Vortex Chiller

gmacted · #1 09-15-2006

For those of you who are interested in fog chillers. Here is a link to a manual for the Vortex Pro Fog Chillers. It gives you some really good pictures of how it is made. You could make one yourself much cheaper than buying one.

edited 10/10/2007 --> updated the link to the manual

darryl · #2 09-15-2006

Thanks gmacted. Always wondered how those worked so well.

HibLaGrande · #3 09-15-2006

wow thanks GM. I have a kitty litter bucket out in the garage I could use.

gmacted · #4 09-15-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by HibLaGrande

wow thanks GM. I have a kitty litter bucket out in the garage I could use.

That's what I thought of when I first saw it. Please post how much it cost to build it. I think they charge way too much for this product for what it is.

HibLaGrande · #5 09-15-2006

well let's see...

1 kitty litter bucket.......free
1 2 inch pvc 90 elbo......$1.00-$1.50 ?
1 2 inch pvc pipe..........I think I have a piece around somewere.
1 grate material............I have some of that too.
Ice ......................... no problem there.

looks like I can make this for under $2.00. or $3.00 for black spray paint

HibLaGrande · #6 09-15-2006

it seems that you would want to shoot the hot fog to the top and have it come down through the ice. I wonder what a block of dry ice would do to the fog in that gizmo?

gmacted · #7 09-16-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by HibLaGrande

it seems that you would want to shoot the hot fog to the top and have it come down through the ice. I wonder what a block of dry ice would do to the fog in that gizmo?

It's the total opposite of that. You want to shoot the fog to the bottom, let it rise through the ice, and then be forced down through the outlet pipe. It makes more sense this way. First you want to let the fog expand, then let it naturally rise (hot air/fog rises) and let it be cooled by the ice, then be forced down the outlet pipe which is also cooled by the ice.

Dr Morbius · #8 09-15-2006

It would super cool it for a short period of time..best to add salt to wet ice.

CountZero · #9 09-29-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Morbius

It would super cool it for a short period of time..best to add salt to wet ice.

Been a while since I posted in this thread, but I'm still tinkering with the "modified vortex design" and super cooling of fog. I did Try rock salt in the ice last year, and it DID have a noticeable effect on the temp in the cooler. I dont have photos, but we ended up with visibally thichker denser fog, and the temperatures we shot with an IR thermometer were lower in the cooler than just plain ice. The only problem we had was with the melting, which needs to happen to super cool the cooler. It ended up melting a bit more than I had hoped and we ended up with a little overflow out the output tube. Which leads me to my "Important Safety Tip for the Day"

If you want to try rock salt to super cool your fog this year, BE CAREFUL NEAR PLANTS. The salty runoff from the cooler as well as some of the salty condensation from the output hose WILL do bad things to plants. If you aren't near plants or grass you should be Ok, but if you want to shoot over a lawn, I'd just stay with plain ice. We beat up a small tree last year and it took the better part of an entire year to get back to normal.

On a more directly related note, as I have more time this year to play, I will be doing some side by site tests of the modified vortex design in a 60Q cooler with a 400w "Wal-Mart" fogger, a 1200W MBT fogger and a 1700W Chauvet fogger. I will also take IR temp readings of the cooler interior temp and the fog temp at output. I'm also planning on doing some testing with a single fogger with and without the ice shelf. All tests will be done side by side and I'll take as many photos as I can. If there is anything that you all would like tested, I'd be more than happy to throw it into the test plan. I'm pretty sure that there is a little more efficiency that can be squeezed out of this design. The biggest help last year for volume for me was adding a garbage bag to the output. I'm interested in testing to see if there is an optimal size for that as well.

Happy Fogging.

CountZ

randyaz · #10 09-15-2006

I saw the vortex fogger in action at HauntCon and it stands up to its claims, however, there was another vendor there selling fog juice that had slapped together a small bucket fogger in his hotel room that was performing just as well...if not better. Save your $$ and make a simple bucket/dryer hose chiller.