Fog Chiller
In this how-to, I'm
going to show how
to build your very own super fog chiller. Over the years I've mostly
used small coolers for fog chilling purposes, but those do not do that
great of a job. This year I decided to make a chiller that I can keep
for
more than a year or so. This design is different in that the fog stays
in a tube instead of having to be released in a cooler then coming back
through another small opening. This fog chiller is designed to output fog with maximum efficiency to gain superior
cooling. This cooling is achieved by having the hot fog forced up a
steep bend then brought slowly back down through all the cooled coils.
Step 1: Materials
Material List:
The materials are quite simple to obtain and can be found at most hardware stores.
(I got mine at ACE)
1 - Plastic Garbage Pail
About 6 - Flexible Dryer Vent Pipes
5 (Depending on how many pipes you have) - Aluminum Furnace Connectors
(Make sure the ones you get fit inside of the dryer vent pipe)
1 - Roll of Duct Tape (Any kind will do)
The total cost of all the materials should come to around $60 depending on the store prices.
This may seem expensive, but this thing is built to last.
Continue on to step 2
The materials are quite simple to obtain and can be found at most hardware stores.
(I got mine at ACE)
1 - Plastic Garbage Pail
About 6 - Flexible Dryer Vent Pipes
5 (Depending on how many pipes you have) - Aluminum Furnace Connectors
(Make sure the ones you get fit inside of the dryer vent pipe)
1 - Roll of Duct Tape (Any kind will do)
The total cost of all the materials should come to around $60 depending on the store prices.
This may seem expensive, but this thing is built to last.
Continue on to step 2
Step 2 : Preping the garbage pail
Now that you have all your materials, its time to get started.
Take your garbage pail and find a good flat place to cut out a dryer vent sized hole. What I did first was drill some pilot holes where I wanted the pipe to come out of.
Next I drew out the shape of the pipe and then cut out the circle using my handheld jigsaw. After you cut one hole out cut the other hole next to or anywhere you would like the fog to come out of.
Continue on to step 3
Take your garbage pail and find a good flat place to cut out a dryer vent sized hole. What I did first was drill some pilot holes where I wanted the pipe to come out of.
Next I drew out the shape of the pipe and then cut out the circle using my handheld jigsaw. After you cut one hole out cut the other hole next to or anywhere you would like the fog to come out of.
Continue on to step 3
Step 3: Installing the pipe
Since you have now cut the holes, its time to install the pipe. I
recomend you take your pipe and pre-install it with no fasteners, just
to get the pipe in the right shape.
Once you have pre-bent all the pipe take it all out except for the very botton piece. The bottom pipe shown in the picture is where the fog will exit. Start coiling the pipe now. When you get to the end then stick in one of the furnace piceces and tape it up so the fog will not come out.
After taping the fitting into the pipe get your other pipe and stick it over the fitting as well and then tape it on nice and tight.
Now just repeat these steps until you have reached the top. Make sure though that you leave one pipe for going back to the bottom.
Ok, now that you have reached the top of the pail you need to connect you intake pipe. First, connect the pipe like you did with all of the others. Coil it a little, then make it go straight down to the bottom of the barrel. After the pipe is connected and the pipe is bent you can now pull the pipe through your second opening at the bottom.
Congratulations you have finished the building phase! Continue on to step 4
Once you have pre-bent all the pipe take it all out except for the very botton piece. The bottom pipe shown in the picture is where the fog will exit. Start coiling the pipe now. When you get to the end then stick in one of the furnace piceces and tape it up so the fog will not come out.
After taping the fitting into the pipe get your other pipe and stick it over the fitting as well and then tape it on nice and tight.
Now just repeat these steps until you have reached the top. Make sure though that you leave one pipe for going back to the bottom.
Ok, now that you have reached the top of the pail you need to connect you intake pipe. First, connect the pipe like you did with all of the others. Coil it a little, then make it go straight down to the bottom of the barrel. After the pipe is connected and the pipe is bent you can now pull the pipe through your second opening at the bottom.
Congratulations you have finished the building phase! Continue on to step 4
Step 4: Finishing and testing
Now that the building phase is finished we can now finish the chiller up a bit.
What I did next was label the exit and enterance with a sharpie. I
put an arrow up for the intake and an arrow facing down for the exhaust. Your
finished fog chiller should now look like the picture below.
To test its abillities get some bags of ice from you local grocery store and place them in the middle of the coils. (I used about two bags) Warm up your fog machine and plug the exhaust from the fog machine right into the intake on your fog chiller. It will take about a minute of straight fog to fill up the pipe so be patient. Once it is filled the fog should come out nice and cold and lay low to the ground. Now you have finished your very own fog chiller!
To test its abillities get some bags of ice from you local grocery store and place them in the middle of the coils. (I used about two bags) Warm up your fog machine and plug the exhaust from the fog machine right into the intake on your fog chiller. It will take about a minute of straight fog to fill up the pipe so be patient. Once it is filled the fog should come out nice and cold and lay low to the ground. Now you have finished your very own fog chiller!