my garage today that I'm going adapt to this design. I went out and bought ABS parts and wire mesh. The design is just so simple, it shouldn't take me long to do it all.


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## Gothikren

serialc0d3 said:


> I'd like to use a cooler but the wife "won't let me" buy a cooler and then put a hole in it.
> .




Maybe you could check the thrift stores (goodwill had a huge cooler that I bought for $4 I see them at the one here quite often actually. Just a thought.


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## matthewthemanparker

What keeps the fog from coming back out of the inlet tube when the fogger is not blowing fog?


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## Insanity

Once the fog goes in it is going to be cooled and "fall" onto and through the ice.
Very little will come back out if any ( if you put the fogger right up to the inlet which I have found to be better in my case )


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## matthewthemanparker

I don't think I'm understanding, sorry. But if the cooled fog falls back down, wouldn't it come back out the lowest hole, which is the inlet pipe?


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## Insanity

The inlet for the fog is the tube that goes UP to the top of the bucket.That fog then goes through the ice to the BOTTOM outlet tube.Doesn't really matter which is lower since it first travels UP and out the first tube.Well it does to an extent but if the outlet is a few inches it shouldn't really matter much.
See image.


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## Terra

Insanity said:


> The inlet for the fog is the tube that goes UP to the top of the bucket.That fog then goes through the ice to the BOTTOM outlet tube.Doesn't really matter which is lower since it first travels UP and out the first tube.Well it does to an extent but if the outlet is a few inches it shouldn't really matter much.
> See image.


Okay, now I'm confused. I thought the you pumped the fog into the bottom (_called the expansion chamber_) the fog raises up thought the ice and then goes into the tube (_by way of vortex_) and out the other hole.

Am I the only one that got that confused? I tested it and worked okay, but I've never seen another one in action.


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## matthewthemanparker

Insanity, That's not how his is set up. The fog machine is pointed into the lower tube in the pictures, not the one that is turned up. At least that's what it looks like to me.


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## redrom

serialc0d3 said:


> yep, you got it..
> You can also reverse it too and it works the same athough the way the vortex is designed, it expands up through the ice rather then down.


I had a question about that too, but it looks like it works either way.


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## Insanity

The way the chiller works is it goes in and UP then sinks and goes through the ice to cool and then out.
The fog can not go up and in the tube cooled.Remember, heat rises and cold sinks.The fog is really warm if you put your hand near it.Give it a try.If the ice does it's job it will have cooled the fog and made it more dense and thus it sinks.


EDIT:
I will leave my original post here but will add that after looking at all this more carefully, your right.It is set up that way.
I now see why the question was asked about the fog going back out.
It seems though that the way I have it makes more sense giving the property of the fog before and after.
Not sure how warm fog can go up through ice getting cold and not sink right back down.It cant rise as much cooled down let alone up and over into a pipe.
It seems to me what you want to do is force warm fog though a cooling process ( ice ) and then out through a lower outlet.


From the manual of the original Vortex chiller:
_*When using your chiller be certain that you direct your incoming fog into the fog inlet which is open to the expansion chamber area of the chiller.Expanding fog will naturally force it's way through the ice canopy above and out the vortex port.*_

So it looks like it does go up through the ice and then out ....
Im going to have to try both ways and see whats better.


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## spinman1949

*Fog Chiller*

I made a chiller out of a large black plastic storage bin. I made a cage out of pvc pipe and actually attached a squirrel cage fan to blow air thru the pvc to force the fog out of the chill chamber. I have the ice above and to the sides of the chamber and the fog comes in on one end and out the other. It works well, but I noticed that fog does come out through the lid above the ice. This leads me to believe that your design is correct and more efficient. My next chiller will use the concept of fog being forced into an expansion chamber and then rising up through a cooling section. I once saw a chiller using a heater core from a car. A small pump circulated chilled water at a constant rate from a large bucket of ice. Since the heater core has uniform openings, the fog flow was very good, and the contact area to cool the fog was also high.

Good job on your chiller.

Spinman


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## serialc0d3

Insanity said:


> The way the chiller works is it goes in and UP then sinks and goes through the ice to cool and then out.
> The fog can not go up and in the tube cooled.Remember, heat rises and cold sinks.The fog is really warm if you put your hand near it.Give it a try.If the ice does it's job it will have cooled the fog and made it more dense and thus it sinks.
> 
> 
> EDIT:
> I will leave my original post here but will add that after looking at all this more carefully, your right.It is set up that way.
> I now see why the question was asked about the fog going back out.
> It seems though that the way I have it makes more sense giving the property of the fog before and after.
> Not sure how warm fog can go up through ice getting cold and not sink right back down.It cant rise as much cooled down let alone up and over into a pipe.
> It seems to me what you want to do is force warm fog though a cooling process ( ice ) and then out through a lower outlet.
> 
> 
> From the manual of the original Vortex chiller:
> _*When using your chiller be certain that you direct your incoming fog into the fog inlet which is open to the expansion chamber area of the chiller.Expanding fog will naturally force it's way through the ice canopy above and out the vortex port.*_
> 
> So it looks like it does go up through the ice and then out ....
> Im going to have to try both ways and see whats better.



Your right. The hot fog is pumped into the expansion area (bottom) and then it naturally expands up through the fog and then down the output tube.
It will work either way although this method is what this style of chiller is built to do. 
If you pump it in backwards, the hot fog is getting slammed into the lid and forced through the ice rather than naturally. It also makes the lid leak more fog this way.
Both ways might work fine although i'm not sure why you would do it backwards since it would cause the lid to leak and then loosing some of your volume.


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## serialc0d3

spinman1949 said:


> I made a chiller out of a large black plastic storage bin. I made a cage out of pvc pipe and actually attached a squirrel cage fan to blow air thru the pvc to force the fog out of the chill chamber. I have the ice above and to the sides of the chamber and the fog comes in on one end and out the other. It works well, but I noticed that fog does come out through the lid above the ice. This leads me to believe that your design is correct and more efficient. My next chiller will use the concept of fog being forced into an expansion chamber and then rising up through a cooling section. I once saw a chiller using a heater core from a car. A small pump circulated chilled water at a constant rate from a large bucket of ice. Since the heater core has uniform openings, the fog flow was very good, and the contact area to cool the fog was also high.
> 
> Good job on your chiller.
> 
> Spinman



I acutally thought about dismantling an airconditioner and building a heat exchanger with it but figured it's not worth it. (for now anyways )

Thanks!


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## Fatman

Someone got a video of this thing in action?


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## aznraverkid

Fatman said:


> Someone got a video of this thing in action?


Similar vortex chiller video can be found on you tube here.


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## matthewthemanparker

Video no longer available, lol.


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## aznraverkid

Similar vortex chiller video can be found on you tube here.

Click Here.


Last night I tried what this guy did with a 1000w fog machine, 5ft 3" ABS pipe, a mesh screen and 1 lbs of dry ice for a similar and VERY CHEAP effect!

Click Here.

Purchased From Home Depot 

10ft ABS Pipe $12.49 (cut into half to be used later with 2 400w foggers waiting to be delivered)
16"X8" Roof Mesh Screen $ 3.34 (Also cut in half)
1lb of dry ice $1.83 

Total: $15.83 (not including the dry ice) = $7.92 per fog machine (No drilling or spending much time on the construction) Good for those who don't have much time and want a simiple construction.

To find dry ice click here:  Enter your ZIP code, uncheck Branch/Store and check mark Penguin Brand Dry Ice Retailer.


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## lakedawgs

OK, I built the cooler exactly as the plan shows. I have a 'Fog Machine' 400watt fogger. I filled it almost to the top of the tube with ice and turned on the fogger. The fog comes out and essentially hangs at the exit tube and slowly rises. 
It is much better than using the fogger without the cooler, but the fog does not really hang at ground level.
What am I missing?
I love this cooler design but I do not seem to be getting the same results as some people.
I actually thought I would be better off. I am not using a cat litter container I am using a Styrofoam lab cooler that is about 2" thick on the sides. Almost same exact dimensions inside as the cat litter container though.
Any ideas or insight appreciated.
Lakedawgs


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## serialc0d3

I found that cutting a garbage bag in half and putting it on the end of the output nozzle helped out well. 
You can position the bag to where the output is wide and low and that should make a difference.


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## Insanity

A bag makes all the difference I have found.
I built this and am using a Party City 400watt fogger with the cheap ( not so cheap at $15 ! ) juice.
I had OK results but worked MUCH better with a bag at the end.
I am going to try using dry ice and regular ice mix to get it really cold and see how it goes.The key is to get the fog cold.As cold as you can.But adding a bag, even a small one will show better results.

Of course another way to get better or best results is to upgrade to a later watt fogger.Party City has a 1000watt for $44 which I should have bought as the 400watt was $22


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## 69ProCuda

*It Worked GREAT*

I just wanted to say thank you for this how to. The chiller worked awesomely with my 1000watt fogger. It was used for 4.5 hours with one 1lb bag of store bought ice. The fog krept 25' across our lawn and down the street with each burst. Just super! The only thing I changed was I used threaded fittings to attach my connectors to the pail rather than using sealant. 
Keven


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## Insanity

69ProCuda said:


> The only thing I changed was I used threaded fittings to attach my connectors to the pail rather than using sealant.
> Keven


I did the same so I could pack it better in case the space I needed to store it in didn't allow obstruction from the pipes.

This chiller works awesome even with a 400watt but we had too much wind here last night.I still kept it going though as it still made the place look creepy.
I used dry ice and that was better than regular ice.Bit more costly but I found mixing will melt the ice faster so it's either one or the other.


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## serialc0d3

69ProCuda said:


> I just wanted to say thank you for this how to. The chiller worked awesomely with my 1000watt fogger. It was used for 4.5 hours with one 1lb bag of store bought ice. The fog krept 25' across our lawn and down the street with each burst. Just super! The only thing I changed was I used threaded fittings to attach my connectors to the pail rather than using sealant.
> Keven


No problem! Glad it worked out for you guys.. 
Good idea about the threaded fittings!


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## ghostokc

Thanks again.


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## spookystan

Fog chillers are simple to build. The original post is the correct way to build them. You don't need fans or dry ice or any other crazy design. here are some some things that will help you build one.
1) A chiller needs a chamber for the fog to expand. 
2) The tube entering the expansion chamber sould be as short as possible, no turns. You should not use heater duct, the ridges disturb the fog. 
3) The fog machine needs to be placed about 2 in. away from the opening of the tube. this allows air to mix the the fog. dont try to sill the fog machine with the tube. Yes some fog will leak out when the fog machine shuts off, but it is not a big deal, it is not that much. 
If you build one like the author of this post you will be very happy with your chiller.
P.S. 400w. machines work ok but try and get a 700W+ they work much better.


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## serialc0d3

Digging up this thread. Bump.


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## slicerd

Awesome how to for this. I have been looking for a good thread about and this contains all the details I have been wondering about hopefully I will be able to get a decent fog a machine this year and build one of these for myself.


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## AbsoluteReece

i have a step by step that i will post


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## S1n1sterTech

ummm thats not much of a post


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## AbsoluteReece

*My Vortex Style Fog Chiller for under $20!*

Here is my step by step guide for making your own vortex style fog chiller.
Bare with me guys, this is my first post... and sorry i dont have exact measurements.

*MATERIALS NEEDED:*
(1) 5 gal bucket w/ lid 
(1) 2' piece of 2" PVC pipe
(1) 2" PVC 90 degree elbow
(2) @' pieces of 1/2" PVC pipe
(4) 1/2" PVC 90 degree elbows
(1) 1/2" PVC cross
Chicken wire or any type of heavy wire stuff
Plumber's putty
Zip ties

*STEP 1*
Drill 2, 2 1/2" holes in your bucket or big enough to fit your pipe in. The first should be at the height of your fog machine and the second should be a little higher. like this:








*STEP 2*
Take your 1/2" piping and take the correct measurements to make it look like this. again sorry i dont have measurements. i eye balled it, but it should have the room for 2/3 to be ice on top and 1/3 open space below it.








*STEP 3*
Cut your 2" pipe with the correct measurements so it look like this. The 2" pipe should exit the hole that your fog machine will be at.








*STEP 4*
Use the plumber's putty or caulk to seal the openings around the pipes








*STEP 5*
Over your 1/2" pipe structure cut the right size of chicken wire to fit over it and in the bucket and zip tie it like this on the structure:








*STEP 6*
Fill with ice to rim of pipe. 








*STEP 7*
Set your fog machine 3" away from your opening and turn it on. i use the chauvet 900. It should look like this:








This one i used a little less fog.








The longer i held down the button the thicker the fog got.it works great. and in these picture u didnt have the ice completely filled and it still worked great.
hope this helped. sorry it wasnt the best. goodluck!

*HOW IT WORKS*
Fog enters bottom tube and goes up through the tube through the ice and then exits the pipe and is forced down through the ice and out the second pipe:


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## S1n1sterTech

now all you need to do it spray paint the outside of that black so it is not as easy to see


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## slicerd

I have a question these two walkthroughs have different amounts of ice/expansions space. The first one says 1/3 ice 2/3 expansion second is the opposite 2/3 ice 1/3 expansion. But when I look at the pictures for AbsoluteReece it looks more like 1/3 ice 2/3 expansion maybe it was a mistype? Is there a consensus on amount of space/ice that should be used on one of these? I am probably going to use a 5 gallon bucket like AbsoluteReece shows and I don't want to have soo much ice that the fog cant get out.


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## firemanva

how long does the ice last? that is my biggest thing... this is a 3 to 4 hour thing every night for 4 nights where i am at, and i would need to know about how much ice we would go thru, considering we would have a few chillers running.... maybe 5 or 6.... to cover the entire haunt hopefully...


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## Attain

Here are a few pics of my Bar Frig to Chiller build this year. Tests have worked really well.
Halloween Forum - Attain's Album: Halloween 09 - Picture
Halloween Forum - Attain's Album: Halloween 09 - Picture
Halloween Forum - Attain's Album: Halloween 09 - Picture


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## BioHazardCustoms

I built one of these following serialc0d3's design, except I substituted 11/2 inch pipe instead of 2 inch. I also substituted liquid nails for epoxy putty. I have the ice coming down to 1 1/2 inches from the bottom of the pail, and the outlet pipe comes to about 1/2 inch from the top of the pail. It takes about 3 1/2 pounds of ice to fill it to the opening of the outlet pipe at the top. On a 400w fogger I put out enough fog to fill my entire front yard (roughly 200 sq ft.)about 3 inches deep and thick enough that I couldn't see my feet through it. I am in the process of building another with a 4 gallon drywall joint compound pail. As soon as I have pics, I will post a how-to, so as not to thread jack.


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## Whoo

I could definitely use this for my haunted house room. Thanks for the pictures!


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## Papa_K

Forgive me but I get how to build the thing. I'm just not sure how it works?

You use regular ice? Can this be used outside? How does the fog get from inside there outside? Do you have a blower? Where is the blower?

Sorry but this was a great tutorial I just have a few questions.

Can you use dry ice?


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## Papa_K

So you still need a fog machine to make this work?


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## Papa_K

Oh my bad. Sorry to everyone. I forgot to go through all the pages of this thread. Duh!

Ok so it looks like I'm going to have to go and get me a fog machine and build one of these things. From reading through the posts it seems like a small computer fan at the outlet might help the fog shoot out even faster.

I want to use this in my grave yard outside. I wonder if you could hook up several pvc connections with holes along the sides to put along the different grave stones and get a full grave yard fog effect?


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## Aquayne

Get a threaded male and a threaded female fitting and make a bulkhead. Use conduit pvc instead of plumbing pvc to make the bulk heads. the conduit parts are not tapered like the water ones so they are much easier to thread together and get a good seal. I use pieces of "fun foam" from the craft area to make a gasket. It will only work on flat sides not a round bucket. Conduit pvc is found in the electrical section of home improvement centers. It is used to route electrical wireing in buildings or outside. It is usually gray. I have made many for aquariums over the years.


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## Cab

Excellent how-to. This will be great for this year's party.
Thanks for posting.

Cab


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## scatter5

*all-in one*

ok so I was building my chiller with a 30 gal trash can and had an idea. is there any reason the fogger cannot be in side a 3 shelved chiller?

like this: put the h t t p collen slash slash in 
gallery.me.com/seankatz/100103/allinone/web.jpg?ver=12561352420001


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## Custom Coffin Works

I would think the fogger needs to be outside for fresh air. Those things heat up pretty good. But if not I'll be interested in seeing where this goes...


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## scatter5

my feeling is that it would be a lot quieter. you could also lock it down to prevent theft. I was hoping


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## redrom

Intersting idea. For cycling, cooling would be faster but warming would be slower so maybe about the same. Might end up with a film of juice on it.


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## scatter5

I guess I could cover it


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## scatter5

Well here is my first reverse vortex chiller. I used a Rubbermade Brute rollout 50 Gal. trash can and 3" PVC. I used a rivet gun to mount L bar to the sides to support the Ice rack. I think it was much easier then the whole PVC thing. Still need a gasket and tie downs for the lid. I think I will use velcro straps to make it tight. I am going to use a VEI v960 with it 

here are the pics:

MobileMe Gallery
MobileMe Gallery
MobileMe Gallery
MobileMe Gallery

will try and post video tomorrow


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## [email protected]

scatter5 said:


> ok so I was building my chiller with a 30 gal trash can and had an idea. is there any reason the fogger cannot be in side a 3 shelved chiller?
> 
> like this: put the h t t p collen slash slash in
> gallery.me.com/seankatz/100103/allinone/web.jpg?ver=12561352420001


The problem is the fog needs to go though the ice to chill and if the fogger is on top then the fog will just stay up there.


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## rick12667

I had a problem with my chiller with the fog not wanting to settle down to the bottom and exit out of the pipe at the end so I added a cheap inline exhaust fan. Works great now and helps push the fog through the 20' of pipe I have on the end of my chiller going out into the cemetary.


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## tbird7

I built two of these for our Halloween party and they worked great. And much better than spending $125.00 which is what I saw them being sold for. Thanks


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## savagehaunter

very cool how to. it looks like it will work like a champ.


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## matthewthemanparker

Another thing you can do if you are running short on time and don't have access to dry ice is to take the 3" PVC pipe and fill it with frozen 20 oz plastic bottles. I had to do this a couple of years ago when I realized too late that I needed another chiller. Works decent and is easy to replace through the night if they melt. Just have a few spares in the freezer.


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## slicerd

matthewthemanparker said:


> Another thing you can do if you are running short on time and don't have access to dry ice is to take the 3" PVC pipe and fill it with frozen 20 oz plastic bottles. I had to do this a couple of years ago when I realized too late that I needed another chiller. Works decent and is easy to replace through the night if they melt. Just have a few spares in the freezer.


I actually did a combination of this and a vortex chiller. I ran the fog through a bucket vortex style chiller filled with ice. Then through about 6 feet of tubing filled with frozen water bottles. I reused the water bottles for my party night and then Halloween night than drank them later. The bucket I just filled with the automatic ice bin ice from my fridge so my overall cost was minimized.

During halloween night I got really cool low fog for about a half hour then the wind picked up and killed it but it was cool while it lasted.


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## bullseye bill

I cant wait to build one of these but my only question is can you use the same design concept and make it bigger or should I just make a trash can chiller with the dryer vent hose?


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## OctART

Hey I see you're just as new to the forum as I.....

I know this design can be increased to trash can and alum. vent hose but I've read somewhere that big of can uses too much ICE and for no great increase of fog OR chilling.

I found this design great, and had mine up and running in an hour !!

http://www.yokossushi.com/fogger/index.html


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## serialc0d3

bullseye bill said:


> I cant wait to build one of these but my only question is can you use the same design concept and make it bigger or should I just make a trash can chiller with the dryer vent hose?


If you want something as big as the trash can chiller, I would just apply the same vortex design to a large trash can. It would be perfect. 
I've built the trash can chiller with dryer house and good results although you are right about using that much ice. Not really mobile when filled. Here are the videos of my trash can chiller build. I wouldn't build it again.











Stick with the vortex design and I think your be happy with the results.


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## buckaneerdude

It's been a while since I read through this thread and it seems that people have different opinions on which opening to place the fogger at. So I decided to experiment myself. I took a rectangular ice chest chiller I made a long time ago and redid it. I shaped a 1" piece of pink foam to divide the chest into two compartments. The foam stands vertically in the chest and is about 2" short of the lid. Over one chamber, I used some wire grating to make a shelf for ice. Each end of the ice chest has openings with 2 1/2" tubing and both openings are at the right height for the fogger. 

What I wanted to test is, was there a difference between setting the fogger at one end or the other. At one end, the fog shoots into the right side chamber of the cooler, rises above the foam divider and over the ice. The ice then chills the fog and it falls down into the chamber on the left and exits the left side of the cooler. 

When I put the fogger on the left side the fog enters the cooler under the ice, rises through the ice and goes over the foam wall and drops down and exits the right side.

Here is what I noticed when switching from one side to the other. They both worked, however, when the fog entered under the ice, it seemed to encounter a back flow. While fog was shooting in, it also escaped back out of the entry port. When the fogger was placed opposite the chamber with the ice, it flowed backwards only when the fogger stopped. And even then, with the fogger off, much more fog continued to flow from the exit than escaped from the entry opening 

It made sense to me that the fog was hot and would rise when entering warm side of the cooler. The cool side with the ice would cause the fog to sink and create that flow that I saw that continued for a bit after the fogger shut off.


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## R4ZORx

you need a fogger that u get at wallmart then blow from it to this ........


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## Crunch

I dont get what makes vortex fusion chillers any different than a drink cooler chiller?


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## tk1055

I want to say thank you for posting this tutorial. I was able to whip one together for my display in a matter of hours.


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## R4ZORx

Crunch said:


> I dont get what makes vortex fusion chillers any different than a drink cooler chiller?



I would guess it would all depend on how you built the cooler chiller. With the 'vortex' style chiller being built in this tutorial, it forces the fog down through the ice (not over it or near it or under it or through it without touching it). The fog absolutely HAS to go through the ice, then enters the bottom of the chiller where all the cold air is waiting to cool it even more. 










In all the cooler chillers I've built (2) the fog enters on one side and exits through the other side. The fog either is touching the cold air OR the actual ice, but not both. I think that this is where the difference truly is.










Now if you build your cooler chiller in the same fashion as the 'vortex' chiller then you should achieve the same result (better than cooler).


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## bullseye bill

Thank you much for this tut. I made my chiller yesterday took about an hour and I have a 400 watt walmart fogger, and I am so impressed with how this worked its awesome. I showed my parents and now they want me to build them one. Thanks again.


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## R4ZORx

I've found that the walmart foggers work really good with these chillers. I have a 1000 watt fogger I used for my band back in the day, it was too powerful and just blew the fog right through the chiller so fast it had little to no effect at all.


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## Immortalia

I know it's WAY last minute, but just sent my hubby to Lowes for the ingredients to make this awesome chiller design. We live in Florida and it is SO hard to find a good way to keep my low lying fog.......low. So, here's hoping this works out in my graveyard tonight. Thank you Serial for such an easy design.


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## Rashnu2010

Thank You so much for all the info in this tutorial i build mine this weekend using a 5 gal bucket and a 1000 watt fog machine and it works great.

Here is a link to my halloween display, using the chiller i built form this tutorial.. sorry my vidoe camera is kinda old.

Thanks Rash


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## serpensphile

Yes...this in an old 'tut that I've had my eye on for years. Off to the hardware store today. 

Ok......so those darned cats ARE useful for something!!!!!


----------



## DaveintheGrave

I built one of these in a couple of hours for this Halloween and it worked GREAT! I highly recommend it.

I have a building tip that I came up with that might help anyone who makes one: 
I took my extra 2" diameter PVC pipe and sawed off four slices, about 1/2" wide each. Then I cut off a section of each ring, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide.










I then spread the rings apart to slide them over the PVC inlet and outlet pipes for the chiller. (Two per pipe--one inside and one outside.) Then snugged each ring up to the wall of the chiller and this helped to hold the pipes straight and level while I applied the sealer around each hole. I used Liquid Nails Construction Adhesive.



















Hopefully this may be of help to others like it was for me.


----------



## Distorted Designs

I have been making these for a couple of years now, with that exact kitty litter container as well as buckets. They work well, and are cheap to make. I even made on in a full sized 4' rolling trash can. Couple of notes to help you.

1) Found out this year that the open area in the bottom is important for flow. I couldn't find my grating so I just put some tight chicken wire over the pipe in the bottom and I had half the flow I did the year before. So having 3" of open area in the bottom is a must.

2) Ice Bridges - If you plan on using a anything other than a small fogger with it this will be a problem for you. An ice bridge is when the ice melts and refreezes many times and the top of your ice becomes a solid sheet of ice. If you put the fogger right next to the inlet pipe, you will get ice bridge, after a given amount of time. The fog coming out of your machine is 140+ deg F. So to solve for this you need to attach some of the black sump pump flexible hose with a Y pipe at the inlet for air. This will allow the for to cool before it gets to the ice, so your ice will last longer and you won't get the flash freezing and melting.


----------



## Lonescarer

I am so excited to try this.


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## Chickenwire

Coming in late here, but I plan to try this. Thanks!!


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## atwalt

I have used this type of fog chiller in the past. I found that the Ice seems to clump up (or damn.) to get around this, I used frozen bottles of water. I took empty pop bottles, filled them with water and froze them. I keep extras in the freezer and just replace them as needed. They do get a little slimey from the fog juice but it rinses right off. Doing it this way helps keep space between the ice and eliminates the bridging.


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## Chickenwire

Super idea. Sounds like a plan!


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## Chickenwire

Just went out to WalMart & got a bucket of kitty litter. Hope my kitty likes the brand switch.  And I am going to try your frozen bottles idea.


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## atwalt

The bottles save from having to buy/make bunches of ice. Also, when they melt the water stays contained and you can just refreeze them.


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## Chickenwire

Seems less wasteful, too!!


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## GhostTown

What if you daisy chain several of these kitty litter bucket chillers together for a large 1800 watt fogger? Opinions?

One them would not slow the fog down enough to cool it for big foggers. Even trash can chillers don't greatly chill the volume of fog the bigger machines produce.


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## Chickenwire

Made an AWESOME chiller following the excellent directions. I used shortie bottles of frozen water for ice. This thing is gonna crank. Next problem: fog machine needs to be cleaned (I HOPE that's all it is). Many posts on internet USE VINEGAR. Many posts: DON'T USE VINEGAR. So I ordered the manufacturer's recommended cleaner. Don't want to eff up the machine.


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## cwsims08

Hey there- newbie here. So, I was perusing this thread since the little foam cooler/duct chiller I built last year failed miserably. I was wondering if anyone has given any thought to the idea of the trash can sized chiller, but in a 55 gallon barrel instead? That way the chiller can be a part of your display... for mine, since my yard haunt is a cemetery/mortuary, I was going to paint it black, paint the words "Haz Mat" on the front, and put a false plywood bottom very close to the top. Cover the plywood with some Great Stuff guts, eyeballs, severed digits, etc., prop the lid open and add an accent light. That turns it into a disposal container for body parts and not an unsightly black cooler/Rubbermaid trash can. The inlet/fogger would be hidden behind (and when it goes off with that godawful racket should provide a scare for kids near the Haz Mat), and the outlet would be one of those drain pipes laying in front of my garage with frozen water bottles and a balck plastic tarp for the diffuser. This may seem like overkill, but I live in Houston and Halloween night might still be pretty warm. Any thoughts/suggestions on if this would work or not?


----------



## Fright Zone

aznraverkid said:


> Similar vortex chiller video can be found on you tube here.
> 
> Click Here.
> 
> 
> Yeah that's me. Just checkin' threads since there's a ton more videos now on youtube since then. It's August 2012. It's almost time for Wal-Mart to stock Halloween stuff Lol
> 
> I decided to use my 48qt Coleman Cube Vortex-inspired chiller for atmosphere with the cauldron and not for ground fog. However I did a bunch of tests on my patio and one in my yard prior to that. Some of which are on the yardhaunt2000 youtube channel. I even left unsuccessful test on there for comparison.
> 
> You'll have to browse the heck out of my channel for my "It took more time than it should have and if time is money I could've bought the original product cheaper but once I found the Coleman 12-48-60qt Ice Cube Coolers (MY IDEA hehehe) when I passed on the small size of the kitty litter pail and I don't have a cat but my sister has two and my freind's have ten but they don't live in town works/doesn't work test videos" Lol
> 
> Unfortunately those were uploaded well before yotuube switched to HD. They mangled my video resolution. They're definitely watchable if you're that interested in the topic for one way to do it. It's best to try to watch them all the way thru. I haven't watched them in a long time. I have very detailed info in the video descriptions short of actual drawn plans. It's more fun to figure it out on your own hence DIY ; ) By no means the definitive source but it's helpful based on a few people's findings.
> 
> I used the ghostsofhalloween.com trash can chiller with the hauntforum.com idea trash bag on the outlet on the other side of the 2006 small Yard Haunt about the size of a two car garage area. It rained all day so I found out it that stuck to the ground in wispy form. It did in fact rise too much without the trash bag outlet but still gave me great atmosphere.
> 
> I found out after an outdoor test I liked Excalibur-movie-like (that's what it reminds me of) lingering wispy slow-rising moving atmospheric fog. If it wasn't graveyard ground hugging thick carpet of cloud-like fog but it started low and slowly very slowly rose I liked it just the same if not more. I've seen some really impressive carpets of fog with larger chillers of course more ice and 100w foggers. It's the same concept.
> 
> I have other tests I didn't upload back then and can't now because my MiniDV camcorder broke a couple years ago (the tape mechanism wore out).
> 
> We originally talked the heck out of it on a monster that won't die hauntforum thread titled Vortex Chiller. It's at 91 pages and counting. (yes it's that maniacally ridiculous and unnecessary). Go cross-post so we can set a combined record. heheheh I kid. But that's where the Vortex experiments all started. I try give credit where credit is due.
> 
> I was the one who started trying the reverse Vortex and started using the Coleman Igloo Cubes spray painting it with Krylon Fusion (no sanding no primering does scratch off a bit but I covered mine in creepy cloth gauze and frankly no one can see in the dark). Never got around to using the 60qt. Didn't think it would work well with a 400W fogger. It was someone else who found the Vortex manual (which is till up there btw). Based on other's previous rectangular cooler designs including a 120qt with a 1000W constant fogger. Someone else who added a psudeo venutri suction PVC piece with big holes drilled to the inlet (I think I show that on yardhaunt2000 on youtube - I can't remember) and someone who cut down a garbage bag on the outlet to create back pressure and slow the velocity of the fog down.
> 
> Remember it may not always work to your liking and other times it'll blow you away (outdoors - indoors it should be consistent results) Just watch my Store Bought Gemmy Low Lying Fog Machine video - it looks great in that video but it held a small amount of ice is made for indoor use and only worked that good on the prch that one time. But that got me going on the DIY route. i should have just bought a Vortex but it was too much fun building and experimenting once I walked from the kitty litter aisle to the Cooler aisle.
> 
> And I used (2) 400W Wal-Mart Gemmy's. I like them a lot for my application.
> 
> I also like the crazy idea of putting a blower on the outlet but never tried it. A BMXer has that on youtube. "Chauvet hurricane 1300 with fog chiller and booster fan" It hilarious.
> 
> Anyway knock yourselves out and most importantly HAVE FUN and keep SHARING IDEAS is what I found more satisfying than buying one. I always give Vortex credit. Check out vortexchillers.com for their videos (and their 8 step Halloween Fog How-to Series article incl their exxplanation of the inadequacies of DIY chillers - of which they started with too fwiw )
> 
> Happy Halloween. Happy Fog Chilling. Happy DIY-ing. Happy Sharing. Happy Haunting 2012!


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## Chris Mac

I've built a few different versions of fog chillers. My favorite so far has been the 'vortex' type, but using an ice chest. Instead of straight pipe entering or exiting the cooler, I used female threaded outlets, that way I could also close them up with the usual PVC caps. When I'm done, I remove the outer pipes, place my fog machine inside the cooler (once I've dried it), and close the lid, ready for next year.
One thing I didn't see anyone using a 'Y inlet' as a form of venturi for the fog intake.









I keep the fog machine nozzle about 2-3 inches away from the Y inlet. The hot fog as it moves through the inlet, pulls in cold air behind it. I don't use any fans, blowers and I get excellent fog output. I do use the large black trash bag on the out to better help the fog exit in a 'blanket'. Outdoors, (if there is no breeze) the fog will remain on the ground a good 15-25 feet out into the yard.


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## Chickenwire

Bio, I tested both the garbage pail and the Kitty Litter versions with my 1200w. I found there to be little difference, except the K.L. version is so much easier to transport, hide & use! It gets my vote! As for the 1200w being too much, I put it on a timer remote with short blasts and it seemed to work good. Had it on for a good 1/2 hour and very little ice melt (I did use cubes). Plan on using cubes and then frozen bottles when I run out of cubes on Halloween.
PS- anyone in the Hartford, CT area who wants a garbage pail chiller can have it.


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## W3B D3V1L

Chris Mac said:


> I've built a few different versions of fog chillers. My favorite so far has been the 'vortex' type, but using an ice chest. Instead of straight pipe entering or exiting the cooler, I used female threaded outlets, that way I could also close them up with the usual PVC caps. When I'm done, I remove the outer pipes, place my fog machine inside the cooler (once I've dried it), and close the lid, ready for next year.
> One thing I didn't see anyone using a 'Y inlet' as a form of venturi for the fog intake.


Chris, I would be very interested in your ice chest setup. I only just found these forums a week ago, but everyone's comments convinced me (and helped me convince my wife) that we needed a fog machine and chiller for the front yard. I was originally going to go with an ice chest design I found somewhere else but several other threads made reference of this DIY vortex chiller thread and I'm convinced this is the way to go. Not wanting to admit a hasty decision to my wife, I would like to still use the ice chest that I got cheap from craigslist if possible. 

Anyone can chime in, but if I were to use a rectangular ice chest should the pipe coming up through the layer of ice be centered in the cooler or off to one end? There also seems to be some discrepancy as to which is the intake pipe...I think I'm in the same school of thought that the pipe coming up through the ice is the intake and the straight pipe out the bottom is the outflow. I read the whole thread and it seems to change from diagram to diagram. Thanks in advance for help anyone has to offer.


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## CountZero

serialc0d3 said:


> Your right. The hot fog is pumped into the expansion area (bottom) and then it naturally expands up through the fog and then down the output tube.
> It will work either way although this method is what this style of chiller is built to do.
> If you pump it in backwards, the hot fog is getting slammed into the lid and forced through the ice rather than naturally. It also makes the lid leak more fog this way.
> Both ways might work fine although i'm not sure why you would do it backwards since it would cause the lid to leak and then loosing some of your volume.


I run mine backwards because I've found that it produces a better volume of super cold fog that way. The simple explanation is that heat rises naturally, so we want to start the HOT fog at the top. The 90 degree bend in the tube also reduces the amount of fog that leaks out in between bursts. When the fog hits the inside of the lid it spreads in all directions and yes, its forced through the ice. As it gets colder, it gets lower in the cooler until it ends up in the lower chamber. I restrict the output of my fogger with a black trash bag so it actually holds the fog in the lower chamber until there is enough pressure to overcome the weight of the bag. (Yeah, I'm the guy that started this whole bag thing.) The end result is SUPER cold fog. My fogger has a temperature of around 115 degrees at the nozzle. Running my chiller "backwards" gives me a fog temp of 55 degrees with regular old Ice. (which is cheap and easy to get) When I ran it normally, in addition to pretty massive leakage at the inlet, I was seeing a temperate of around 75 degrees on the fog. For me, colder is better. I generally suggest that people try it both directions and see what works best for them with their individual fogger. Any chiller is better than no chiller though. I'm using a 60Q Igloo "Cube" home-built chiller, in reverse, with a bag. And I've used a ton of foggers on it from 400W to my current 1700W continuous chiller. It handles them all.

Video of the effect is here.


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## mayleth

Great guide!! I want to build one of these this year if I wanna use my fog machine.
I've got an old ice chest I'm planning to use, but it's pretty big. I think it's a 48-Quart Coleman... which is significantly bigger than the fog chillers most people seem to be building. We'll see how it goes!


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## dk67

I'm in the process of building one of these using a 5 gal Home Depot bucket and was looking for something to use for wire mesh, when I remembered I had this sitting in my garage. It's using for washing cars, but thought it would be great to support the ice instead of chicken wire or other...fits right in bucket without cutting. I'm still going to prop it up in the bucket with some pvc as a base.

They're $10 here, but I'm going to search around to see if it's cheaper anywhere else when I get a chance.

http://www.autogeek.net/gg1010.html or search 'Grit Guard'


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## SDIX

I really like the idea of using a storage tote for this, because I could then use it to store some of my items. I have limited storage space, which is what has kept my stash in check. Glad to have found this for ideas!

How will this work with dry ice? or is there a better method when you have access to dry ice?


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## Jim Davolt

Great tutorial, wish I had checked it before spending $140 on a Vortex Fusion Chiller to use with my 1200 watt fogger. I will be making one though for the 900 watt fogger which I used to use coolers that wasn't very effective. Thanks again for the step by step.


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## Old Man Bakke

serialc0d3 said:


> Check the gap of the output pipe to the lid. You want around an 1inch:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I used Epoxy Putty to hold the pipes into place. That stuff hardens like steel.
> If this is a temporary build, you could just use plumbers putty.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here is a shot of my drain plug setup. This is optional but I will need it since I'll be using it mostly indoors.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The drain plug with the hose attached:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> More to come as I did actually test this but didn't get a video just yet. I painted it tonight and will add a few more coats, then I will post a video of my results.
> 
> I will say that this design works perfectly.
> You can shoot fog into either pipe and it will come out chilled.
> I got near same results as my garbage can chiller with 16ft of dryer duct and 80lbs of ice.
> 
> This design uses less then 1 bag of ice and near the same results!



What did you for a drain plug?


----------



## Hallomarine

I ran across a how-to youtube video that stated that these are what you buy when you spend the $$ for professional gear. This being said, thanks for posting this tutorial. HM


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## Hallomarine

I was checking around the prop sites to see what is new, and I see Fright Props has this very chiller for .....
wait for it............ wait for it............$125!
The build only costs $ 20 - $ 30 depending on what you have lying around. WOW! You can make 5 for that price if you have enough cats!
HM


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## Excogitate

Wow! thats not funny at all!


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## ldlaughlin

Very nicely done! 

I am going to make one of these!


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## creeperguardian

what fogger do you use.


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## Hallomarine

creeperguardian said:


> what fogger do you use.


I have heard you can go as low as a 400w with fairly good results - it's just the warm-up time you must take into consideration. My neighbor tested 2 700w foggers at the same time, and pretty much choked out the entire neighbor hood! Some will say bigger is better - it's up to you.
HM


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## creeperguardian

Hallomarine said:


> I have heard you can go as low as a 400w with fairly good results - it's just the warm-up time you must take into consideration. My neighbor tested 2 700w foggers at the same time, and pretty much choked out the entire neighbor hood! Some will say bigger is better - it's up to you.
> HM



Yea I will probably use a 400w most likly and wow the whole neighbor hood lmfao I guess


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## Excogitate

I am headed to the garage to start my chiller right now. I am using a tall rubbermaid tote for mine... I will report back asap! Wish me luck!


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## Excogitate

OK my chiller out of old storage tote!

Old tote: 

Hole for input:

Treaded in male adapter right through side wall:

Tighten up:

Threads on the inside not to recieve the female adapter

Thread on female adapter:

Exhausted Hole:

Same as other side now

Test fit 90 deg ell:


----------



## Excogitate

Had to cut off the bell flange to make it low enought o the lid:
Fit wood frame and chicken wire to hold ice:


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## abcdianefgh

This is a really great idea! I just need to find a different bucket haha


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## SpiderWitch

Bringing this back from the dead...
I'm wondering if adding a coil of copper pipe, filled with water and frozen, into the expansion chamber in the bottom would have any appreciable effect? The cold copper would be an excellent conductor, helping maintain the lower chamber as close to freezing as possible? It just seemed to me that a secondary, active cooling method would be an improvement over one active (the ice) and one passive (the cold air mass below the ice) method...


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## Distorted Designs

The copper would crack and break. Water expands when it freezes. Burst water pipes in your house in the winter.


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## SpiderWitch

Okay, so half-full 
Or, a saltwater mix...won't freeze at 32.


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## Distorted Designs

Making a vortex chiller is a good way to go. Just don't buy one, lol makes me laugh at how much they charge for a bucket, a pvc elbow, and a screen... greed is a bad thing. 

I made a giant one out of a trash can. I was going to be running a large fog machine full blast for 5 hours. It did pretty well but I had significant problems with bridging. The ice at the top was melting and refreezing into a solid sheet. The fog is 130 degrees coming out. I added 5'-10' of extra pipe to give the *** a chance to cool a bit first. The trash can was way over kill. 80% of the ice was still there after 5 hours. If you are not getting the results you want, run two vortex chillers in a row so it dumps one right into the other.


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## QueenHalloween

I made one of these yesterday. It turned out great! Thank you for the step-by-step directions. I am not a natural builder of things, but these instructions were easy to follow and my fog chiller worked like a charm!


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## ActionJax

Excogitate said:


> Had to cut off the bell flange to make it low enought o the lid:
> Fit wood frame and chicken wire to hold ice:


Can we see this in action? I'd like to see how well it worked out for you. It's a very simple design and I like it, but does it work well? Just curious.

~Cheers!


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## Privateer

HI,

I have a Chauvet Hurricane 1300 Fog Machine (1,300W rated at 20,000 cfm) . Would this kitty litter sized vortex fog chiller cope with my fog machine?

I tried to make a trial version out of a square plastic box that contains fat balls for birds but the glue I used (which I won't mention but it had "nails" in the title) was no good at all but then neither are my DIY skills, which are worse than rubbish!! 

The vortex design looks good but I have a few questions:

1. For my Chauvet Hurricane 1300 Fog Machine, what size tubing is best, 2 or 4 inch?

2. There seems some debate as to which way you run a vortex (either fog into bottom chamber and rise through grill and ice and then drop down pipe - or the reverse i.e. up the pipe then sink down through the grill and ice and then gather in the bottom chamber before leaving). Is there a best way or does it depend on the individual vortex chiller?

3. If my DIY skills don't improve is there any where in the UK that I can buy a fog chiller from that is compatible with the Chauvet Hurricane 1300 Fog Machine?

Many thanks,


----------



## roach

So I decided to give this a try Saturday afternoon and that's what I end up with pretty happy with the result. I still have to painted it black but apart from that it's finish.

Did a test with only half of it full since that's all I had for ice in the freezer and it still got a good low fog so I can only imagine with it full.

You can see a video of it here:


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## ActionJax

roach, your chiller looks great! I was curious though....how does it work outside?


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## roach

ActionJax said:


> roach, your chiller looks great! I was curious though....how does it work outside?


Was too windy to try outside that day so I will have to wait for calmer night and try it outside.


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## ActionJax

That's what I'm concerned about. I'm in NE Ohio, and we always have too much wind on the big day. I've tried fog many times and I can't seem to keep it on the ground for any longer than a few moments and then it just blows away.


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## acd4476

anyone know if an old styrofoam cooler will do the trick to try and build one of these? thanks.


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## Rev. Noch

acd4476 said:


> anyone know if an old styrofoam cooler will do the trick to try and build one of these? thanks.


There shouldn't be any issue making a chiller out of an old Styrofoam cooler. The considerations would be the same as really any other container. With these in my experience though, larger seems to be better because it'll hold more ice, have more expansion chamber room, etc.


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## ryanlamprecht

I don't have a cat :' (


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## stuffyteddybare

There are different types of liquid nails..get the one that will work with plastic..it's printed on what it will and won't glue...I've used a 1000 watt fogger on it..was too strong and blew it out my back end so no cooling time. It was like a Lamborghini. Also the idea about cutting a small section of pvc pipe and then using it to hold the pvc pipes worked great with the liquid nails I used. I used frozen gallon jugs and ice.


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## Distorted Designs

I have used a longer coil of of sump pump hose to pre cool the fog before it gets to the ice. A 1300 watt fogger will be too hot with just a short pipe. You will get bridging and blow out if you dont pre cool the fog. Bridging happens on vortex/kitty litter chillers. Fog is 115+ degrees and when it comes out of the pipe at the top of the chiller it melts the ice but during the off cycle the ice refreezes. It will create a solid sheet across the top of the ice with no place for it to go but out.... not good. I had this happen at a huge party. 

There are 2 fixes depending on what you need more. 1st way will give you more power but the fog will rise a bit faster. You can add permanent paths (vertical tubes)through the ice with chicken wire, steel pipe, or copper is the best 3/4" or so. Smaller the better but have to have more tubes. 

2nd use a coil of plastic sump pump hose is less complicated, cheaper, less ice melt, slower release, and less fog rise. Drawbacks- requires more space if fogger needs to be next to ice, and slows fog a bit. This is an easy fix as it will cool the fog before the chiller. Just duck tape the hose inside your pvc Y-adapter and make sure you have a straight shot.

FYI - Everyone should be using a pvc Y-adapter before you go into your chiller. It can make a huge difference in flow as it allows air to move with the fog.


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## Fright Zone

Interesting idea and well-thought out ; That’s why I use a 400W instead of 1000W+ despite the slow reheat time. If I use 2 with 2 different chillers one works while the other one reheats. One ground fog the other a cauldron. For a fogging cauldron or smaller area it works well. If nothing else it definitely slows down the fog and gives you atmosphere. It doesn’t always have to hug the ground for me. 

Here’s my Fog Chiller Playlist of ot helps anyone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf58ra7R1iA&index=1&list=PL99706E990F146BE3

A CountZero trash bag on the outlet helps a lot to slow down the velocity of the fog. The effect of it demonstrated in the fourth video in the Playlist called “Fog Chiller DIY Vortex w Trash Bag Graveyard Display Atmospheric Fog Halloween Yard Haunt Demo”

I also show the ghostsofhalloween Trash Can. I’m not sure which one I’ll use for my fogging cauldron this year. I may let my neighbor borrow one of them.

Yeah we tried the Wye adapter in 2008 so the fogger can be flush with the inlet pipe. Otherwise you need a couple inches of gap to the inlet to get air convection. Which outdoors could get a little broken up before it gets to the chiller especially with a 400W. 

I also tried a PVC pipe with three large holes drilled in it straight thru that worked better. Reminds me of a WWII machine gun if you can picture that. Or a Star Wars Imperial Blaster Rifle. An indoor test of a gap vs the Wye adapter did inside with my Coleman 48qt Cube Vortex knock-off is number 3 in the playlist called “Fog Chiller Indoor Demo DIY Vortex Coleman Cube Cooler 48qt Fundamental Results” An old video so can’t tell if it’s reverse flow. Regardless I always use reverse flow which means the fog goes in the intended design’s outlet pipe up thru the 90 deg ned to the lid forced down and out the intended inlet. I dont’ know why it worked.

And refrigerator ice cubes definitely work better than bagged ice. Bagged ice fuses together. Neither one melts too fast with a 400W fogger in 2 hours fwiw. I use a pet food scoop for the ice.

btw, I’m proud to say I was the first to try the Coleman Cube when we were reverse engineering the real Vortex. I thought Kitty Litter pails were too small and I don’t have a cat lol So I waked past the coolers since others were using the large fishing rectangular ones and thought hmmm that’s about the same size as the Vortex Fusion and the cooler can actually store prop stuff in it.


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## ryanlamprecht

dk67 said:


> I'm in the process of building one of these using a 5 gal Home Depot bucket and was looking for something to use for wire mesh, when I remembered I had this sitting in my garage. It's using for washing cars, but thought it would be great to support the ice instead of chicken wire or other...fits right in bucket without cutting. I'm still going to prop it up in the bucket with some pvc as a base.
> 
> They're $10 here, but I'm going to search around to see if it's cheaper anywhere else when I get a chance.
> 
> http://www.autogeek.net/gg1010.html or search 'Grit Guard'



Here, Amazon has them for $8.65 with free shipping if you spend over $35. NOTE: According to the many product reviews on Amazon, they do not fit all the way to the bottom of a lot of standard 5 gallon buckets as they're supposed to, because with some 5 gallon buckets, as you go towards the bottom, they taper inward slightly. Instead of resting on the bottom as intended, they stop about 5 inches short, but for the purpose of a vortex chiller, that might be perfect. Some people say they did fit their buckets perfectly, and others say they don't. 
http://www.amazon.com/The-Grit-Guar...2951506&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Grit+Guard+Insert


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## serialc0d3

Been a while since I visited this thread. The chillers that were posted look great.


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## Bag of Bones

ryanlamprecht said:


> Here, Amazon has them for $8.65 with free shipping if you spend over $35. NOTE: According to the many product reviews on Amazon, they do not fit all the way to the bottom of a lot of standard 5 gallon buckets as they're supposed to, because with some 5 gallon buckets, as you go towards the bottom, they taper inward slightly. Instead of resting on the bottom as intended, they stop about 5 inches short, but for the purpose of a vortex chiller, that might be perfect. Some people say they did fit their buckets perfectly, and others say they don't.


Thanks for the tip on this "Grit Guard' Ryan! Ordered it from Amazon and gonna try it with my 5-gallon bucket chiller build.


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## WitchyWolf

Great idea! Brilliantly executed


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## Nomadtech

Thank you for this awesome fogger. I can't wait to build my own.


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## JohnnyBlaze

Been wanting to do this for some time now. Going for parts and bumping the thread!


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## Papa_K

Did this with a 5 gallon can, works great. Two issues regarding this set up.

1) due to the heat of the fog the ice melts quick

2) due to the use of this the fog machine needs cleaning more often. What is the best way to clean a fog machine? I'd done it just thought maybe someone out there had a video.


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## Distorted Designs

To solve the heat issue is easy. Just add a coil of sump pump hose before it enters. The cheap 2" plastic stuff. This allows the fog to cool dramatically before it enters the chiller. Also use a Pvc Y pipe fitting at your fogger before the hose. The one that has the straight section and 45 deg that go into one. The Y should face the fogger (2 hole side). You shoot the fog through the straight section of the Y and allows airflow through the other. This will help a lot with pressure. The just duck tape your sump pump hose inside the Y. Use 10' of hose or so. You won't go through half a small bag of ice this way running full tilt. 

The fog is 105 F+ coming out of the fogger. Giving it time to get down to 70F before it hits the ice is massive.


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## Allen Robinson

making one for sure! thanks for sharing!!


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## Haunted Engineer

Awesome post. I've actually built a cooler version of this one. They were like a champ!


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## BobbyA

"The fog is 105 F+ coming out of the fogger. Giving it time to get down to 70F before it hits the ice is massive. "

It's much hotter than 105 F.


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## Rigormortor

Im building 2..... tried a couple versions before that didnt really work at all. I guess cooling the fog is the key.
I tried straight through designs with the metal dryer hose......


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## BobbyA

You nailed it exactly, cooling the fog is key.
Metal hose is good if your fog is in contact with it long enough. Otherwise get the fog to touch a lot of ice surface on it's way through.


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## WOLFPACK7483

Some pics from our "CLOVER Ct. CHAOS" haunt last year. These are some of the front yard testing pics.
Made from a brute trash can, a little wire mesh, some pvc fittings and a chavuet 1301 fogger. 












































View attachment 282412
View attachment 282413


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## ryanlamprecht

The Big Chill! Very nice!!! Very impressive output and even more impressive ground hugging fog. Well done!


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## FatRanza

Well done Wolfpack! That's what we're all shooting for! Since a lot of folks experiment with using one port or the other for their inlet, I'm curious which port you use as your inlet.

Thanks!


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## WOLFPACK7483

Appreciate the kind words guys. 
I've tried using different ports but ended up going with the lower "short pipe" as my inlet. This allows the fog to collect in the bottom section
and filter up through the wire mesh and dry ice. After chilling in the top reservoir where it becomes trapped, it is then forced back through the
top pipe and out through the longer pipe outlet with the elbow. Hope that helps.


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## roach

Wow that is my ultimate goal having a fog like that !!


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## mikey23

Wolfpack, so you just used dry ice? Did you fill it to the top? Not sure where to get dry ice from.


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## Rigormortor

Im looking into the vortex design. I tired the straight through design before and it didnt work at all.
More props to build..... time is ticking too

One question for those that have built the vortex fog chiller

Can you just pump the fog into the top with the inlet near the top or do you have to pump it in at the bottom and run the
pvc to the top like that?


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## WOLFPACK7483

mikey23
You could use either dry ice or regular ice. With regular ice, it will melt and collect water in the bottom basin. That will effectively reduce your
chamber area for your initial fog entrance. With the dry ice, it will just evaporate over time. I work in a lab so I'm able to get my dry ice as a perk.
You can do a google search for dry ice in your area. Not sure about costs, but I imagine the dry ice will be fairly expensive. Regular ice is still
always an option.
Your top chamber should be pretty much filled with ice. The pvc outlet pipe should be about 2" from the top with the lid in place. This compacted
area is where the fog, after being cooled, is then forced back down through the outlet pipe. The ice needs to be just below the top of the outlet pipe
so as not to obstruct the flow of your chilled fog.


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## WOLFPACK7483

Rigormortor,
I've built a couple of the straight through designs in the past with fairly good results. If you use a smaller fogger (400 watts) you should get
decent results. You cannot use one of these smaller straight through chillers with the more powerful foggers (Chauvet 1301) and get the results
you want. It's too powerful and will not allow enough time to be cooled.
There are two thoughts on the vortex chillers. The way you mentioned is referred to as a "reverse vortex". From top to the bottom. Either can work.
I experimented with both and ultimately decide to go with regular vortex- bottom chamber forced fog, up through the ice layer into the top chamber,
then forced out through top pvc pipe and down through the outlet.
You just have to experiment and see what works for your type of fogger and chiller.


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## Rigormortor

Thanks Wolfpack7483...... I will experiment and im going to try the reverse vortex. I have 2 foggers both 400 watts.


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## mikey23

Regarding the melting ice, is it feasible to put a drain in the bottom or will fog escape out of it. I guess you could manually drain and plug it back up, but would rather not have to go out constantly to drain it.


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## WOLFPACK7483

mikey23
Drain idea is a good one but would require manually removing the plug as needed. You would most likely have some fog loss as you already mentioned. If it was in the bottom as opposed to the side, I think the water would drain ok without much if any fog loss.


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## WOLFPACK7483

Rigormortor
Remember if you plan on doing one of the larger chillers as indicated, you will likely have to step up to one of the larger foggers (1000) watts or more. You will need this to push the fog through the system itself. It still blows my mind what they dare charge for these things when you can build one for a fraction of that. Here's a link from Amazon. (https://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Chill...8&qid=1469074439&sr=8-12&keywords=fog+chiller)


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## WOLFPACK7483

Rigormortor
Here's another link which I've used with pretty good success for the smaller 400 watt foggers if interested.
http://www.virtualplacebo.com/Halloween/props/fog_chiller/index.htm


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## mikey23

I'm building this now, only wire mesh I have on hand is 1/4 x 1/4 hardware cloth. Are these holes too small or does it matter?


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## Rigormortor

mikey23 said:


> I'm building this now, only wire mesh I have on hand is 1/4 x 1/4 hardware cloth. Are these holes too small or does it matter?


That will work perfect


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## Rigormortor

WOLFPACK7483 said:


> Rigormortor
> Here's another link which I've used with pretty good success for the smaller 400 watt foggers if interested.
> http://www.virtualplacebo.com/Halloween/props/fog_chiller/index.htm


Thank You I will check it out. I need to build mine before the end of Sept.... my goal is to have everything done by 1 Oct


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## mikey23

I think I might have to put extra support on the outer edges in between the pvc. It seems to flimsy to hold a lot of weight


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## WOLFPACK7483

mikey23
If your building one of the smaller cooler type chillers, the wire mesh should hold up fine for you. Just pack the cooler with ice all around your wire mesh tube. Get it on the underside and all throughout the cooler. Should be fine.


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## Rigormortor

WOLFPACK7483 said:


> Rigormortor
> Remember if you plan on doing one of the larger chillers as indicated, you will likely have to step up to one of the larger foggers (1000) watts or more. You will need this to push the fog through the system itself. It still blows my mind what they dare charge for these things when you can build one for a fraction of that. Here's a link from Amazon. (https://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Chill...8&qid=1469074439&sr=8-12&keywords=fog+chiller)


Wow $349 for a plastic garbage can with 2 connectors and 10 feet of hose inside.... you can build it for under $30


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## mikey23

Wolfpack, I'm building your chiller. Using 1/2" pvc for the legs. It's just in between the legs, where the mesh is on top when you get close to the wall of the trash can I can easily push down on it. I fear it want hold the weight and then ice will fall down into the fog chamber. What kind of mesh did you use?


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## JT5298

Hey WOLFPACK, I am new to the forum and just have a few questions. What size trash can is that? Did you use 3" or 4" pvc for the inlet and outlet? Also what height is the mesh at, 1/2 way between top and bottom? Sorry for all the questions, just want to get that same effect. I have 1301 as well and would love my yard to look that that!


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## WOLFPACK7483

mikey23
I believe it was a 1/2" wire mesh material. It should be fairly stiff to work with. I cut a rough circle a little larger the my diameter area and just folded the edges down and kept it pretty snug around the frame/can area. Your right in that there will be some weight on top of this, but the wire and frame combo should be enough. If some ice falls into the bottom chamber, no problem. We'll just call that the pre-chill area. Ha Ha


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## WOLFPACK7483

See if this helps. 
View attachment 284633


View attachment 284634


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## WOLFPACK7483

Hope this works.
Bump it. I rotated this pic and it still wants to show upside down.


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## WOLFPACK7483

JT5298 
I think I used the 32 gallon can. Measures at 27" in height. I used 3" pvc pipe for all the connections. The height of the mesh table was 16" high.
You can definitely make adjustments to your own chiller. This just seemed to work best for me. Good luck. 
Everyone be sure to post pics of your completed chillers. Would love to see them.


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## WOLFPACK7483

Pics


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## WOLFPACK7483

Also, I don't know that I mentioned before but the pics from the front yard were the test cycles which only had the top ice chamber only 1/2 full.
If anyone uses dry ice, have some for back-up. Ours evaporated after only 1 1/2 hours on Halloween night. That's when the talk of fire trucks coming started.


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## WOLFPACK7483

Here's a video link to the initial front yard test of the Chauvet 1301 with the vortex chiller.


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## JT5298

WOLFPACK7483 said:


> JT5298
> I think I used the 32 gallon can. Measures at 27" in height. I used 3" pvc pipe for all the connections. The height of the mesh table was 16" high.
> You can definitely make adjustments to your own chiller. This just seemed to work best for me. Good luck.
> Everyone be sure to post pics of your completed chillers. Would love to see them.


Great! Thanks for the info. Just watched the video, that's amazing! It looks like some fog was coming out through the top, I wonder how you could make that seal around the lid better. Great effect though.


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## Glitterati

this looks dreamy! I will search through previous posts to see if you posted the tutorial you used to make this. If you didn't post it, could you post it now? How hard would you say it was to make? Was just looking over other posts on the forum here about fog machines and DIY chillers, etc. This fogs looks awesome and will be perfect in my front cemetery set up!!!


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## JT5298

Actually looking at the video it looks like maybe the lid wasn't tight. The first image looks like the lid is tilted up towards the side that is leaking the fog. Can't wait to build this and try it out.


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## WOLFPACK7483

Glitterati
Look back at pages 17-20. I've got more pics and info listed.
also check page 3 Thread: Fog Chiller Idea - Has Anyone Tried This? Hope this helps

HalloweenBob thanks for the comments. 
This particular chiller is called a vortex chiller. I've done a few smaller chillers in the past years but finally decide to put one of these together last year.
I've seen others have used even a Tidy Cat container to do one on a smaller scale but I wanted to step it up a notch or 10. I'm going to try and somehow
insulate this thing for this years haunt. It worked well with the dry ice but about an hour or so into the haunt, the dry ice began to evaporate. Then instead
of "low lying" fog, we had fog covering our entire two yard haunt. My wife was worried about someone calling the fire department Ha Ha.
Attachment 282504Attachment 282505Attachment 282506
Attachment 282507Attachment 282508Attachment 282509
The vortex chillers are all designed in basically the same manner. There is an inlet, a chamber and an outlet.
With these additional pics I hope you can see on the left side there is a smaller length of pvc . This is your inlet for the fogger. The fog enters into the bottom
cavity and is collected in the base of the can. I used 1/2 pvc to construct a stand with legs which stands about 1 1/2 feet tall and covered with wirer mesh. 
There is also a hole cut into the mesh for the longer length of pvc and an elbow that connects to a longer piece of pvc. This is your outlet.
The pressure of the fogger forces the fog into your bottom chamber. It is then forced up through the wire mesh which contains your ice. I used dry ice but you
could also use regular ice. This upper chamber is where you fill with ice. As the fog rises through the ice chamber, it is then "trapped" in the upper chamber.
That is where your outlet comes into play. Your longer length of vertical pipe should fall a couple of inches below the top surface with your lid on. While you 
want your top chamber filled with ice, it needs to be below the outlet pipe so as not to obstruct the outward flow of fog.
Here is a link to a similar version. Hope this helps.
https://sites.google.com/site/spookythings/fog-chiller


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## WOLFPACK7483

JT5298
If you look at this Thread: Fog Chiller Idea - Has Anyone Tried This? at the bottom you will see a piece of split foam It's used for pipe insulation. You can pick it up at Lowes or HD for under a couple of bucks. I used this later on to seal the top lid. You were right that it was leaking from top. The video was just the initial test. You will also get some backdraft from the inlet-this is normal and will dissipate on the ground with the other fog.


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## mikey23

WOLFPACK7483 said:


> mikey23
> I believe it was a 1/2" wire mesh material. It should be fairly stiff to work with. I cut a rough circle a little larger the my diameter area and just folded the edges down and kept it pretty snug around the frame/can area. Your right in that there will be some weight on top of this, but the wire and frame combo should be enough. If some ice falls into the bottom chamber, no problem. We'll just call that the pre-chill area. Ha Ha


Lol. I ended up reinforcing it. Too lazy to go out and buy more mesh.


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## Glitterati

Thank you !


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## JT5298

WOLFPACK7483 said:


> JT5298
> If you look at this Thread: Fog Chiller Idea - Has Anyone Tried This? at the bottom you will see a piece of split foam It's used for pipe insulation. You can pick it up at Lowes or HD for under a couple of bucks. I used this later on to seal the top lid. You were right that it was leaking from top. The video was just the initial test. You will also get some backdraft from the inlet-this is normal and will dissipate on the ground with the other fog.


Great. Thanks. I'm going to try and build this soon.


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## WOLFPACK7483

JT5298, be sure to post some pics and or video


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## JT5298

WOLFPACK7483 said:


> JT5298, be sure to post some pics and or video


I will.


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## TosaTerror

Not to get too off track, but I have a question about fog machine maintenance. I have the Chauvet 1301 (with Freezen Low Lying Fog Juice) hooked up to my vortex chiller. I'll be using all of this for the first time this year...can't wait!

However, I've heard horror stories about the fog getting too thick to were it chokes and kills the fog machine. I've read where people dilute the fog juice with distilled water to prevent this...however I don't want to water down the fog. I'm hoping use 100% of the fog juice (no dilution), then clean out that machine afterwards by pumping distilled water/vinegar solution through the machine. 

What does everyone else do? Dilute the juice while using it vs. cleaning it afterwards? Or both? I really don't want to compromise the thickness of the fog by diluting, but at the same time keeping the machine functional for years.


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## BobbyA

No one I know dilutes fog fluid. Nor have I heard of fluid too thick to go through the machines. 
I have often heard of machines too dirty inside with scale and gunk to pass fluid, and thus make fog.

If you use a vinegar and distilled water solution to clean it, make sure you use plenty of distilled water at the end to flush out all vinegar.
Then refill the machine with goof fog fluid and rerun it until fog comes out. Stop and pour the rest of the fluid from the tank.
Put it away. For best results run it again in 3 month intervals. But most (including me) ignore this last part.


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## TosaTerror

Thanks, that's what I meant. ..the build up of sediments from the fog solution causing the machine to stop producing fog. Thanks for the tip, I will be sure NOT to dilute it, but clean it thoroughly afterwards.

Thanks


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## mystic manor

That's impressive! One of the best non CO2 I've seen


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## ReelSore

Here is the pictures of mine. I used a 20 gal trash can, the lid- I put 1/4" thick foam around the edge, and use 2 bungee cords to hold the lid down tight. I get no leakage on the top. I also made a tombstone to hide the trash can. Here are the pictures. I'll se if I have a video and if I do, I'll get it uploaded to here. I also use a light black plastic trash bag to slow the fog on the exit.


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## WOLFPACK7483

Really like the tombstone idea.


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## danimal3114u

I just completed my initial build over the weekend! I pretty much used WOLFPACK7483's exact build recommendation (3" PVC for intake/output, Brute trash can, 1/2" PVC for stand) and am also using a Chauvet 1301 and Froggy's Freezin' Fog. A couple slight differences:

I'm using traditional ice instead of dry ice. With the 16" height on the stand, it took 40 pounds of store bought ice to fill the chiller to the preferred level (basically 2" from the top of the can) - this was about $10 worth of ice in my area
I used 1/4" wire mesh for the top of my stand to hold the traditional ice - it worked wonderfully
Not sure if anyone else did this, but I did seal the outside of all intakes/outputs with some flexible bathroom caulking and had zero leakage around the PVC
I drilled six separate 1/4" holes in the bottom of the can for water drainage. Good news - zero fog escaped through these and water was able to move freely out of the bottom

























The initial build as outlined above worked wonderfully compared to other chillers I've tried (drainage pipe with frozen water bottles, trash bag over output with ice in it). The 1301 is still a beast though, so it pushed the fog almost instantaneously through the densely packed ice. I noticed a lot more lift/dispersion to the fog during the initial burst, which I believe is due to the standard ice being warmer than dry ice. I think with a few adjustments the fog will chill much nicer and stay lower more consistently. I'm going to make the following adjustments to the build and see if it does the trick:

Lower the stand table from 16" to 8-10" hhigh. This should allow significantly more ice to fit in, further cooling the fog during initial bursts
Sealing the lid: As people mentioned, it is easy to get leakage around the lid, so I'll try getting some foam and bungees as ReelSore and others recommended
 Cosmetic upgrade: The complete build ain't pretty as-is, so I'm planning to at least paint the whole thing a dark gray or black
I doubt I'll get to it this year, but my ideal build would be to go with something like this, maybe with some skeleton arms or a head coming out of the top. Then just drill a couple of small holes on the top of the lid so some light fog comes off the top, and we got ourselves a winner


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## JT5298

danimal3114u said:


> I just completed my initial build over the weekend! I pretty much used WOLFPACK7483's exact build recommendation (3" PVC for intake/output, Brute trash can, 1/2" PVC for stand) and am also using a Chauvet 1301 and Froggy's Freezin' Fog. A couple slight differences:
> 
> I'm using traditional ice instead of dry ice. With the 16" height on the stand, it took 40 pounds of store bought ice to fill the chiller to the preferred level (basically 2" from the top of the can) - this was about $10 worth of ice in my area
> I used 1/4" wire mesh for the top of my stand to hold the traditional ice - it worked wonderfully
> Not sure if anyone else did this, but I did seal the outside of all intakes/outputs with some flexible bathroom caulking and had zero leakage around the PVC
> I drilled six separate 1/4" holes in the bottom of the can for water drainage. Good news - zero fog escaped through these and water was able to move freely out of the bottom
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The initial build as outlined above worked wonderfully compared to other chillers I've tried (drainage pipe with frozen water bottles, trash bag over output with ice in it). The 1301 is still a beast though, so it pushed the fog almost instantaneously through the densely packed ice. I noticed a lot more lift/dispersion to the fog during the initial burst, which I believe is due to the standard ice being warmer than dry ice. I think with a few adjustments the fog will chill much nicer and stay lower more consistently. I'm going to make the following adjustments to the build and see if it does the trick:
> 
> Lower the stand table from 16" to 8-10" hhigh. This should allow significantly more ice to fit in, further cooling the fog during initial bursts
> Sealing the lid: As people mentioned, it is easy to get leakage around the lid, so I'll try getting some foam and bungees as ReelSore and others recommended
> Cosmetic upgrade: The complete build ain't pretty as-is, so I'm planning to at least paint the whole thing a dark gray or black
> I doubt I'll get to it this year, but my ideal build would be to go with something like this, maybe with some skeleton arms or a head coming out of the top. Then just drill a couple of small holes on the top of the lid so some light fog comes off the top, and we got ourselves a winner


Great job! Where did you get the wire mesh? I'm going to HD this weekend to get supplies for building my chiller. I'm really interested to find out how the modification to the height of the mesh works out. I know that some people have put a Y-adapter on the inlet pipe to try and cool the fog a little more before it hits the ice, don't know if this would work better with traditional ice.


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## danimal3114u

JT5298 said:


> Great job! Where did you get the wire mesh? I'm going to HD this weekend to get supplies for building my chiller. I'm really interested to find out how the modification to the height of the mesh works out. I know that some people have put a Y-adapter on the inlet pipe to try and cool the fog a little more before it hits the ice, don't know if this would work better with traditional ice.


Thanks for the great info! Got the mesh at home depot: about $6.50 in a little roll that was more than enough, and it was over near the lumber cutting section. The Y-adapter is a good tip, I definitely will try that if the lower ice shelf doesn't work as well as I hope.


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## ReelSore

JT5298 said:


> Great job! Where did you get the wire mesh? I'm going to HD this weekend to get supplies for building my chiller. I'm really interested to find out how the modification to the height of the mesh works out. I know that some people have put a Y-adapter on the inlet pipe to try and cool the fog a little more before it hits the ice, don't know if this would work better with traditional ice.



Yes I added a y pipe before going into the can because it takes air to actually make the fog. If you hook it up directly, then you will have a lot of liquid in the pipe by nights end. To help cool the fog before going into the can, I added about 6' of straight pipe. This helped a lot. I am also using the Chauvet 1301.


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## JT5298

I should hopefully get mine done this weekend. I will post some pics of the finished project with the fogger in action.


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## WOLFPACK7483

danimal3114u ,
Great job on the chiller. Post a video if you can.


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## Glitterati

I would love input on this as I have never used a fog machine before -if I am using a vortex chiller for outdoor fog, would a Chauvet Hurricane 700 make enough fog? Or would I need one of the bigger models? I thought I read on here on another thread that the smaller one would work, but I can't find where I read that, so thought I would post here and see what feedback was. It would be in our front yard, which is a hill sloped going towards house; we will have a graveyard set up. I know weather plays a role, but I am aiming for low fog that just "hangs out" in the cemetery. 
Any feedback is helpful on which fog machine to get!


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## serpensphile

I have a cheap fog machine and am going to replace it with a Chauvet 1301 IF the darn thing would ever die!!! 

What you have will work, esp if you run it through a chiller but it depends on the size of your yard and how MUCH fog you want. I'd say try the one you have now--you might be pleasantly surprised. 

However, if you have the slightest breeze, your fog will be GONE no matter what size fog machine, chiller or juice you use. 

OH YES....get GOOD juice. That makes a big difference!!!!!


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## Glitterati

thank you!! I read about the good juice, definitely won't be using the cheapy stuff!


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## mdutso

great post and pics as well from WOLFPACK, have question about the "Y" connector and does it make that much of difference? On the inflow side of the chiller is where the "Y" is located, then that is connected to a short straight piece of tubing that runs directly into the chiller? I too am running a 1301, is a fan needed to help push to fog through or is the 1301 strong enough to do that on its own, thanks for any input or advice, am building my chiller this weekend using the 32 gallon. Also am experimenting with ways to insulate the trash can to help with ice melting.


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## demons1964

great job thanks for sharing it


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## ReelSore

mdutso said:


> great post and pics as well from WOLFPACK, have question about the "Y" connector and does it make that much of difference? On the inflow side of the chiller is where the "Y" is located, then that is connected to a short straight piece of tubing that runs directly into the chiller? I too am running a 1301, is a fan needed to help push to fog through or is the 1301 strong enough to do that on its own, thanks for any input or advice, am building my chiller this weekend using the 32 gallon. Also am experimenting with ways to insulate the trash can to help with ice melting.



No you don't need a fan to push the fog into the chiller.


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## ej122763

Awesome tutorial page!...I've read through it all plus watched countless videos. Building me one this weekend.:+1:?


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## JT5298

Hi guys, got mine built, sorry no pictures yet. I ended up putting the mesh at about 10 inches from the bottom of the trash can. I also used 1/2 inch High density foam tape from HD and attached it to the rim of the trash can. It has a sticky side but I also used Loctite Polyseamseal which made it stay much better. This should keep the lid sealed with some bungee cords or just something heavy on top. I plan on using about 3 or 4 feet length PVC on the inlet side with the Y-adapter. I'm going on vacation for 2 weeks so I will try and take pictures of it in action when I get back. Thanks for all the great info!


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## WOLFPACK7483

Be sure to post any pics or videos of your finished chillers.


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## ej122763

Put mine together Saturday and even though it was 78' in NC it still hugged the ground pretty good and that was with Spirit Halloween Fog Juice. I have some Freezin Fog Juice on the way. Then all it will need is a coat of black paint.


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## TosaTerror

Very Nice!!!! I'm jealous of the warm temperatures, which is ideal for ground fog. Here in Wisconsin the chilled fog is almost matching the air temp, so the fog doesn't stick around very long.

That's why I'm hoping for a calm, not-so-cold day for 10/31.


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## mdutso

very cool, good to know that warm temps work in our favor, I'm in South Texas and usually have warm temps as well. What kind of fog machine do have and do you have pic of inside of your chiller? I am using the 32 gal trash can with Chauvet 1301. Looks cool


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## TosaTerror

Also, in the videos, what is being used for ice? Large ice cubes? Shaved ice? Bottles filled with frozen water?


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## eegisme

WOLFPACK how much dry ice you use in one night?


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## ej122763

TosaTerror said:


> Also, in the videos, what is being used for ice? Large ice cubes? Shaved ice? Bottles filled with frozen water?


I purchased a 10lb. bag of ice at my local convenience store and dumped it in.


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## BobbyA

ReelSore said:


> Yes I added a y pipe before going into the can because it takes air to actually make the fog. If you hook it up directly, then you will have a lot of liquid in the pipe by nights end. To help cool the fog before going into the can, I added about 6' of straight pipe. This helped a lot. I am also using the Chauvet 1301.


You have a lot of liquid by nights end because you have made a device that cools the fog to the point where it condenses on the cold surface. Such is the nature of fog chillers. Adding air doesn't change it, much as adding more air doesn't change the water condensing on the outside of your cold glass of tea.


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## Marauder

That is really sweet and the results were amazing. I have a Chauvet 1300 as well and have been looking for a good method to chill it. I am seeing a Home Depot fun in the near future. Thanks again.


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## WOLFPACK7483

Sorry for the delayed response, project time ya know. I used 2 medium sized foam coolers of dry ice. It didn't last 2 hours of the haunt.
Thinking of some way to insulate the can for this years haunt. Any ideas?


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## freekvduin

What a fantastic project!


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## Marauder

WOLFPACK7483 said:


> Sorry for the delayed response, project time ya know. I used 2 medium sized foam coolers of dry ice. It didn't last 2 hours of the haunt.
> Thinking of some way to insulate the can for this years haunt. Any ideas?


Have you done a run with regular ice for a comparison?


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## WOLFPACK7483

No regular ice as of yet. I may have to this year as the lab I work in is cracking down on the dry ice I've used in the past.


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## Marauder

I bought a 20 gallon can from HD and the pipe. I will build it this week and see what happens.


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## jmax5105

Hi all... new to the forum but have been trying to decide on which fog chiller to build. I have the Chauvet Hurricane 1000 and was hoping to run an idea past you all. I'm wanting to set the fog machine on top of my Brute garbage can (flat lid), shoot it into a 4" Y tube, which then does a downward U turn, into the garbage can full of ice, makes a 90 degree horizontal bend to "swirl" the fog, with about 6-8 inches of space on the bottom using the PVC support / wire mesh combo to give it some space. Is there any reason that this won't work? I'm hoping to put the fog machine on top of the garbage can lid for space saving issues at the house and with our setup. Thoughts? Here is what I'm doing, not done yet, but the fogger will sit on the lid and the exit will be on the bottom.


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## BarryJ

Has anyone looked at the Bose Einstein Fog chiller on You Tube? Any idea how it works?


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## DJ41

I tried this with my 400 Watt fog machine. It seems it lacks the power to blow the smoke properly through the large bucket. Might look into buying a more powerful one for next year.


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## giantstogie

Hi, i am new here and have just built this chiller. it works great. best results i have ever had. I have one question i need to know if i can run the fog machine into the chiller via a right angle and then out to a t joint. i do not know if this will cause problems i need to be able to hide the chiller and the machine.


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## jscaldwell

jmax5105 said:


> Hi all... new to the forum but have been trying to decide on which fog chiller to build. I have the Chauvet Hurricane 1000 and was hoping to run an idea past you all. I'm wanting to set the fog machine on top of my Brute garbage can (flat lid), shoot it into a 4" Y tube, which then does a downward U turn, into the garbage can full of ice, makes a 90 degree horizontal bend to "swirl" the fog, with about 6-8 inches of space on the bottom using the PVC support / wire mesh combo to give it some space. Is there any reason that this won't work? I'm hoping to put the fog machine on top of the garbage can lid for space saving issues at the house and with our setup. Thoughts? Here is what I'm doing, not done yet, but the fogger will sit on the lid and the exit will be on the bottom.
> View attachment 371145


How did this work for you?


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## jmax5105

It worked fairly well, but I think that there is a lot to be said for shooting the fog UP the pipe on the other models and then letting it settle down through the ice before it comes out... as opposed to mine, where I'm shooting it in at the top and having it come out the bottom. I think that having that extra little bit of time for the fog and air to mix, expand, and cool would have made a noticeable difference. It didn't help that last night, there was a small breeze and it was fairly cold air temps. I was happy with my results, but I think it could have been better. I received a lot of complements and questions on how I got it to stay lower though.


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## jscaldwell

My approach - used a large trash can, 4" PVC and some cementboard with holes drilled in it for the ice shelf, then added some wire afterward to help keep some of the ice chunks off the shelf and out of the holes. I can see how the shelf might help hold the fog in the cold area next to the ice a little longer, but I do worry that it is overly restricting the flow. I wasn't getting good flow last night, but again I was just using a 700w fogger with this big chiller...


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## TosaTerror

danimal3114u said:


> I just completed my initial build over the weekend! I pretty much used WOLFPACK7483's exact build recommendation (3" PVC for intake/output, Brute trash can, 1/2" PVC for stand) and am also using a Chauvet 1301 and Froggy's Freezin' Fog. A couple slight differences:
> 
> I'm using traditional ice instead of dry ice. With the 16" height on the stand, it took 40 pounds of store bought ice to fill the chiller to the preferred level (basically 2" from the top of the can) - this was about $10 worth of ice in my area
> I used 1/4" wire mesh for the top of my stand to hold the traditional ice - it worked wonderfully
> Not sure if anyone else did this, but I did seal the outside of all intakes/outputs with some flexible bathroom caulking and had zero leakage around the PVC
> I drilled six separate 1/4" holes in the bottom of the can for water drainage. Good news - zero fog escaped through these and water was able to move freely out of the bottom
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The initial build as outlined above worked wonderfully compared to other chillers I've tried (drainage pipe with frozen water bottles, trash bag over output with ice in it). The 1301 is still a beast though, so it pushed the fog almost instantaneously through the densely packed ice. I noticed a lot more lift/dispersion to the fog during the initial burst, which I believe is due to the standard ice being warmer than dry ice. I think with a few adjustments the fog will chill much nicer and stay lower more consistently. I'm going to make the following adjustments to the build and see if it does the trick:
> 
> Lower the stand table from 16" to 8-10" hhigh. This should allow significantly more ice to fit in, further cooling the fog during initial bursts
> Sealing the lid: As people mentioned, it is easy to get leakage around the lid, so I'll try getting some foam and bungees as ReelSore and others recommended
> Cosmetic upgrade: The complete build ain't pretty as-is, so I'm planning to at least paint the whole thing a dark gray or black
> I doubt I'll get to it this year, but my ideal build would be to go with something like this, maybe with some skeleton arms or a head coming out of the top. Then just drill a couple of small holes on the top of the lid so some light fog comes off the top, and we got ourselves a winner


Alright, I'm now convinced on this method. My current fog chiller (which didn't work too well) was designed the exact opposite. I shot the fog from a 1301 at the bottom of the chller *UP* through the PVC pipe where it dispersed on top of the ice. Then - I was hoping- the fog would trickle *DOWN* naturaly through the ice as it cooled, and exit out the bottom. I guess I had it backwards. 

However, I never would have thought to do it via the other method (Wolfpack's and Danimal's). Where you shoot the fog into the bottom of the chiller and have it trickle *UP* through the ice...only to have it cascade *DOWN* and out through the PVC pipe.

I have a hard time thinking of the science behind this though. When the fog hits the ice from the bottom, what is making it continue to rising though the layer of ice (which looks likes the ice chamber is a good 10 inches think)? I always figured that when the fog gets cold it will get dense and fall...not continue rising!?!?!? However, looking at these videos, it's hard to argue against the results. Maybe the force at which the fog machine is pump out the fog, is it FORCING the fog UP through the ice? It must be.


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## jscaldwell

TosaTerror said:


> Alright, I'm now convinced on this method. My current fog chiller (which didn't work too well) was designed the exact opposite. I shot the fog from a 1301 at the bottom of the chller *UP* through the PVC pipe where it dispersed on top of the ice. Then - I was hoping- the fog would trickle *DOWN* naturaly through the ice as it cooled, and exit out the bottom. I guess I had it backwards.
> 
> However, I never would have thought to do it via the other method (Wolfpack's and Danimal's). Where you shoot the fog into the bottom of the chiller and have it trickle *UP* through the ice...only to have it cascade *DOWN* and out through the PVC pipe.
> 
> I have a hard time thinking of the science behind this though. When the fog hits the ice from the bottom, what is making it continue to rising though the layer of ice (which looks likes the ice chamber is a good 10 inches think)? I always figured that when the fog gets cold it will get dense and fall...not continue rising!?!?!? However, looking at these videos, it's hard to argue against the results. Maybe the force at which the fog machine is pump out the fog, is it FORCING the fog UP through the ice? It must be.


I completely agree - it seems really counter intuitive to think it would work better this way. Once I get a 1301 I plan to test it both ways. Maybe the fog spends more time in the chiller in contact with ice since it has to be "pushed up", or, it stays in there until the whole chiller is full of fog and has nowhere else to go?


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## Bryan316

SCIENCE! LOOK OUT!

The expansion of fog into the chiller pushes the flow up through the ice. Since the fogger is forcing the flow of air, the top of the can is the only direction for the fog to move, to relieve internal air pressure and equalize with atmospheric pressure.

Which is the key here.

You're relying on the physical nature of air pressure, which is to equalize. Same as a precipitate in a solution, to equalize its ratio throughout the container it is trapped in. (Until the point of supersaturation which then you have condensation and the bottom of the container has stuff settling, of course!)

Example: if you use a window fan, you can do two things. Either you can force outside air into the house, or force house air outside. In both cases, there is a change in pressure. You are either increasing the pressure inside the house in relation to atmospheric pressure, or the reverse. But it is the difference in pressure, that causes flow, in ANY direction.

Now that the science is outta the way, I can give you guys a recommendation. Go get one of these puppies!









http://www.homedepot.com/p/Inductor-4-in-In-Line-Duct-Fan-DB204/100073963


For the weaker fog machines, these fans help wonderfully. Here's why. The expansion of fog is a positive-pressure change, inside your chiller. However, only for as long as the fogger is pumping fog! Once these weaker fog machines run out of heat and have to cycle off, that re-heating phase is no longer keeping a positive pressure and forcing air into the chiller. That lets the fog stop flowing, and you have a static system. No. Mo. Flo.

So if you install one of these inline duct fans right after the fogger before the cooling chamber of the chiller, it keeps the air flowing! The fan, not the fogger, is the source of positive air pressure change inside the chiller. Even if the fogger stops, you're moving fog through the chiller.

It's a $30 fix, along with some foil tape. It even helps when you have a super-duper 1300-watt fogger. I want to state, that I have not tried using just a simple computer chassis fan, which if you find one with a significant CFM rating, could probably do the same job, with low voltage. I went with this duct fan, because they can handle dust and debris and are reasonably robust. If you have an old computer, and can gut it for the chassis fans, then by all means go for it. Free is best!

Let me know if this improves performance on your system.


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## JT5298

Bryan316 said:


> SCIENCE! LOOK OUT!
> 
> The expansion of fog into the chiller pushes the flow up through the ice. Since the fogger is forcing the flow of air, the top of the can is the only direction for the fog to move, to relieve internal air pressure and equalize with atmospheric pressure.
> 
> Which is the key here.
> 
> You're relying on the physical nature of air pressure, which is to equalize. Same as a precipitate in a solution, to equalize its ratio throughout the container it is trapped in. (Until the point of supersaturation which then you have condensation and the bottom of the container has stuff settling, of course!)
> 
> Example: if you use a window fan, you can do two things. Either you can force outside air into the house, or force house air outside. In both cases, there is a change in pressure. You are either increasing the pressure inside the house in relation to atmospheric pressure, or the reverse. But it is the difference in pressure, that causes flow, in ANY direction.
> 
> Now that the science is outta the way, I can give you guys a recommendation. Go get one of these puppies!
> 
> View attachment 380761
> 
> 
> http://www.homedepot.com/p/Inductor-4-in-In-Line-Duct-Fan-DB204/100073963
> 
> 
> For the weaker fog machines, these fans help wonderfully. Here's why. The expansion of fog is a positive-pressure change, inside your chiller. However, only for as long as the fogger is pumping fog! Once these weaker fog machines run out of heat and have to cycle off, that re-heating phase is no longer keeping a positive pressure and forcing air into the chiller. That lets the fog stop flowing, and you have a static system. No. Mo. Flo.
> 
> So if you install one of these inline duct fans right after the fogger before the cooling chamber of the chiller, it keeps the air flowing! The fan, not the fogger, is the source of positive air pressure change inside the chiller. Even if the fogger stops, you're moving fog through the chiller.
> 
> It's a $30 fix, along with some foil tape. It even helps when you have a super-duper 1300-watt fogger. I want to state, that I have not tried using just a simple computer chassis fan, which if you find one with a significant CFM rating, could probably do the same job, with low voltage. I went with this duct fan, because they can handle dust and debris and are reasonably robust. If you have an old computer, and can gut it for the chassis fans, then by all means go for it. Free is best!
> 
> Let me know if this improves performance on your system.


This is interesting.

I had pretty good results with my chiller this last Halloween. I used the same design as Wolfpack with some modifications. The inlet pipe was about 3ft. long and I used the Y-adapter. I also put a trash bag on the end which spread out the fog. I put the mesh about 10 inches from the bottom of the can which gave me enough space for four 20lb. bags of ice. It was pretty warm but unfortunately a little breezy so the fog didn't stay for long. 

The only problem I had was getting the fog to spread out across my yard. It only went about halfway which is maybe 20ft or so. I suppose the bag contributed to this by spreading it out wide instead of deep. I would think putting this fan on the output side of the chiller after it hits the ice and comes down the pipe would be better because it wouldn't force the fog through so quickly. It seems it would help push the fog out across the yard better too.

The other issue is the 1301 doesn't stay running for long either before it recycles, but this has been discussed before. I did use the timer and had it run every 2 to 3 minutes. I'm happy how it worked, but would like to see if the fan would help push it along better. I think I'll try one of these. Would be nice if they had a 3 inch model though.


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## titleist1

I made the kitty litter version tonight to be used this saturday for our party and it worked very well. while browsing in Lowes I found aluminum screen used to keep debris out of gutters to hold the ice , $2.30 for a 3' piece and $6 for a four 2" fittings is my only investment. The bucket is wider than the screen so I cut a second piece from the leftover screen and overlapped it to make up the width. Using the same chavet 700 machine the fog was way more impressive than previously. Thanks for the tutorial!


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## TosaTerror

Thanks for the explanation...that makes sense. Looking forward to next season so I can build one of these.


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## JT5298

*Froggy's Fog Vortex fog chillers "Blizzard and Polar"*

Hi Guys,

Went to Froggy's website and noticed they have 2 fog chillers that look exactly like the one made by Wolfpak as well as me and others. The one named "Blizzard" looks to be a little smaller says it can hold 36lbs of ice. The "Polar" looks about the same size as the one here that holds about 80lbs of ice. Just wondering if anybody has seen one up close. There is a video on Youtube of the "Blizzard" in action.

Has anyone tried these Volumizer Crystals that they sell that lowers the fog mixture temperature to 14 degrees colder? Is this just salt?


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## WOLFPACK7483

JT5298, great job on your build. I've been thinking about trying some of the volumizer crystals but can't seem to find any reviews on the stuff.
When I used the pellet dry ice from my workplace, it performed great. Tried some block sheets of dry ice which I broke up from our local Harris Teeter
last year and was pretty disappointed.


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## giantstogie

WOLFPACK7483 said:


> JT5298, great job on your build. I've been thinking about trying some of the volumizer crystals but can't seem to find any reviews on the stuff.
> When I used the pellet dry ice from my workplace, it performed great. Tried some block sheets of dry ice which I broke up from our local Harris Teeter
> last year and was pretty disappointed.


that is not good to hear. I am planning on using dry ice this year and just breaking it up . do you have a video of the difference between the two types?


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## TosaTerror

WOLFPACK7483 said:


> Some pics from our "CLOVER Ct. CHAOS" haunt last year. These are some of the front yard testing pics.
> Made from a brute trash can, a little wire mesh, some pvc fittings and a chavuet 1301 fogger.
> View attachment 282405
> View attachment 282406
> View attachment 282407


I purchased basically the same materials from Lowes the other day (however I went with a different brand of garbage can). This will be my weekend project, to try and replicate the same fog output. Also, I'm going to play around with lid and try seal if off so nothing is leaking out the top. I have a few rolls of those sticky foam strips I'll lay around the top so when the lid snaps in place it _should_ give it a good seal. We'll see.

I'll probably just fill the top compartment with a few bags of ice from the gas station. I don't easily have access to a ton of dry ice, so hopefully this will suffice.

Thanks for the idea and wish me luck.


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## Kwll2112

Here's a question for fog chillers… 

Last year I went to a local group that showed how to build fog chillers in various configurations. All of these chillers used a flexible corrugated pipe to route the fog through the chiller. Most (if not all) designs were built to allow the water to drain away from the ice, which surrounded the pipe.

My question: Wouldn't you get a better thermal conduction if you had ice water around the pipes instead of just ice?


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## JT5298

Hi guys, I read this from the Youtube video of the "Blizzard" fog chiller from Froggy's Fog.

"Can it be used with dry ice as well?"
The VEST(tm) system relies on the creation of real fog, not just cooling of the hot smoke from the fog machine. Therefor the ice itself is critical to the creation of the ultimate product, so dry ice would not add to the effect. It would also be incredibly expensive compared to the ice cubes, even if it would have added something. Water based ice cubes work perfectly in all Vortex low-fog generators.﻿

I know Wolfpack used dry ice pellets in the video and it was incredible! Have you tried just regular ice and compared the difference. I used 4 20lb bags of ice last year. My shelf was lower than Wolfpack's, mine was about 10 inches high. The results were good but not anything like the video. I also used a 3 foot inlet pipe with a Y adapter and the outlet pipe was about the same length with a trash bag on the end. I think this year I will raise the shelf a little because it may have too much ice in it. I also want to keep the inlet and outlet pipe as short as possible like the video. I thought the longer pipe would chill the fog more but I think it limited the output. The fog was dense and low but did not spread far like the video.


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## BarryJ

JT5298 said:


> The VEST(tm) system relies on the creation of real fog, not just cooling of the hot smoke from the fog machine.


I kinda think this a bunch of marketing bull.

I also suspect volumnizer crystals are road salt/ice melt.


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## giantstogie

TosaTerror said:


> I purchased basically the same materials from Lowes the other day (however I went with a different brand of garbage can). This will be my weekend project, to try and replicate the same fog output. Also, I'm going to play around with lid and try seal if off so nothing is leaking out the top. I have a few rolls of those sticky foam strips I'll lay around the top so when the lid snaps in place it _should_ give it a good seal. We'll see.
> 
> I'll probably just fill the top compartment with a few bags of ice from the gas station. I don't easily have access to a ton of dry ice, so hopefully this will suffice.
> 
> Thanks for the idea and wish me luck.


I used the foam insulation tape on the one I made last year. It still let fog out the top. I solved this really easily by laying a trash bag over the top of the garbage can and then putting the lid on top of it. So that the bag is sandwiched between the lid and the insulation tape.


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## WOLFPACK7483

Frost King 1/2-in x 6-ft Foam Plumbing Tubular Pipe Insulation 
Item # 24421 Model # P10XB/6









This worked great around the top rim of the can. No leaks at all, you can bend it around to the shape of the can.And a cheap fix. About a dollar.


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## TosaTerror

giantstogie said:


> I used the foam insulation tape on the one I made last year. It still let fog out the top. I solved this really easily by laying a trash bag over the top of the garbage can and then putting the lid on top of it. So that the bag is sandwiched between the lid and the insulation tape.


That's a good idea. That will be my Plan B if my 3/4 inch foam tape fails me. I built my chiller over the weekend, but I haven't tested it out yet. I wanted all the caulking and sealants to settled in before blasting it with hot steam. 

Thanks!


----------



## JCO

Got a question here, and I'm seeing differing opinions all over the internet.

Apparently in the original design (with the short pipe as the inlet) about the bottom 2/3 of the chiller is left open as an expansion chamber for the incoming fog. Have I got that right?

Now if you do a reverse set up (with the short pipe as the outlet) would that change? Would you then need the TOP 2/3 to be open? 

What if I made each section equal, regardless of inlet - 1/3 open at the top, 1/3 ice, 1/3 open at the bottom?

Any thoughts or advice are greatly appreciated.


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## BobbyA

All the ice below the lowest pipe, inlet or outlet is wasted.


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## JCO

BobbyA said:


> All the ice below the lowest pipe, inlet or outlet is wasted.


??? Who does that? You'd be putting ice on the floor of the chiller.


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## CraigInPA

WOLFPACK7483 said:


> JT5298, great job on your build. I've been thinking about trying some of the volumizer crystals but can't seem to find any reviews on the stuff.
> When I used the pellet dry ice from my workplace, it performed great. Tried some block sheets of dry ice which I broke up from our local Harris Teeter
> last year and was pretty disappointed.


Blocks versus pellets is all about surface area. Since the fog is filtering through the ice, having greater surface area (pellets) in contact with the fog would allow it to cool faster than having less surface area (block pieces).


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## Janhaus

(Apologies if this has already been mentioned but I'm just now reading through the 27 pages of this thread)
In doing research on building fog chillers I see two different approaches - one with (shorter) PVC piping, a la vortex fusion cooler and one with longer flexible aluminum piping (there's an 'ultimate fog chiller' howto posted on makezine.com <- there's a video in the comments section. Also another poster mentioned the Bose Einstein Fog chiller on youtube, it's mostly the same). Most of the comments on this thread (so far) seem to deal with deals on construction with PVC piping, is that because this method is much better vs the longer flexible piping method? Just checking before I start!


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## BobbyA

The difference is mostly, preference & capacity required.


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## CraigInPA

The flexible metal pipe design doesn't provide as much surface area to cool the fog as opposed to directly filtering the fog through the ice as the vortex chiller design does. As such, the flexible metal pipe design isn't going to work as well as a vortex chiller for larger, high velocity, foggers such as the Chauvet H1301 mentioned in this thread.


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## Janhaus

Thanks for the input Craig - I'm willing and open to building either so I'm open. 
What I have is a Chauvet H1200, which is almost the same output for 1301 so I think I'll just go with what works for the larger velocity fogger.


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## Shadowcaster

Can you share what kind of/where you got that mesh? Really like to know what that is and - if possible - where to find it. Thanks


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## CraigInPA

I found mesh with 1/2" spacing as a 2'x5' long roll in the fencing department at Home Depot recently.


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## Janhaus

Just built my first one this morning - question for folks: how do you prevent fog from exiting back out from the intake pipe? I put the fogger right against the pipe but a fair amount of fog is flowing back out from that initial point. Any good way to seal this (besides duct tape or similar)?


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## Shadowcaster

I wonder if it would generate enough pressure to actually project the fog...interesting idea but would you want to add a fan to make sure the fog is distributed across the scene more fully?


----------



## Shadowcaster

CraigInPA said:


> I found mesh with 1/2" spacing as a 2'x5' long roll in the fencing department at Home Depot recently.


Thanks...this stuff looks like a stainless steel hexagonal mesh though...probably doesn't work any better but I like how it seems to hold its own structure without a frame or bracing.


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## Shadowcaster

serialc0d3 said:


> Not sure just yet as I haven''t really used it yet. I bet not too long since it's only a kitty litter pail and forcing hot fog through it.
> 
> I'd like to use a cooler but the wife "won't let me" buy a cooler and then put a hole in it.
> I have an old long cooler but I think the cube ice chest cooler type would work a lot better with this design.
> 
> We have an annual halloween party for the family and it only it only lasts around 5 hours or so.


So idea,,,look at garage sales and maybe even thrift stores and get some throwaways. I lucked up and actually found three of them someone was throwing away. No, not too proud to rob another guy's trash can! But they really do work great...I ran fog thru mine last year for about four or five hours and in the morning still had frozen ice in them. Just don't trash a $500 Yeti! (PS...the wife will get over it sooner or later...its Halloween! Think of it as a long term investment. LOL!


----------



## Janhaus

I think so, yes. Anybody else have some thoughts? I've read all the posts on this thread with no definite response on why not lower the temperature of the intake pipe by submerging it in ice water so I went and built both. Over this last weekend I built 2 fog chillers - one with 30-gal Brute trashcan and the wire-mesh separate chamber vortex configuration (albeit using aluminum 4" duct instead of pvc) and a 27-gal version of the Bose-Einstein fogchiller (youtube for the vids) which essentially allows for pooling of ice-water around the input as well as output pipe. Nothing conclusive but it appears for me right now that the ice-water condense version works a bit better. I may test this out next weekend if I get a thermometer of sorts.




Kwll2112 said:


> Here's a question for fog chillers…
> 
> Last year I went to a local group that showed how to build fog chillers in various configurations. All of these chillers used a flexible corrugated pipe to route the fog through the chiller. Most (if not all) designs were built to allow the water to drain away from the ice, which surrounded the pipe.
> 
> My question: Wouldn't you get a better thermal conduction if you had ice water around the pipes instead of just ice?


----------



## CraigInPA

I have a classic vortex chiller. 32 gallon trash can ($9.98 at Wal-Mart), 1/2" pvc frame (12" high due to my use of ice cubes, as opposed to 16" high for use with dry ice pellets), stainless 1/2" mesh held on to the pvc with zip ties, 3" input and 3" output, and 66 pounds of ice cubes. I'm running a Chauvet H1301 into it snug to the input side (i.e., no Y pipe). While it's good as designed, I made it better... At the top of the input (input comes through the side of the can, turns 90 degrees upward, and then ends about 3" from the top of the lid), I installed a 3" toilet floor flange. In the flange, I added a computer fan blowing upwards. 

By doing thist, I've created a high pressure zone in the top of the can. This means that all the fog the machine produces is pulled upward into the can. The high pressure at the top of the can forces the fog through the ice. So, more or less, I get a continuous stream of fog, even though the fogger pauses in "continuous" mode. In order to prevent fog from leaking around the lid, I added 1/2" wide by 3/8" tall door insulation to the lid flange.

I could have placed the fan on the output side, at the bottom of the can, but for a few issues: 1. there's water dripping inside the can, so you don't want electrical stuff there, 2. putting the fan outside the unit would have required a better fit with the duct, 3. putting the fan on the output side would create a low pressure area at the bottom of the can, which could draw outside air into the can through my poorly cut input and output holes, eliminating the benefit of the fan.

I'm also distributing my fog through 4" black irrigation pipe (that's the corrugated flexible stuff with holes cut into it). Without the fan, I could get it to ooze out about 10' away. With the fan, It's easily doing the full 20' of pipe, giving a much better distribution than using the trash bag over the output pipe ever did.


----------



## Kwll2112

How well does the computer fan hold up to the fog? IOW, does it eventually corrode?



CraigInPA said:


> I have a classic vortex chiller. 32 gallon trash can ($9.98 at Wal-Mart), 1/2" pvc frame (12" high due to my use of ice cubes, as opposed to 16" high for use with dry ice pellets), stainless 1/2" mesh held on to the pvc with zip ties, 3" input and 3" output, and 66 pounds of ice cubes. I'm running a Chauvet H1301 into it snug to the input side (i.e., no Y pipe). While it's good as designed, I made it better... At the top of the input (input comes through the side of the can, turns 90 degrees upward, and then ends about 3" from the top of the lid), I installed a 3" toilet floor flange. In the flange, I added a computer fan blowing upwards.
> 
> By doing thist, I've created a high pressure zone in the top of the can. This means that all the fog the machine produces is pulled upward into the can. The high pressure at the top of the can forces the fog through the ice. So, more or less, I get a continuous stream of fog, even though the fogger pauses in "continuous" mode. In order to prevent fog from leaking around the lid, I added 1/2" wide by 3/8" tall door insulation to the lid flange.
> 
> I could have placed the fan on the output side, at the bottom of the can, but for a few issues: 1. there's water dripping inside the can, so you don't want electrical stuff there, 2. putting the fan outside the unit would have required a better fit with the duct, 3. putting the fan on the output side would create a low pressure area at the bottom of the can, which could draw outside air into the can through my poorly cut input and output holes, eliminating the benefit of the fan.
> 
> I'm also distributing my fog through 4" black irrigation pipe (that's the corrugated flexible stuff with holes cut into it). Without the fan, I could get it to ooze out about 10' away. With the fan, It's easily doing the full 20' of pipe, giving a much better distribution than using the trash bag over the output pipe ever did.


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## Vater

CraigInPA said:


> I have a classic vortex chiller. 32 gallon trash can ($9.98 at Wal-Mart), 1/2" pvc frame (12" high due to my use of ice cubes, as opposed to 16" high for use with dry ice pellets), stainless 1/2" mesh held on to the pvc with zip ties, 3" input and 3" output, and 66 pounds of ice cubes. I'm running a Chauvet H1301 into it snug to the input side (i.e., no Y pipe). While it's good as designed, I made it better... At the top of the input (input comes through the side of the can, turns 90 degrees upward, and then ends about 3" from the top of the lid), I installed a 3" toilet floor flange. In the flange, I added a computer fan blowing upwards.
> 
> By doing thist, I've created a high pressure zone in the top of the can. This means that all the fog the machine produces is pulled upward into the can. The high pressure at the top of the can forces the fog through the ice. So, more or less, I get a continuous stream of fog, even though the fogger pauses in "continuous" mode. In order to prevent fog from leaking around the lid, I added 1/2" wide by 3/8" tall door insulation to the lid flange.
> 
> I could have placed the fan on the output side, at the bottom of the can, but for a few issues: 1. there's water dripping inside the can, so you don't want electrical stuff there, 2. putting the fan outside the unit would have required a better fit with the duct, 3. putting the fan on the output side would create a low pressure area at the bottom of the can, which could draw outside air into the can through my poorly cut input and output holes, eliminating the benefit of the fan.
> 
> I'm also distributing my fog through 4" black irrigation pipe (that's the corrugated flexible stuff with holes cut into it). Without the fan, I could get it to ooze out about 10' away. With the fan, It's easily doing the full 20' of pipe, giving a much better distribution than using the trash bag over the output pipe ever did.


Please post pics/vids of your chiller!


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## JT5298

CraigInPA said:


> I have a classic vortex chiller. 32 gallon trash can ($9.98 at Wal-Mart), 1/2" pvc frame (12" high due to my use of ice cubes, as opposed to 16" high for use with dry ice pellets), stainless 1/2" mesh held on to the pvc with zip ties, 3" input and 3" output, and 66 pounds of ice cubes. I'm running a Chauvet H1301 into it snug to the input side (i.e., no Y pipe). While it's good as designed, I made it better... At the top of the input (input comes through the side of the can, turns 90 degrees upward, and then ends about 3" from the top of the lid), I installed a 3" toilet floor flange. In the flange, I added a computer fan blowing upwards.
> 
> By doing thist, I've created a high pressure zone in the top of the can. This means that all the fog the machine produces is pulled upward into the can. The high pressure at the top of the can forces the fog through the ice. So, more or less, I get a continuous stream of fog, even though the fogger pauses in "continuous" mode. In order to prevent fog from leaking around the lid, I added 1/2" wide by 3/8" tall door insulation to the lid flange.
> 
> I could have placed the fan on the output side, at the bottom of the can, but for a few issues: 1. there's water dripping inside the can, so you don't want electrical stuff there, 2. putting the fan outside the unit would have required a better fit with the duct, 3. putting the fan on the output side would create a low pressure area at the bottom of the can, which could draw outside air into the can through my poorly cut input and output holes, eliminating the benefit of the fan.
> 
> I'm also distributing my fog through 4" black irrigation pipe (that's the corrugated flexible stuff with holes cut into it). Without the fan, I could get it to ooze out about 10' away. With the fan, It's easily doing the full 20' of pipe, giving a much better distribution than using the trash bag over the output pipe ever did.


It sounds like you have yours set up in reverse with the long curved pipe as the inlet and the short as the outlet. I assume due to the fan like you explained. My chiller last year would only put fog out about 10 feet or so from the trash can. I had a long 3ft extension on the inlet with a Y adapter and then a 2ft or so extension on the outlet with a trash bag. I think this contributed to the fog not dispersing very far. (I'm using a Chauvet 1301 as well) My mesh was pretty low too, about 10 inches high so I ended up with 4 20lb bags of ice filling the trash can. 

WOLFPACK's video shows the fog going well out into the yard at least 20ft. I know he used dry ice pellets but I wouldn't think this would contribute to the distance the fog traveled as much as the density or how low the fog stayed to the ground. I'm going to take the extensions off this year and raise the mesh a little and see if that changes the distance it travels. I would like to see a video of yours in action as well.


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## CraigInPA

Yes, I'm running mine reverse from the original design. The problem I have with the original design is that it's counter intuitive to laws of thermodynamics.

In the original design, the hot fog is put into the bottom of the can, and forced upward through the ice to what I'll call the "output chamber". When it reaches the output chamber, it drops back out of the chiller through the long curved "output pipe". The problem with this is that ice melts. As the ice melts, the space above the ice increases. That makes the output pipe further and further away from the the top of the ice. As the gap increases between the top of the pipe and the ice, you accumulate fog between the ice and the output pipe entrance. The coldest fog will be at the bottom of the output chamber because it is in contact with the ice. The new fog coming through the ice, and the fog above the layer of fog at the ice layer will be slightly warmer. That slightly warmer fog is what will be going out of the output pipe. The larger the gap between the ice and the top of the container, the larger the difference in temperature. Adding a puller fan to the output pipe outside the can does not actually help the problem of this design, as the first fog to be drawn through the output pipe will always be the fog farthest from the ice, which is not the coldest fog in the output chamber. The overall design is good if you can keep the ice at the level of the output pipe entrance, but gets increasingly less efficient as the level of ice drops.

Running it backwards means it doesn't really matter how much ice is in the can, as long as there is enough to effectively cool the fog. When the hot fog comes out the long curved tube, it's hitting the top of the can and being forced down through the ice. The pusher fan is creating a positive pressure zone when the fogger takes a break, so no fog goes back out that long curved tube. As the fog is forced through the ice, it gets colder. By the time it gets to the bottom of the can, it's as cold as it's going to get. The coldest fog falls immediately to the bottom of the can, where it goes through the output tube and escapes to the atmosphere. There will be little to no "build up" of fog in the area underneath the ice (the output chamber in this design) because the space remains a constant size. Having a smaller space may actually work better than a larger one, although I haven't actually tried it yet. 

I'll be running mine again on October 27 for the kid's Halloween party, and will shoot some video so you can see how it works.


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## RJ MacReady

Any reccomendations on a fog machine for a 30x10 yard? 

im planning on making a chiller for it and using froggys low lying frog juice. Trying to find a machine that wont break the bank but also comes with a timer


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## CraigInPA

The issue outside is wind. If you have more than the very slightest breeze, you won't be able to fully fill the yard even with a commercial fogger if you are distributing the fog from one spot. There's a thread on here somewhere where the poster describes using a series of solid and perforated tubes around the perimeter of his hard to mitigate the effect of wind. For a long thin yard such as yours, you might be able to utilize a similar design with a smaller fogger. My first attempt at fogging outside was with a 900w fogger with the output through drainage tubes filled with frozen bottles of water. It actually worked pretty good and filled the 20x20 foot space. After a while, I had to switch the first few bottles, as they thawed fairly quickly.


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## RJ MacReady

I was thinking of turning my non lit zombie barrel into a chiller and then have pvc piping coming out at a T to cover one side of the walkway inside my fence. Then drilling some holes for the fog to escape. But I have heard wind plays a huge factor. It's late in the game so I might just hold off until next year, reason I'm even considering it is the weather has been nice where I live and that is not always the case here.


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## Cephus404

RJ MacReady said:


> View attachment 509474
> 
> 
> I was thinking of turning my non lit zombie barrel into a chiller and then have pvc piping coming out at a T to cover one side of the walkway inside my fence. Then drilling some holes for the fog to escape. But I have heard wind plays a huge factor. It's late in the game so I might just hold off until next year, reason I'm even considering it is the weather has been nice where I live and that is not always the case here.


Wind is always a killer for fog which is why we're not doing any. It is so windy here all the time that the animated ghost that we have in our graveyard that we had planned to rig a fan to blow around... it doesn't need a fan. In fact, the wind has blown it over and now needs 100lbs of weight to keep it upright. Outdoor fog will probably always be impossible here because of the wind.


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## titleist1

I tried running the fogger into each pipe tonight to compare results and sending it in the pipe that goes up through the ice to the top and out via the short pipe at the bottom of the can worked better for me. This is how CraiginPA described his connection above. The fog stayed lower and it kept seeping out the outlet pipe between run cycles. 

When i tried it the other way the fog would not stay as low, It didn't seem to have the volume as the other way probably because it was dispersing quicker. It would also back out of the inlet pipe between run cycles rather than seep out of the outlet pipe. 

I want to add a fan to improve the distance and seal the lid better, there was some seepage there. It was a good trial run to see what would work best before the big night.


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## Cephus404

The colder you can get your fog, the lower and slower it will be. Heat rises, so running your tubing down hill means that the resulting fog will be colder than fog going the other way. I have a little Kenmore fan that I got at K-Mart for about $10 that works great for blowing fog, but it is going to speed things up and make it dissipate faster, fair warning. If you do it, you'll want the fan at the entry to the chiller, not the exit, which will just chop up the fog and ruin the effect.


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## CraigInPA

@Cephus404: titleist1 was referring to my modification to the classic vortex chiller, outlined in post #274 of this thread (on page 28), where I ran the fog up to the top, had it seep through the ice, and then exit the bottom. To assist the fogger, I used a computer fan at the top of the input to create a positive pressure zone there, and a negative pressure in the input pipe.


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## Huu Minh

I have a Chauvet Hurricane 1800 Flex. Does any one know if WOLFPACK's fog chiller will work OK with this machine? Or should I make it bigger?

PS: I went to page 17 where WolfPack posted his pictures, the pics are wonderful but the attachments are no longer valid. Could someone repost his instruction on how to build this cool vortex fog chiller, please?


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## CraigInPA

Wolfpack's design should work for you, even though you've got a bigger fogger than his original design spec. Note that Wolfpack uses pelletized dry ice to cool his fog. If you are going to use regular ice cubes, you'll want to make the stand for the ice shorter than the 16" he uses, in order to get more ice volume. I use 12" high, but you might even be able to go to 8" or 10" in order to get even more ice in. At a 12" height, I can fit 66 pounds of ice in. Titleist1 reports 80 pounds at 10". Since regular ice will melt faster than pelletized dry ice (which technically dissipates), you want as much as you can get in there in order to avoid refilling the can during the big night. 

You may also find that running the fog into the chiller through the long curved pipe that goes to the top of the can will work better for you with regular ice cubes. The reasons for this are noted in posts numbers 274 and 278, located on page 28, and confirmed by titleist1 in post 283 on this page.

The parts needed for this are a 32 gallon trashcan (I bought mine at Wal-Mart for $9.98), about 4' of 3" PVC cut into a foot long piece (output), a foot long piece (input), and a 2' piece (vertical), a 90 degree 3" pvc bend, about 7' of 1/2" pvc cut into 4 legs (mine are 12") and 4 pieces that make up the top (measure where the top will sit in the can, subtract 3", divide by 2 to get the length), a 4 way 1/2" pvc connector, 4 90 degree 1/2" pvc connectors, a piece of screen with holes smaller than your ice (I found a 2' x 5' roll of 1/2" square opening small animal fence in the fencing department), 8 wire ties (holds the fence to the pvc stand), some 1/2" door insulation with an adhesive side (to make the lid fit tighter), a bungee cord (to hold the lid tight against the insulation), and duct tape (to seal the input and output pipes). If you don't have all the parts laying around, you're likely looking at around $45 to build this. Once I had the raw materials, it took less than 30 minutes to cut and assemble. You'll want to put a new blade in your box cutter before you try to tackle the trash can cuts, unless you are lucky enough to have a hole saw the correct size for the 3" pipe exterior diameter. You'll also want to cut your fencing to a 2' square, and bend it into find the correct diameter in the can, which will likely be slightly larger than your stand. I didn't bother gluing any of the pvc joints. The stand joints will stay together with the pressure of the ice forcing them together. The 3" pvc joints have no pressure on them at all, so they won't fall apart.


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## Huu Minh

That is some good instruction CraigInPA, and some very helpful tips too. I just finished shopping for supply. Did the price go up since you finished yours?  My total adds up to about $60.

I got everything you suggested except for one item. I'm not sure what kind of insulation you're talking about. Is it the long round plumbing insulation or the flat insulation for doors and windows? I'm also wondering about the melted ice on the bottom of the trash can. Do you have to drill holes on the bottom to drain? Aso, is the clearance space between the top of the vertical tube and the bottom of the lid 2" or 3"? Thanks in advance, CraigInPA.

Edit: My bad. I read your post again and you did mention it's 1/2" door insulation. So I got a roll of 1/2" wide x 5/16" thick x 10' long weatherstrip seal for doors and windows at Walmart for $6.96. 

I also got a gallon of Bog Fog juice. Have you tried this juice?


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## CraigInPA

When I built mine, I didn't have to buy the large pipe or any of the pipe fittings because I had them in my scraps pile. At a $60 build cost, this is still a pretty cheap prop part (especially since it will basically last forever). The insulation you got is the correct stuff. I put a pair of 1/2" holes in the bottom of the can. I used 4" as the top distance because, on the top of the up-pipe I put a floor flange with a fan taped into it, which added 2" of additional height, so I'm about 2" from the top rim of the trash can. I'm not sure that there's a any difference between a gap of 2" or 3" from the top if you're piping the hot fog to the top (my method), but there may be a difference if you're piping the cold fog down from the top (wolfpack's method). 

I've never used Bog Fog. I've used the Chauvet fog juice, Froggy's Freezin' Fog, and Froggy's Swamp Juice. The Froggy's products produced significantly better fog than the Chauvet juice. Froggy's recommends Freezin' Fog for outdoor use, so that's what I've been using for the last few years.


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## Huu Minh

Are you an engineer, CraigInPA? You really take everything and turn it a notch higher. I like the idea of the top flange with the fan attaches to it. How did it turn out for you?

Before I bought a gallon of Bog Fog, I did a little research. Both Bog Fog and Freezin Fog are made by the same company. Base on the reviewers from Amazon, people seem to like Bog Fog juice more (more people buying and higher rating). But most of people here use Freein Fog for their fog chilling devices.









Edit: I found this info from the seller who sells Freezin Fog. 



> Bog Fog is an extremely dense fog made for white out conditions.
> The Freezin fog was designed to work great through a chiller thus creating an amazing low lying, ground fog.


So now I know the difference between the two.


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## JT5298

Should I even bother with my fog chiller this year? It's only going to be about 40 degrees at TOTer time.


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## CraigInPA

The fog coming out of the fogger will still be hot, causing it to rise even in 40 degree weather. Running it through the chiller gets it into the 30's. With 40 degree air temp, no wind, and chilled fog, you'll have an awesome low lying fog!


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## JT5298

CraigInPA said:


> The fog coming out of the fogger will still be hot, causing it to rise even in 40 degree weather. Running it through the chiller gets it into the 30's. With 40 degree air temp, no wind, and chilled fog, you'll have an awesome low lying fog!


Great! I thought warmer temps had a better effect on how low the fog would be.
Thanks


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## TosaTerror

Yea, I live in Wisconsin and it was in the upper 30s during my ToT last night, but I still ran my fog machine through my chiller. Since the fog and the air temp was roughly the same I didn't get that nice ground affect I wanted. You need that air temp to be at least in the 50's in my opinion. I think the bigger the variance between the air temp and the fog temp, the better the ground fog will be. I could have ran my fog through all the ice in the world, and I still wouldn't get my fog output cold enough to achieve nice ground fog when the air temp is just above freezing. I've notice when people post awesome ground fog pics/videos on this site, they are all from warm locations (North Carolina, Texas, etc..). Those are ideal locations to achieve that type of fog this time of the year. Especially when there's no wind. 

However, the night wasn't a total loss, I still had some awesome fog coverage throughout my graveyard. The fog itself didn't stay low to the ground, but rather spread about 15 feet in the air. At times it was so thick I couldn't see the sidewalk when I was standing by my garage. I had to cut it back at times when the little kids were approaching. However, when older kids were approaching, it was full on. 

I've attached some pics of my setup, and the fog coverage last night. As you can see I put a fan next to my output and that really projected the fog out into my yard. That made a huge difference! All in all I was very pleased with the results. This was my first time using this type of chiller, and even though I was hoping for the low laying fog...this was very satisfying. On a side note....damn does that 1301 Chauvet kick out some serious fog...unreal!


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## CraigInPA

In my community, ToTers get "two bites at the apple". 

The first is following the children's Halloween party, which is always held on a Saturday. About a half dozen homes turn it all on for the kids who don't live in the community full time (my community is 50% vacation homes). The weather was windy, with a stiff 10mph breeze and gusts to 15mph, with an air temp of 50. My fog slithered out of the chiller, went about 2 feet, and was dissipated almost immediately. Attempts to get a video of it were a total failure. We had a dozen kids stop by and get candy. 

On Halloween day, the wind was howling. 20mph winds most of the day. As the sun set, they decreased to 5mph, and the temperature dropped to 40. The fog slithered out of the chiller, and went maybe 5 feet before it got blown around the graveyard. Fortunately, the fog stayed pretty much intact, but it was moving wherever the wind pushed it about 4 feet off the ground. The ToTers walking down the driveway loved the fog blowing by them, but I was less than thrilled that the wind wouldn't stop long enough for me to video the fog chiller's performance. We had about 80 ToTers collect candy, and QUITE a lot of adults who came over "just to see the display".

Things I learned from actually running the chiller two nights:
1. 66 pounds of ice is WAY more than is needed for 3 hours of fogging. 
2. My reverse-reverse chiller with a helper fan (blows the hot fog into the top of the can, where it goes down through the ice) works really well except that the fog hits the trash can lid and is forced to the outside. That means the ice around the edge of the can melts faster than the center. At the end of the first night, the ice was down to about 4" thick on the edge and a solid block 12" thick in the middle. The second night, I mounded the ice around the edge of the can and had less in the center. At the end of the night, the edge was down a little from the center, but not by much.
3. A Chauvet H1301 on continuous fog goes through a gallon of juice in about 4 hours. I wasn't prepared for that amount, so I had to use Chauvet's juice for the last 2 hours. Freezin' Fog stayed visibly lower than Chauvet's, even though they both rose due to the wind. Chauvet's also had an odor, not unpleasant, whereas Froggy's did not.


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## fallex

Thanks to everyone for contributing to this forum. I was able to build a pretty successful vortex fog chiller for my haunt this year. Thought I’d share a couple of things I learned along the way for anyone else looking to build one from scratch..

Despite what I’ve read from most posters around the internet on these chillers, I found my fog chiller worked best in reverse. That is, hot fog goes into the pipe which turns 90 degrees towards the roof of the chiller. Settles through the dry ice, then exits the small pipe near the base (normally the inlet pipe). This provided me with the best results. I found when I ran the chiller in “normal” mode through the Y connector, I was getting a lot of back flow. So I switched it around and poof, worked much better.

I also use a simple 1000W spirit fogger as I can’t justify the cost for a more expensive one currently. To compensate for a smaller fogger, I used a 36L garbage can vs the larger Brute cans shown in many tutorials with Chauvet foggers. Although this produced less over fog as the off cycle time is longer, I used 30lbs of dry ice to extend the hang time of the fog. 

Dry ice is superior for many reasons. Since it sublimates into mist instead of melting it will not pool into liquid at the bottom of your chiller reducing its effectiveness. It’s -78 degrees Celsius (-109 Fahrenheit) so it should have a much greater cooling effect on your fog. It also cooled not just the metal grate my ice rested on, but the entire lower half of my can. I think this contributed to the over cooling effect to the fog.

Unfortunately I do not have access to high quality fog juice, as such was forced to use lessor quality brand. Although I had a decent effect, I can’t help but think I would have been much better using higher quality juice.

















Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## jscaldwell

fallex said:


> Thanks to everyone for contributing to this forum. I was able to build a pretty successful vortex fog chiller for my haunt this year. Thought I’d share a couple of things I learned along the way for anyone else looking to build one from scratch..
> 
> Despite what I’ve read from most posters around the internet on these chillers, I found my fog chiller worked best in reverse. That is, hot fog goes into the pipe which turns 90 degrees towards the roof of the chiller. Settles through the dry ice, then exits the small pipe near the base (normally the inlet pipe). This provided me with the best results. I found when I ran the chiller in “normal” mode through the Y connector, I was getting a lot of back flow. So I switched it around and poof, worked much better.
> 
> I also use a simple 1000W spirit fogger as I can’t justify the cost for a more expensive one currently. To compensate for a smaller fogger, I used a 36L garbage can vs the larger Brute cans shown in many tutorials with Chauvet foggers. Although this produced less over fog as the off cycle time is longer, I used 30lbs of dry ice to extend the hang time of the fog.
> 
> Dry ice is superior for many reasons. Since it sublimates into mist instead of melting it will not pool into liquid at the bottom of your chiller reducing its effectiveness. It’s -78 degrees Celsius (-109 Fahrenheit) so it should have a much greater cooling effect on your fog. It also cooled not just the metal grate my ice rested on, but the entire lower half of my can. I think this contributed to the over cooling effect to the fog.
> 
> Unfortunately I do not have access to high quality fog juice, as such was forced to use lessor quality brand. Although I had a decent effect, I can’t help but think I would have been much better using higher quality juice.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


I've thought about trying dry ice as well, but a) I use a bigger (55 gal?) can for my cooling, and b) assumed ice would be cheaper. What form was your dry ice in pellets, chunks, or blocks? If blocks, I assume you smashed it up before using it?


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## fallex

Fortunately Praxair, the company I bought my dry ice from, sold it in pellets, which were about the size of regular ice cubes. So very little work on my end prepping it for use. 

There was also a sale on during Halloween. It was sold at 0.70/lb CDN. So $20 to fill my chiller for the night was reasonable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## scaryflying

Has anyone ever used one of these to create a vortex chiller? I love the trash can idea and I'm looking at ways to insulate it. Searching Craiglist I came across a few of these coolers and wonder if the would work.


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## CraigInPA

The ice melts because the fog comes out of the machine hot, not because of the ambient air around the chiller. Unless the environment where you're going to put the chiller is over 70 or 80 degrees, it's not likely that you'd save any appreciable amount of ice in the 4-5 hours you might be running this on Halloween night using an insulated cooler versus a cheap trash can from wal-mart.


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## scaryflying

CraigInPA said:


> The ice melts because the fog comes out of the machine hot, not because of the ambient air around the chiller. Unless the environment where you're going to put the chiller is over 70 or 80 degrees, it's not likely that you'd save any appreciable amount of ice in the 4-5 hours you might be running this on Halloween night using an insulated cooler versus a cheap trash can from wal-mart.



Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. 

This will be my first time building a chiller and I'm super excited about how it will change the look of my cemetery.  

I have one Chauvet 1300 and ordering a second one. I live in the south and it can still be warm on Halloween, but not hot. Of course I don't want to spend more than I have to and a black trash can will also be easier since it's black and won't have to be painted. 

Have you ever mixed ice and dry ice or is just straight ice better?


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## CraigInPA

I don't have a ready source of dry ice where I am, but others have mentioned that they use dry ice exclusively. Note that most of them are running smaller chillers than a full size trash can, with similar results to a trash can. The key here is that you need to make sure the fog goes over the surface of the ice or dry ice, and doesn't have a path that can avoid contact with the ice or dry ice.


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## scaryflying

CraigInPA said:


> I don't have a ready source of dry ice where I am, but others have mentioned that they use dry ice exclusively. Note that most of them are running smaller chillers than a full size trash can, with similar results to a trash can. The key here is that you need to make sure the fog goes over the surface of the ice or dry ice, and doesn't have a path that can avoid contact with the ice or dry ice.



Have you had to refill your ice or is it enough for an entire evening?


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## CraigInPA

I put 66 pounds in at the start of the night and had about 50 pounds left at the end of the night. The second time I ran it, I put in 48 pounds, and had about 30 pounds remaining at the end of the night. Each night was between 3 and 4 hours.


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## scaryflying

Would it help if I bought a larger trash can?


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## scaryflying

Or maybe 55 gallon plastic barrels? At $12 they are a good deal and could hold more ice than a smaller trash can.


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## CraigInPA

Help in what way? 

A larger can would require more ice because it's likely larger in diameter. If you could find a tall thin can, you'd require less ice.


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## scaryflying

Got it! So bigger isn't better. Thanks


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## scaryflying

One more question.......


Froggy's Fog's Volumizer Crystal? 

Is that worth ordering?


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## butthead

My biggest problem is getting that freaking holes and pipe in there together. I suck at doing stuff like this, unless I have a good tutorial on how to do it. What I did last year sucked ghost nuts. Can someone point me to a video or so easy instructions an idiot who is unable to hammer a nail in straight. Literally, I can't hammer a nail in straight. I've been shown many times, and I can't get it right most of the time.


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## Badge

Let me get some links and show you the simplicity of mine.


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## Badge

Here is mine how to and the results. Very simple and very effective.

https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/4taNjrhr0DXF1wIeaC77fJiGOzwk1pd0ZmSWx3wFFXD

https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/3ZHgRN453T0b245yJ28RE0baxUKDqLrlf0xjRFZ9y6B


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## bobby2003

Badge said:


> Here is mine how to and the results. Very simple and very effective.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/4taNjrhr0DXF1wIeaC77fJiGOzwk1pd0ZmSWx3wFFXD
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/3ZHgRN453T0b245yJ28RE0baxUKDqLrlf0xjRFZ9y6B


I am so stoked right now. I spent about 30 minutes in the pvc aisle of my local Lowes two weekends ago trying to piece together pieces of pvc connector to figure out how I was going to securely attach the pipes to my fog chiller and was basically out of ideas since nothing seemed to quite fit together. As I was leaving the aisle in despair I saw the same flanges you are using, had one of those EUREKA!! moments, grabbed a few and hoped for the best. I hadn't put it together yet so I wasn't quite sure if it would work correctly but I feel better now. I wish that video had been posted two weeks ago I could have saved some time.


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## Badge

I know what you mean, I scratched my head many times trying to find a good clean solution that didn't involve spraying expanding phone and junk all over it. The result was better than I hoped for. When you wrench down on the nuts and bolts to clamp it all together the flanges really compress the plastic of the garbage can. I have 0 leaks at either of the two ports. The top is the only area that some fog escapes.


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## SkeleTom

You can get some weatherstripping foam and line the inside of the lid where it sits on the rim of the trash can. I drape a black cloth on top of mine to hide it, and a resin tombstone to weight the lid down a little. Leakage out the top is not an issue that way, and with it tucked back in the ranks of tombstones, it blends right in.


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## Zombie4*

This is a neat idea and all but can get expensive quickly. Thise flanges cost $7 each! The easiest way is a garbage can with dryer vent tubing. It cost 1/4 of the vortex and has the same results....minus all the leaking issues also. I litterley slapped this chiller together in 10 minutes last year???


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## SkeleTom

Make your chiller out of a square-sided trash can and you can use plain old pipe couplers. They are only about 3 bucks apiece. Saw a coupler in half, or maybe quarters to get more parts out of one coupler. Use a hole saw the right size for the outside diameter of the pipe, and clip the pipe in place with a slice of coupler on either side. A little dab of pvc cement to hold it all in place and you are good to go.


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## kakugori

I've now built two of the cat litter bucket style from the original post, and am quite happy with them. One fill from a bag of ice lasts all night (using my 1000w fog machine for 4-5 hours, in some pretty warm temperatures - with a 400w machine I've had ice chips leftover the next morning), and minimal issues with leaking (only around the hinge in the lid, which is a weak piece of plastic easily repaired with some duct tape). I haven't felt the need for a bigger one, or extra insulation, and these are so easy to hide, carry, and store.


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## TosaTerror

Badge said:


> Here is mine how to and the results. Very simple and very effective.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/4taNjrhr0DXF1wIeaC77fJiGOzwk1pd0ZmSWx3wFFXD
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/3ZHgRN453T0b245yJ28RE0baxUKDqLrlf0xjRFZ9y6B


Where do you live? I see your kid is in shorts, so the temp has to be at least 65-70 degrees, right? Being that it's still summer(ish) the warm air temp for creating ground fog is ideal right now. Come Halloween, if you live in the Midwest, NE or NW I'm curious if this can be recreated when it's 30 or 40 degrees colder?

I basically have the same design, but my fog just lingers around 6-10 feet in the air because I live in WI. The air temp here around Halloween (30-40 degrees) isn't conducive for creating fog, even after running it through a chiller. I'm praying that it can be 50 degrees this year on Halloween, I would love to have that ground fog you have. I've seen some great ground fog videos on this site, mostly because I think those people all seem to be from the south....or the video was taken before the temp drops early in the Fall/late Summer.


On a side note, does anyone live in the colder regions of the country (where it gets down to 30-40 at night around Halloween), and still is able to achieve good ground fog like this? I'm curious what your secret is. I believe engineering can only take you so far with these chillers, the air temp and wind really determines how effective your ground fog can be.


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## Badge

I live in Georgia those videos were in October of last year. It is in the 70’s here during Halloween.


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## TosaTerror

Badge said:


> I live in Georgia those videos were in October of last year. It is in the 70’s here during Halloween.


Ah... I was afraid of that. I was holding onto hope you were from the Midwest and were able to produce that same ground fog in cold weather.


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## Zombie4*

TosaTerror said:


> Badge said:
> 
> 
> 
> I live in Georgia those videos were in October of last year. It is in the 70’s here during Halloween.
> 
> 
> 
> Ah... I was afraid of that. I was holding onto hope you were from the Midwest and were able to produce that same ground fog in cold weather.
Click to expand...

I live in Ohio. The temperature was around 48 degrees last year. My chiller worked amazingly! I'm not sure how much colder it is where you live?


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## Taddy

Hi Guys!

I'm going to make one of these soon! I was wondering what way round to input the fog? I have a 400 watt machine, this forum seems to state put the fog input from the bottom pipe and let it rise through the top pipe (L shaped) but a video i have found seems to state the opposite? I guess i can try either way when i've made it but what do you guys recomend?

Link to the video:
Ah can't post links youtube title:
How to make a DIY Fog Chiller | WICKED MAKERS

Thanks


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## Badge

It is the opposite, the fog enters the bottom chamber straight in from the machine then the hot fog rises up through the ice and exits down the "L" shaped pipe.


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## Huu Minh

Badge said:


> Here is mine how to and the results. Very simple and very effective.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/4taNjrhr0DXF1wIeaC77fJiGOzwk1pd0ZmSWx3wFFXD
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/3ZHgRN453T0b245yJ28RE0baxUKDqLrlf0xjRFZ9y6B


Hi Badge,

I love your version of fog chiller. I went and get some closet flanges at Home Depot about $4/each. Since I have some 3" tube at home so I got the 3" type flanges. I tried to get the same mesh like yours but I couldn't find it. Would you mind tell me where you get it from?

Edit: Oh, by the way did you drill your 4" hole using hole saw or you just used a knife to cut? Sorry for the silly question.


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## Badge

I bought a mesh 18” pizza pan off amazon for like 7 bucks and cut off the rim. I also bought a metal mesh from homedepot in a roll back by the chain link fencing. 

I did use a hole saw to cut perfect holes.


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## Huu Minh

Thanks Badge. I think you got a great deal on Amazon. The one I found costs about $18 ( amazon.com/dp/B01N6PMDOR/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01N6PMDOR ) 

Look like I'm going to make a trip back to HD and and hopefully I can find something similar to yours in the fencing department.


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## Taddy

Hi! Thanks Badge I assumed it was the opposite! I was thinking would it be good to put a bit of plastic between the inlet pipe and the exhaust? Just thinking the fog coming in might heat the pipe up as the cold air is exiting a little bit? I thought maybe a piece of plastic at an angle towards the enterance would allow it to cool better?

Picture of kinda what i mean below (red hot air geen cold)

imgur. com/a/Wqt8wdr
(can't post links boo)
I haven't made one yet so not sure how much the ambiant pipe heat changes it when the fog in blasting on it.

Thanks


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## TosaTerror

Zombie, it's been in the 30s the past couple of Halloweens that I've used my chiller. What setup do you use? Are you the one that releases the fog in tubes with holes in it throughout your yard?


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## kakugori

Nope, the fog needs a bit of room to expand as it enters the chiller. In the bottom, rise up, cool, condense, fall out the L shape pipe. Hot fog moving UP through the ice is part of what helps it cool, so you don't want to close that off. The "exit" L-shaped pipe is a little bit higher up on the container, not directly opposite the intake, which keeps it away from the initial blast of hot fog.


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## jmax5105

Badge, I love the results you are getting out of your chiller. I live in Utah, and like Tosa, we are usually around the upper 30s to low 40s come Halloween and it's hard to get low lying fog at those temps. Because of space and what I want to do, I am wanting to put my fog machine on top of my garbage can chiller (same kind you have Badge), and shoot it into the top of the garbage can (imagine shooting it straight across the top of the garbage can and then it hits a PVC U bend that redirects it into the top of the garbage can). I have the PVC and mesh setup just like in the bottom of the one that is shown in Badge's video, and put ice on top of that, just no PVC pipe inside the garbage can - just an outlet hole in the bottom so that the fog enters into the top, settles down through the ice, and then exits the bottom. I would think that the fog has time to expand and cool before it hits the outlet but wanted to get your thoughts. It's an UGLY setup, but for what I want to do, I really would like to be able to have the fog machine sitting on top of the garbage can and enclose it all together. I will post pics later if that helps. What fog fluid do you all prefer? I've been using Froggy's Freezin' Fog so far but don't know much about the others that are out there.

Edit: I am losing my mind... I read through some previous posts and saw that I had basically already posted this question (WITH a pic of my chiller design - post #236) I may go and see about getting some of the flanges that bolt together so I can get rid of the duct tape holding the U up. - Adding it now.


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## Huu Minh

Badge said:


> I bought a mesh 18” pizza pan off amazon for like 7 bucks and cut off the rim. I also bought a metal mesh from homedepot in a roll back by the chain link fencing.
> 
> I did use a hole saw to cut perfect holes.


Hi Badge,

Base on the look of the pizza screen, is it a little too thick for the fog to come through? I saw some chicken wire (it has some green color on the outside) at HD but I like your mesh better since it seems more sturdy. So I'm just wondering if the thickness of pizza mesh affects the fog flow at all?


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## Badge

No effect whatsoever.


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## Huu Minh

Badge said:


> No effect whatsoever.


Thanks Badge. I just placed an order on Amazon for an 18" pizza mesh for $11. A little pricey but I think it'll worth it.


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## WOLFPACK7483

Here's a clip of my Vortex Chiller in action for a test run. Great effect. Will save you hundreds of dollars on the commercial
units and work just as well if not better as you will see.

https://youtu.be/qLwRtOkwi0E

I used the Chauvet regular fog juice for this test with the top chamber only half full of pelleted dry ice. Temperature in NC was around 65* - 70* as I recall. I later sealed the top with pipe foam insulation.﻿ Not really sure how many lbs of dry ice were used, I filled it to within a couple of inches from the inside
top of the can. This forces it back down and out through the exit pipe. In this initial test, the trash can was only half full of dry ice. With it filled to the top, should last 3 hours or more.





﻿


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## Huu Minh

That was awesome WOLFPACK7483. I wish temperature where I live (WA) a little warmer. Right now it's in the mid to low 40s at night. I like your fog. The dry ice really made that fog come out thick and dense. I'll search to see if they have dry ice in grocery stores. Hopefully Safeway carries some.


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## mikey23

Hey Wofpack 7483, where did you find the dry ice. I had a hard time last year finding some at the last minute.


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## Huu Minh

With you guys' help, I was able to build one for myself. Thanks to Wolfpack, Badge, CraigInPA for your instruction and inspiration.

Here are some photo and a video of my vortex chiller:


































































































































Fog chiller in action:






Here is the list of material I used:


32 gallon trash can.
1/2" PVC pipe for stand [about 7 feet to make 4 legs (12" each) and 4 pieces for the top (measure where the top will sit in the can, subtract 3", divide by 2 to get the lenght)].
1 roll of weatherstrip seal.
4 way 1/2" PVC connector (qt: 1).
90 degree 3" PVC bend (qt: 1).
90 degree 1/2" PVC connectors (qt: 4).
18" pizza mesh screen (qt: 1).
3" closet / toilet flange (qt: 4)
3" PVC pipe about 2 feet long for vertical tube.
3" PVC pipe about 6.5 inch long to connect the 90 degree bend and the flange together.
1/4" bolt 1.5 in long (qt: 8)
1/4" washers (qt: 8).
1/4" nuts (qt: 8)
For my test, I used a combination of half dry ice and half regular ice cubes for a total of 47 lbs which occupied about half of the trash can. Luckily it was a sunny day in the Pacific Northwest with temperature in the low 60s and not too much wind. After one hour test I still had about half of ice left inside. I painted black the stand and the long tube to match with the black trash can and the closet flanges (which cost about $4/each at Home Depot).

In the video if you noticed I tried both ends of the tubes. Both methods worked fine and produced about the same amount of fog output and same effect. The first take was when I tried to use the long end as the inlet and fog exit through the short end. The second take was when I switched and used the short end as the inlet and long end as the outlet. Although it worked fine, but the only thing I don't like about this was the back flow of fog from the short tube as you may see in the video. Therefore I just used the long tube as the inlet for the rest of the test. This way fog went up in the long tube to the top chamber and was forced down through the ice to the lower chamber, then exit through the short tube at the bottom.

For this test I used a Chavet 1800 which really helped pushing the fog spread far out beyond 12 feet.

UPDATE: On my second test, I used only regular ice. It took 8 bags of 10 lb/each to fill the whole trash can for a total of 80 lbs. This is what I started with:










After 45 minutes there was only 2/3 of the ice remain. Here is what was left:










Notice 2 big chunks of ice formed after only 45 minutes of running time:










Here is the video using only regular ice (please click here if you can't view the below video:






On this second test I did not have much success since there was some wind so the fog almost disappeared after a few seconds. But I did notice a big difference between the two tests. On the second test using just regular ice, when the ice cubes started to melt and cling to each other, the fog really didn't get cold fast enough before exiting and therefore didn't lay low on the ground. On my first test with both dry & wet ice, the fog really got colder and therefore stayed closer to the ground surface. I think the dry ice also helped in slowing down the melting process of regular ice and not a lot of water stayed at the bottom of the trash can at the end of the test.

One big plus with using regular ice was the price since it costs only $2 for a 10 lb bag.

UPDATE 2: Well, Halloween night was not a good night for me since it was raining and windy with temperature in the 50s. So everything had to be indoor inside my garage. Although with a trash can full with dry ice from Praxair I wasn't able to have a decent lying ground fog due to high wind. But that didn't stop the kids from having a fun night. Lots of candies were given out. Check out the amount of candy. That's 360 bars!










One side note for those who'd like to use dry ice and wonder how much would be enough for one night, I recommend 35 - 40 lbs of dry ice would last you about 4 hours. I had my trash can filled with 75 lbs of dry ice nuggets and after 6 hours I still had a little over 1/4 of dry ice left!

** Tips on where to purchase dry ice **

To purchase dry ice near your location, I recommend you to check out Praxair. I think they have 3 different types of dry ice (blocks, nuggets, rice pelltes). Click *here* if you'd like to check out their dry ice info. For their store location, please visit here and enter your zipcode: https://www.praxairdirect.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/AjaxStoreLocatorDisplayView?catalogId=10051&langId=-1&storeId=10152. Their dry ice (nuggets form) is very decent and about the size of regular ice cubes. I beleive they sell it for $1.25 / lb.

For Penguin brand dry ice please go here and enter your zip code: Where to buy dry ice | Penguin Brand Dry Ice®. Most Fred Myer stores carry Penguin’s dry ice. I believe they sell it for $1.59 / lb in 10"x10"x2" block and weigh about 10 lbs per block. I had to break them into smaller pieces for the fog to have more contact with the ice and to go through before exiting.

For Continental Carbonic dry ice, please check out: Dry Ice Store Locator | Where to Buy Dry Ice from Continental Carbonic

If you live in NE check out Dry Ice Corp. Retail dry ice pricing ranges from $1.00 to $1.60 per pound with minimum purchase of 10 to 25 pounds. Their website is at Regional Consumer Sales & Emergency Services - Dry Ice Corp

Or you just simply go here and enter area code to find dry ice near you: Dry Ice Directory - Where to buy Dry Ice in the US & Canada

If you prefer to order dry ice online, check out: Dry Ice Delivered

** How to clean the fogger **

I own 3 different fog machines. This is how I cleaned them:

1 - Run the fogger with white pure distilled vinegar until no more white smoke coming out and only clear steam shooting out. This takes about 20 minutes.
2 - Run the fogger with distilled water (not mineral water) for another 20 minutes to flush all vinegar out.
3 - Finish off with good fog juice for 5 - 10 minutes.
4 - Empty the tank.
4 - Clean the filter at the end of the tube.
5 - Wipe down the machine and store it away for next season.


----------



## Taddy

Thank you so much for the images and the video! I've read this page many times but it's nice to see it all in one post! Awesome contributions everyone!

A couple of questions if you don't mind!
How does the weatheseal help does it attach to the lid when it's closed? The image i can't really tell!
Would you be able to do a test with just regular ice for me? It's near impossible or costs an arm and a leg to get it delivered in the UK £5.25/lb!!!!!
Also did you test any other fog juices or did you go straight for the froggys?

Thanks again!


----------



## Huu Minh

Taddy said:


> Thank you so much for the images and the video! I've read this page many times but it's nice to see it all in one post! Awesome contributions everyone!
> 
> A couple of questions if you don't mind!
> How does the weatheseal help does it attach to the lid when it's closed? The image i can't really tell!
> Would you be able to do a test with just regular ice for me? It's near impossible or costs an arm and a leg to get it delivered in the UK £5.25/lb!!!!!
> Also did you test any other fog juices or did you go straight for the froggys?
> 
> Thanks again!


The weatherstrip seal came with glue on one side so I attached it to the outer rim of the garbage can. It didn't stick to the lid but the rim only. When putting on the lid it really helped sealing any opening in between and I had zero leak.

I understand dry ice is expensive even here in the US. I might do another test with regular ice later and will let you know if I do. In UK I can imagine how cold it is on Halloween night, but if you still want to have that low lying fog on the ground you must make the fog a lot colder than the air temperature. So look like dry ice is your best bet. Another option I may suggest is if you bring it indoor like your garage where it's a little warmer and less windy, you might be able to make it work with regular ice cubes. I'm thinking about building a garage indoor cemetery this year since it's always cold and windy where I live on Halloween night.

I used Freezin Fog and Bog Fog from Froggy only with good result. I like Bog Fog for its thick and dense look kind of fog.


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## Taddy

Huu Minh said:


> The weatherstrip seal came with glue on one side so I attached it to the outer rim of the garbage can. It didn't stick to the lid but the rim only. When putting on the lid it really helped sealing any opening in between and I had zero leak.
> 
> I understand dry ice is expensive even here in the US. I might do another test with regular ice later and will let you know if I do. In UK I can imagine how cold it is on Halloween night, but if you still want to have that low lying fog on the ground you must make the fog a lot colder than the air temperature. So look like dry ice is your best bet. Another option I may suggest is if you bring it indoor like your garage where it's a little warmer and less windy, you might be able to make it work with regular ice cubes. I'm thinking about building a garage indoor cemetery this year since it's always cold and windy where I live on Halloween night.
> 
> I used Freezin Frog and Bog Fog from Froggy only with good result. I like Bog Fog for its thick and dense look kind of fog.


Thank you so much for the second test!! It looks a lot better than i expected it too aswell! Amazing buil thank you - it does get a lot colder here as you said so i might just have to make due and have more in air fog haha


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## JT5298

Huu Minh,
Great job on your chiller! I have a question about the half and half mixture of dry ice and regular ice. Did you put the dry ice on top or bottom of the regular ice. I don't know if it would matter but just wondering. I have a place here in town that has dry ice pellets and regular blocks of dry ice. Not sure which would be better and it will probably come down to price as to which I buy. I plan to do this this year weather permitting (wind).
Thanks.


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## Huu Minh

JT5298 said:


> Huu Minh,
> Great job on your chiller! I have a question about the half and half mixture of dry ice and regular ice. Did you put the dry ice on top or bottom of the regular ice. I don't know if it would matter but just wondering. I have a place here in town that has dry ice pellets and regular blocks of dry ice. Not sure which would be better and it will probably come down to price as to which I buy. I plan to do this this year weather permitting (wind).
> Thanks.


JT5298,

From my second test I noticed that regular ice melts faster than dry ice. So I would avoid letting regular ice makes direct contact with hot fog. That means I would put regular ice in the middle so the dry ice helps in slowing down regular ice's melting process. If you don't have enough dry ice to cover both top and bottom, I would put dry ice in first, then regular ice since I assume you'd use the small tube as your inlet. If you're like me and prefer to use the other end of the tube (the long tube) as your inlet, I'd put regular ice in first then dry ice on top. That way hot air would always comes in contact with dry ice first so regular ice would stay cold and last longer.

If I have a choice, I'd preffer pellet dry ice over block dry ice since hot fog needs to go through cold ice as long as it could to make it cool down as much as posible before exiting. That way cold fog would be heavier than air and stay low on the ground.


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## JT5298

Huu Minh said:


> JT5298,
> 
> From my second test I noticed that regular ice melts a lot faster than dry ice. So I would avoid letting regular ice makes direct contact with hot fog. That means I would put regular ice in the middle so the dry ice helps in slowing down regular ice's melting process. If you don't have enough dry ice to cover both top and bottom, I would put dry ice in first, then regular ice since I assume you'd use the small tube as your inlet. If you're like me and prefer to use the other end of the tube (the long tube) as your inlet, I'd put regular ice in first then dry ice on top. That way hot air would always comes in contact with dry ice first so regular ice would stay cold and last longer.
> 
> If I have a choice, I'd preffer pellet dry ice over block dry ice since hot fog needs to go through cold ice as long as it could to make it cool down as much as posible before exiting. That way cold fog would be heavier than air and stay low on the ground.


I set my chiller up the same as you did with the long curved pipe as the inlet and the short one as the outlet. Seemed to work better for me as well. The dry ice pellets are about $1 a lb. so I was maybe going to do a third or half which would be about 25 to 40 dollars. Guess it really depends on the forecast. Hard to predict wind though. Hopefully it will be calm or my investment will how they say "go up in smoke."


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## thisain'tmayberry

CraigInPA said:


> I have a classic vortex chiller. 32 gallon trash can ($9.98 at Wal-Mart), 1/2" pvc frame (12" high due to my use of ice cubes, as opposed to 16" high for use with dry ice pellets), stainless 1/2" mesh held on to the pvc with zip ties, 3" input and 3" output, and 66 pounds of ice cubes. I'm running a Chauvet H1301 into it snug to the input side (i.e., no Y pipe). While it's good as designed, I made it better... At the top of the input (input comes through the side of the can, turns 90 degrees upward, and then ends about 3" from the top of the lid), I installed a 3" toilet floor flange. In the flange, I added a computer fan blowing upwards.
> 
> By doing thist, I've created a high pressure zone in the top of the can. This means that all the fog the machine produces is pulled upward into the can. The high pressure at the top of the can forces the fog through the ice. So, more or less, I get a continuous stream of fog, even though the fogger pauses in "continuous" mode. In order to prevent fog from leaking around the lid, I added 1/2" wide by 3/8" tall door insulation to the lid flange.
> 
> I could have placed the fan on the output side, at the bottom of the can, but for a few issues: 1. there's water dripping inside the can, so you don't want electrical stuff there, 2. putting the fan outside the unit would have required a better fit with the duct, 3. putting the fan on the output side would create a low pressure area at the bottom of the can, which could draw outside air into the can through my poorly cut input and output holes, eliminating the benefit of the fan.
> 
> I'm also distributing my fog through 4" black irrigation pipe (that's the corrugated flexible stuff with holes cut into it). Without the fan, I could get it to ooze out about 10' away. With the fan, It's easily doing the full 20' of pipe, giving a much better distribution than using the trash bag over the output pipe ever did.


Interesting concept, I'll have to give this a try. What CFM fan did you end up using? I would think it wouldn't take too much to pressurize the chamber; too much might disturb the fog.


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## Huu Minh

TosaTerror said:


> does anyone live in the colder regions of the country (where it gets down to 30-40 at night around Halloween), and still is able to achieve good ground fog like this? I'm curious what your secret is. I believe engineering can only take you so far with these chillers, the air temp and wind really determines how effective your ground fog can be.


The secret is getting your fog colder than the air temp. The colder your fog is the lower it stays on the ground. Dry ice is fog’s best friend. But as you already knew, wind is fog's worst enemy and always the winner.


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## Huu Minh

Just watched this on YouTube and looked interesting. Thought I might just share it here. Courtesy from Mike Johnson. Click here if you can't view the below video.






I actually laughed when seeing this because it reminded me how silly I was the first time I tested my fogger indoor. All my alarms went nuts and I couldn't see my way to the doors. It took a little while to clear all the fog.  The gentleman in the video seems like a funny, charming person and knows what's he doing.


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## BarryJ

After being a long time trashcan chiller proponent, I finally built a vortex. (I couldn't believe the output would be noticeably better). After a makeshift test with forty lbs. of ice and no sealing, I'm completely sold. It completely outperforms my dryer hose chiller. The only drawback would seem to be ice consumption, which appears to be greater....


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## Huu Minh

BarryJ said:


> After being a long time trashcan chiller proponent, I finally built a vortex. (I couldn't believe the output would be noticeably better). After a makeshift test with forty lbs. of ice and no sealing, I'm completely sold. It completely outperforms my dryer hose chiller. The only drawback would seem to be ice consumption, which appears to be greater....


Congratulation BarryJ. It would be nice to see it in action the next time you run it. Weather in Riverside, CA right now must be still warm enough to have nice low lying ground fog.


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## BarryJ

Huu Minh said:


> Congratulation BarryJ. It would be nice to see it in action the next time you run it. Weather in Riverside, CA right now must be still warm enough to have nice low lying ground fog.


I'll try to get a video this weekend after I fine tune it and seal it better.

Yea, I usually start Halloween night in the low seventies with it dipping into the sixties by night's end. My big problem is the wind, but the long tern forecast isn't it showing Santa Anas...


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## Renfield

Huu Minh said:


> With you guys' help, I was able to build one for myself. Thanks to Wolfpack, Badge, CraigInPA for your instruction and inspiration.
> 
> Here are some photo and a video of my vortex chiller:
> 
> View attachment 571353
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> View attachment 571351
> 
> 
> Fog chiller in action (if you can't see the below video please go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKHfSeGKzQs):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here is the list of material I used:
> 
> - 32 gallon trash can.
> - 1/2" PVC pipe for stand [about 7 feet to make 4 legs (12" each) and 4 pieces for the top (measure where the top will sit in the can, subtract 3", divide by 2 to get the lenght)].
> - 1 roll of weatherstrip seal.
> - 4 way 1/2" PVC connector (qt: 1).
> - 90 degree 3" PVC bend (qt: 1).
> - 90 degree 1/2" PVC connectors (qt: 4).
> - 18" pizza mesh screen (qt: 1).
> - 3" closet/toilet flanges (qt: 4)
> - 3" PVC pipe about 2 feet long for vertical tube.
> - 3" PVC pipe about 6.5 inch long to connect the 90 degree bend and the flange together.
> - 1/4" bolt 1.5 in long (qt: ?
> - 1/4" washers (qt: 8).
> - 1/4" nuts (qt: 8)
> 
> For my test, I used a combination of half dry ice and half regular ice cubes for a total of 47 lbs which occupied about half of the trash can. The distance from the bottom of the trash can to the top stand was 12 inches. Luckily it was a sunny day in the Pacific Northwest with temperature in the low 60s and not too much wind. After one hour test I still had about half of ice left inside. The fogger I used was a Chauvet 1800. I painted black the stand and the long tube to match with the black trash can and the closet flanges (which cost about $4/each at Home Depot).
> 
> In the video if you noticed I tried both ends of the tubes. Both methods worked fine and produced about the same amount of fog output and same effect. The first take was when I tried to use the long end as the inlet and fog exit through the short end. The second take was when I switched and used the short end as the inlet and long end as the outlet. Although it worked fine, but the only thing I don't like about this was the back flow of fog from the short tube as you may see in the video. Therefore I just used the long tube as the inlet for the rest of the test. This way fog went up in the long tube to the top chamber and was forced down through the ice to the lower chamber, then exit through the short tube at the bottom.
> 
> Thanks to the power of the Chavet 1800 for making the fog spread far out beyond 12 feet.
> 
> UPDATE: On my second test, I used only regular ice. It took 8 bags of 10 lb/each to fill the whole trash can for a total of 80 lbs. This is what I started with:
> 
> View attachment 572543
> 
> 
> After 45 minutes there was only 2/3 of the ice remain. Here is what was left:
> 
> View attachment 572541
> 
> 
> Notice 2 big chunks of ice formed after only 45 minutes of running time:
> 
> View attachment 571841
> 
> 
> Here is the video using only regular ice (please click here if you can't view the below video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc-6ZQbjK3A):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On this second test I did not have much success since there was some wind so the fog almost disappeared after a few seconds. But I did notice a big difference between the two tests. On the second test using just regular ice, when the ice cubes started to melt and cling to each other, the fog really didn't get cold fast enough before exiting and therefore didn't lay low on the ground. On my first test with both dry & wet ice, the fog really got colder and therefore stayed closer to the ground surface. I think the dry ice also helped in slowing down the melting process of regular ice and not a lot of water stayed at the bottom of the trash can at the end of the test.
> 
> One big plus with using regular ice was the price since it costs only $2 for a 10 lb bag.
> 
> *** Tips on where to purchase dry ice ***
> 
> To purchase dry ice near your location, I recommend you to check out Praxair. I think they have 3 different types of dry ice (blocks, nuggets, rice pelltes). Click *here* if you'd like to check out their dry ice info. For their store location, please visit here and enter your zipcode: https://www.praxairdirect.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/AjaxStoreLocatorDisplayView?catalogId=10051&langId=-1&storeId=10152
> 
> For Penguin brand dry ice please go here and enter your zip code: http://dryiceideas.com/penguinbrand/. Most Fred Myer stores carry Penguin’s dry ice. I believe they sell it for $1.59 / lb in 10"x10"x2" block and weigh about 10 lbs per block. I had to break them into smaller pieces for the fog to have more contact with the ice and to go through before exiting.
> 
> For Continental Carbonic dry ice, please check out: https://www.continentalcarbonic.com/dry-ice-locator.html
> 
> If you live in NE check out Dry Ice Corp. Retail dry ice pricing ranges from $1.00 to $1.60 per pound with minimum purchase of 10 to 25 pounds. Their website is at http://www.dryicecorp.com/regional-consumer-sales-emergency-services/
> 
> Or you just simply go here and enter area code for find dry ice near you: http://www.dryicedirectory.com/usa.htm
> 
> If you prefer to order dry ice online, check out: https://www.dryicedelivered.com/label-1/Dry-Ice-Delivered
> 
> *** Tips on how to clean the fogger ***
> 
> I own 3 different fog machines. This is how I cleaned them:
> 
> 1 - Run the fogger with white pure distilled vinegar until no more white smoke coming out and only clear steam shooting out. This takes about 15 - 20 minutes.
> 2 - Run the fogger with distilled water (not mineral water) for another 15 minutes to flush all vinegar out.
> 3 - Finish off with good fog juice for 15 minutes.
> 4 - Empty the tank.
> 4 - Clean the filter at the end of the tube.
> 5 - Wipe down the machine and store it away for next season.


Thanks for all the great pix & materials list. I am having trouble finding exactly where to place the flanges (distance from the ground) and how far from the lid the long pipe should stop (2 feet was too long for my Brute can). Could you fill me in on these details? Thanks in advance!!


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## Renfield

*still looking...*



Renfield said:


> Thanks for all the great pix & materials list. I am having trouble finding exactly where to place the flanges (distance from the ground) and how far from the lid the long pipe should stop (2 feet was too long for my Brute can). Could you fill me in on these details? Thanks in advance!!



Ok, I found 2-3" from the top for the vertical tube. Still looking to see if anyone posted exactly how far from the ground the flanges go. In pictures it looks as though several people elevate their fog machine, so I'm assuming it's not just the height of your machine output tube (bottom of mine is 1 7/8" from the ground). If anyone knows, I'd appreciate the info. This is a really long thread! (But so good!) Happy Haunting!


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## Huu Minh

Renfield,

2” distance from the lid to the top of the long tube is about right. When I drilled my pilot holes for the flanges, they’re about 5” from the ground to the center of the hole. But there is no right or wrong if you decide to go higher or lower. Most people don’t drill both holes at the same height but rather one lower and the other higher. Reason for this is some people decide to use the short end as theit inlet, they’d make this end lower than the other end, therefore the output pipe inside the trash can doesn’t get the full blast of hot fog. But if you’re like me, I’d prefer to use the long pipe as the inlet, so drilling both holes on both sides at the same height works just fine. Hope it’ll help.


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## Renfield

Thanks very much. That helps a lot! Happy Halloween!


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## Huu Minh

BarryJ said:


> I'll try to get a video this weekend after I fine tune it and seal it better.
> 
> Yea, I usually start Halloween night in the low seventies with it dipping into the sixties by night's end. My big problem is the wind, but the long tern forecast isn't it showing Santa Anas...


How did it turn out for you BarryJ?


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## giantstogie

well I added 20 pounds of dry ice to the chiller this year and wow did it make a difference. used it and 40 pounds of ice and i had fog on the grass really well. it helped that the weather was great this year . I was so pleased with the effect. i also ran a fogger without the chiller and that worked well. I totally fogged out the entire street. people would just appear out of the fog.


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## Huu Minh

giantstogie said:


> well I added 20 pounds of dry ice to the chiller this year and wow did it make a difference. used it and 40 pounds of ice and i had fog on the grass really well. it helped that the weather was great this year . I was so pleased with the effect. i also ran a fogger without the chiller and that worked well. I totally fogged out the entire street. people would just appear out of the fog.


I think you're very wise to go with a combination of dry & wet ice. I tried a full trash can of dry ice, honestly I couldn't tell the difference between just dry ice only and dry + regular ice mix. You saved some money and had the same effect. Great job.

Your weather was probably nice enough to run the fogger outside with great result. Some people live in the north like Taddy (in UK) with cold temperture but luckily had little or no wind on Halloween night said he also had great low lying ground fog. Unfortunately for me my temp was in the 50s, not cold but too much wind and some rain, so I didn't have the result I had expected although I tried to minimize the element's effect by bringing everything inside my garage. Nevertheless, l had lots of kids came by more than last year. I also felt bad because many of them didn't make it to my front door because they were too scare, cried and ran away. 

And this is the best costume of the year 2018 (in Phillipines). 






This adorable toddler has the year's best Halloween costume - it looks like she's carrying her own head on a plate. Maya Hwang wore the epic costume which was designed by her mother, Krystel, who spent two days making it


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## Huu Minh

This is my 3rd year using this awsome vortex fog chiller and still loving it. Planning on using only regular ice this year.


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## cleanfreak

It works great. Best thing I have found that works better than ice is freezing water bottles. Lots of them.


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## Huu Minh

cleanfreak said:


> It works great. Best thing I have found that works better than ice is freezing water bottles. Lots of them.


Very good tip, Cleanfreak. With frozen water bottles we don't have to worry about ice cubes getting clinged together.


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## djjerme

cleanfreak said:


> It works great. Best thing I have found that works better than ice is freezing water bottles. Lots of them.


I did that last year, can’t remember where I heard the idea. But we had a couple cases of the short style bottles leftover from our Hood to Coast relay team, and so I confiscated them for my cheap chiller. Worked great and no mess to drain!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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