Turn your Fog Machine into a Heavy Fog Machine

[mliptack]

I'll have to really go digging for pictures. This would be from back when film cameras were popular. If I find any I'll post them.

[Dr Laser]

Fist ice doesn't really work well as a replacement for a dry ice. The main problem is temperature difference. The classic dry ice machine is has temperature difference of almost 200 degrees (water +100degrees and dry ice about -100 degrees). The fog machine and ice has temperature difference of only 40 degrees (ice ~0 degrees and fog coming out of fogger is about +40 degrees). 5 times less efficient. Second dry ice is solid CO2. Fog fluid is alcohol/antifreez/gluco....and list goes on.

[mliptack]

You're comparing apples to oranges here. To say that its 5x less efficient, is irrelevant. Just because the ratio of temperature differences is 1:5. Like I said, apples to oranges. The dry ice is used to create the fog in a dry ice fogger. The ice is used to simply cool the fog from the exiting fog machine to make it lay low. Sure one could use dry ice to cool the fog instead. But dry ice is much harder to obtain. Whereas you can buy 20lb bags of ice for a few bucks at any gas station.

Using Ice straight from the freezer to cool fog from a fogger isn't the most efficient way of making a low flow fog, it does work, however. Which is why cheap low flow fog machines hit the market that simply use an ice bucket at the end. But that's only because its simple for the every day Joe. I'd rather lug that around than a low flow chiller that uses refrigeration to do the job. I bet I could design a low flow chiller that uses ice that would be far more efficient than any product available out there today. Give me a lot of surface area (AKA a bunch of car radiators), a few water pumps, two ice chests, some rubber tubing and a fog machine. It all comes down to surface area.

[Doc]

I reckon the intercooler idea would work really well. I have a quattro intercooler in the garage somewhere, I might give it a try sometime.

[mliptack]

Just a bit of advice. Instead of using PVC, use SCH40 pipe, aluminum dryer hose or any large diameter metal pipe. I personally suggest the Aluminum Dryer Hose considering it will dissipate heat well rather than store it like a much heavier pipe.

Basically you want to cool the fog as much as possible. Using the metal pipe will help cool the fog before it even enters the cooler. Also PVC can melt (don't use shop-vac hoses to duct fog, a student at a school I did work at tried that once and ruined the hose).

Using a small computer fan or something in the cooler will help the fog flow through the ice, otherwise you waste a lot inside of the cooler.

[Dr Laser]

Well yeah...apple to oranges. Just please don't expect something spectacular from fogger+ice. I've seen both dryice machine and this DIY project side by side. You couldn't even see fogger+ice working. So don't expect much. Fog will go up in less then 6-7 seconds. You can do the same effect with fogger and squirrel care fan.

[mliptack]

Okay, I didn't mean to 'school' you or anything, I figured you would have known. But I wasnt sure. I just wanted to clarify, more than anything, for anyone else.

Like I said running a fogger through an aluminum dryer hose will cool it down. Ice will help it. Dry ice will help it more. But the commercial equivalents will help even more. Pair those with a quick dissipating fog and you have an chance at a vary similar effect.

Anyway, of course giving the effect youre looking for there are upsides and downsides for each type of effect.

[mliptack]

Also sorry ... f*** the Packers. Farve... c'mon for this game to be happening right now. I should stay away from the forums. I'm waiting for the home field advantage.

[smogthemog]

I wonder if you could do that with fogger fluid?

Oh yeah, dry ice bombs can be alot of fun,but you have to watch out with them.

if you want to play around a little more with your soap bubble trick, you can cut open a couple of (pre cracked) glowsticks and add that to make the bubbles glow a bit. you can strain the glass ampules out if you're worried about them (and if you have kids about that will stick their hands into the bucket).

also with glowsticks, if you take a freshly cracked one and nuke it for ~10 seconds, it will get incredibly bright for a bit. just don't nuke it too long, popped glowstick smells bad. you can use this to rejuvinate old glowsticks at the end of a party too.

[buffo]

You mean put dry ice in fogger fluid? I haven't tried it, but my bet is that it won't work nearly as well as water will. Fog juice does have some water in it, but it's mostly glycol and/or glycerin. And that won't make a vapor fog with dry ice. You need the water to do that.

On a related note: I once experimented with one of those ultrasonic water fog generators. You know the type: small hockey-puck thing that sits in a shallow dish of water and makes a low-lying fog that fills the dish but doesn't last very long. It also splashes a lot of water around...

Anyway, I tried using fog juice with one of these things. It didn't work at all. Oh sure, it splashed a lot... But it didn't make any fog.

Adam