# Fogger: yard size vs wattage vs chilled



## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Ok, I'm trying to fog about a 510 square foot area of my front lawn (34' wide x 15' deep) by pumping fog through my chiller (large igloo built vortex style) with a 400 watt fog machine. Is this feasible with one machine or do I need a second machine?

I ran some preliminary tests today and they were miserable. Granted it could have been the breeze (yeah I know, bad time for testing). I was able to fog about a 5' square area before it just decided to float off. Was running the chiller with 10lbs of ice.

Also, what are optimum timer settings. The best settings my timer has is a 10 second blast at 10 second intervals. But those settings seem to be too much for my 400w machine and it has to reheat after 3 or so blasts like that.

I do get a little better performance by holding down the manual button on the timer letting it blast away (which is good for about 20-30 seconds) then reheating takes about 50-60 seconds. Would there be anything wrong with maybe duct taping the manual button down or hot-wire overriding the button altogether?

I'm trying to get that nice yard full of fog I've seen in all those demo videos. Am I doing something wrong or is 400w inadequate?

-TM


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## airscapes (Oct 3, 2006)

Check out the links to the videos I took of the Fogstorm 1200 the other night. They are located in my post on this page.
Scroll down to the bottom http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=3577&page=70


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Just went outside to check everything brand-wise. It's an older Gemmy 400w fog machine (The Fog Machine) and the juice is also the Gemmy brand fog juice.

Unfortunately I can't afford to dish out the bucks for a higher wattage machine this year. So getting a higher watt fogger is out of the question.

Guess what I'm trying to figure out is if my machine is sufficient to fog the space I'm trying fog with it. Dunno, maybe I just need some better quality juice. The Fitco seemed to produce a nice thick fog.

Also, can fog juice go bad? The stuff in my machine is about 3 years old. It's still running off the same tank I filled 3 years ago - i've barely touched my 1/2 gallon of spare.

-TM


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

It's recommended that once fog juice has been opened that you throw it out after a year, but that may not be the case if it's stoppered good and tight. I understand that little crystals can form that clog the fogger. I've heard of people straining their old fog juice through a paper coffee filter and it cleans it up nicely.

I need to find out if any local places sell Froggy's fog products. I've heard their Swamp Juice formula is the best there is; I'd love to try it and see.


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## Fright Zone (Sep 28, 2006)

@ Terrormaster - This [nomedia]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqV_F2I0IP8[/nomedia] shows a 14 ft deep x 7 ft wide area of a yard with a 400 W Gemmy fogger and a ghostsofhalloween.com 26 gallon trash can chiller and about 14 lbs of ice cooling 16 ft of 4" dia aluminum drier duct. Examples start at 4:25 min.

You're 60 qt Igloo and a 400W won't cover much more than that I don't think.

Notice also I used a border tarp fence right next to it to define the space and keep ToT's from crossing the lawn. But also to contain the fog and protect it a bit from any crosswind. It worked to my satisfaction creating lingering atmopspheric fog. It wasn't rolling graveyard fog but I liked it. and it worked for that yard size without offending the neighbors. Some shots have the trash bag on the outlet and some don't. The grass was wet from rain. the temp was maybe int the 50-60's range. Hooded sweatshirt weather.


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

FZ, this is the area I'm looking at covering (the walkway is 15' deep, the left side is 15' wide and the right is 14' wide):










The way I was doing it is the chiller and machine were on the porch top left. I had split pvc tubing with a pipe coming down the left and another going over to the right side and coming down there. The pipe actually came all the way to ground with an elbow connector pointing it outward at the bottom. This worked ok but seemed a bit convoluted. My concern was the concrete walkway acting as a barrier allowing the fog to sit on one side or the other.

What I'd like to do is just pump it down the middle, have it roll down the stairs and spread to the sides.

I don't have a lot of options in the way on containing the space though except for those funky little fences which I could tarp behind.

Would putting a Y connector on the intake and pumping 2 400w foggers through help?

I will pick up another couple bags or so this evening on the way home and try tonight if the wind cooperates - will take pictures this time.

-TM


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