any suggestions how to operate this thing? 3000W chinese dry ice machine

[ghosttrain]

fifteen characters

[absolom7691]

I don't believe any cryo fog machines are going to give you long lasting fog. I would think the application for these types of machines is theater; to rapidly lay down a thick blanket of fog that clears out quickly when no longer needed.

[Bradfo69]

I only have experience with the Chauvet Nimbus and with that, only once. But, it too had two heaters and the idea being two heaters heat the water faster than one but, you need to plug into two different circuits. Basically it's a low lying fog effect that lasts about 2.5 - 3 minutes. You heat the water until it's ready, (indicator light in the case of the Nimbus), add the dry ice (10lbs) and when ready, a lever lowers the dry ice into the water and the fog pours out until the dry ice is consumed. It happens quickly and doesn't last long but covered a 3000 square foot area rather quickly.

[Bradfo69]

The dry ice was chips. I don't have any idea what the water temp was with the Nimbus.
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I'm running out the door for work but here is a link to the manual:
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http://www.chauvetlighting.com/produ...M_Rev07_WO.pdf
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Maybe there is something in there.

[planters]

The temperature may be very flexible as the ice will rapidly cool the water and I suspect that even at 3,000W the water will not maintain its temperature with many kilos of ice. The fog production will likely depend on the surface area of the ice (chips have much more than a block). If your fog did not remain near the ground then the water temperature was probably too high and the condensation occurred without lowering the temperature to below ambient.

I would suggest using a few kilos of chips at a lower temperature (say 50C as a starting point). This is much less likely to pose a burn hazard to people, if the unit spilled. Then, depend on the heater to maintain this lower temperature. Modify the quantity of chips or the temperature depending on the outcome.

[absolom7691]

Maybe drill a few holes and then hammer. I have broken some up like that before. Just drill the holes apart as big as you want your chunks/chips and smack with a 5lb sledge.

[planters]

I have struggled with the blocks as well. The ice is not very brittle. It tends to chunk rather than shatter which makes braking it hard to do. The source for my ice will provide it in pellets, but they charge a little more. It is worth it.

Now, I don't want to go too far afield, but what about avoiding the machine all together and using liquid CO2? This is what a CO2 fire extinguisher sprays out when activated. Only at the expansion point would it grow cold.

[catalanjo]

Maybe drill a few holes and then hammer. I have broken some up like that before. Just drill the holes apart as big as you want your chunks/chips and smack with a 5lb sledge.

Best if drill is SDS and hammer is 20lbs+

Cheers
PS. Avoid doing this on wood floors !

[Bradfo69]

It may be a slight side effect. There was some condensation on our dance floor as well when we tested it for a first dance for a wedding. I don't think it was enough to be a slipping hazard but, it was something we did notice in the test run. I was at SELEM when the actual wedding happened so I didn't get to see it that night. A heat time of 40 minutes though??? Wow that's a long time. I think the Nimbus was about 12-15 minutes if I recall.

[drm916]

take a picture of each page of the manual with google translate and it should do a decent job of converting it.