I was digging through some old forums last night and found a fog machine build guide from 2005. They were using a 1000 watt heating element with a garden sprayer as the tank. Compared to the little 400 watt ones we build now with pumps and temperature controllers, it felt like looking at a different hobby. The whole thing cost them about $60 in parts back then and mine was only $35 last week. Has anyone else gone back and seen how much safer and easier the plans have gotten over the years?
I always thought running cold fluid through my machine was fine until I tried preheating it in a water bath at 130 degrees for my Halloween setup last year. The fog was way thicker and lasted longer, but I also had to clean out residue twice as often. Is the extra maintenance worth it, or am I just overcomplicating things?
I was at a Halloween store last week and overheard this guy telling the clerk how he uses 3 parts distilled water to 1 part glycerin with a splash of rubbing alcohol for his homemade hazer. I've been messing around with fog fluid recipes since April and mine always left this greasy film on everything. Gave his ratio a shot on my 1500W heater block setup in the garage last night and man, the fog hung around for a good 8 minutes before it started thinning out. No weird smell either, just that classic fog machine scent. Has anyone else found a fluid mix that works better than the standard 80/20 water to glycol thing?
He said the steady pressure gives way better vapor output than those cheap oscillating ones, and after swapping mine out last weekend I'm getting consistent fog for the first time in months, has anyone else tried this trick with a different pump type?
I saw three different posts last week where people were using canola oil from the kitchen as fog fluid and it gunks up the element so bad you'll be buying a new unit in a month, has anyone else seen this mess yet?
I was dead set on building my own fog chiller after watching that popular DIY video, honestly thought the store-bought ones were just overpriced junk. But after testing it at my Halloween setup in Austin last week, the DIY version gave way thicker, lower-lying fog on half the fluid cost. Has anyone else had better luck with a homemade chiller than a brand name one?
I used to just grab whatever cheap fluid was on the shelf at the Halloween store, but after a buddy pointed out the residue it left on his gear, I tried plain distilled water with a pinch of glycerin. Cost me about $4 for a gallon of the good stuff compared to $12 for a tiny bottle. Has anyone else noticed a difference in how long their machine runs between cleanings with homemade mix?
I've been running a homemade fog machine for our Halloween display for like 3 years now. A guy on the haunted house subreddit told me my mix of 4 parts distilled water to 1 part glycerin was way too thin for good fog output. I switched to a 3 to 1 ratio last week and the difference is crazy, way thicker clouds that actually hang low. Has anyone else found that changing the ratio made a bigger difference than upgrading the heater element?
I watched a guy at a Halloween party last week pour canola oil into his homemade setup and the smoke smelled like burnt french fries for hours, so why do people keep ignoring that propylene glycol is only $12 a gallon at the chemical supply shop and actually works without ruining the whole vibe?
Last Halloween I was running my homemade fog machine for a party in my garage and the heating element caught fire. Melted a plastic hose right off the coil and filled the place with acrid smoke instead of nice fog. Has anyone else had a coil overheat on them or am I just building these things wrong?
I started mixing my own juice last March for a haunted house thing. Just did the math on my glycerin and distilled water jugs and it came out to exactly 50 gallons. Never planned on hitting that number. What convinced me to keep going was saving about $8 per gallon compared to the store stuff. Has anyone else tracked how much they've made?
Had my DIY rig running for about 20 minutes at a friend's place in Austin, and suddenly the whole back porch went dark. Turns out the heating element was pulling way more amps than I calculated, and the host's fuse box couldn't handle it. Anybody else had to rewire their setup after an embarrassing outage?
I was reading through some old posts on fogmachineguide.com and found out that most homemade fog juice mixes use a 3:1 ratio of water to glycerin but that's actually way too thick for small machines. Tried the 4:1 ratio they recommended on a 400 watt unit I built last weekend and the fog output was way better. No more sputtering and it actually keeps running longer without overheating. Has anyone else played around with thinner mixes for smaller setups?
After 6 months of greasy residue coating everything at my Halloween party, I finally tried a cheap bottle of propylene glycol from the pharmacy - and the fog is thin, white, and disappears clean now. Has anyone else noticed a massive difference switching fluids on a budget build?
Last month I was using the standard mix of distilled water and glycerin from the hardware store. It worked fine but left this greasy film on everything at my buddy's haunted house in Austin. Three years ago I started building my own machines and never questioned the recipe until I saw a post about propylene glycol vs glycerin. I swapped to a 3:1 water to propylene glycol mix last week and the fog is thinner and dissipates faster. No more slippery floors or residue on the fake cobwebs. Has anyone else switched away from glycerin?
I spent two weeks building a fog machine for my haunted house setup in Portland. Used a standard 1500W heater and a copper coil setup I found in a forum guide. Everything worked fine during testing in the garage, but at the party on Saturday the fog juice started bubbling weird and smoke came out the wrong end. Had to yank the plug fast after someone yelled that the housing was getting hot to the touch. Turns out my homemade reservoir leaked onto the wiring and caused a short. Scrapped the whole thing and bought a commercial unit for $80 the next day. Anyone else had a close call with a homemade fog machine?
I built a simple smoke machine using a soldering iron and a glycerin mix, and tested it in my garage first. At the party, I cranked the heat too high and the thing started smoking real bad, like burning plastic bad. I had to unplug it and wave a towel at the detector for a few minutes while everyone stared. Turns out my wick was too dry and the coil got way hotter than I planned. Anyone else had a close call with their first build and figured out a better wick material?
I was all about using a cheap oil-based recipe from a YouTube video, but last week the heating element got too hot and melted the plastic tubing. Spent 4 hours cleaning black gunk off my workbench. Anyone else switch to a water-based mix after a close call like that?
Honestly my homemade fogger was making wispy smoke that cleared out way too fast for a haunted house I was setting up. Took an old soldering iron element and wired it in series with the main coil, now the vapor hits that second heat and stays thick for a good 30 seconds longer. Anyone ever try a dual stage setup like this?
Figured I'd try that mass market stuff from Amazon instead of mixing my own glycol and water, and it left this nasty greasy film all over my $200 machine after one Halloween party. Anyone else run into cheap fluid wrecking your heater element?
Had a guy at a Halloween meetup tell me my fog machine was "chuffing" and looked weak. He said I had my heating element too close to the tank. I moved it up about 3 inches and now I get steady white smoke for 6 minutes straight. Anyone else run into this issue with those cheap aquarium heaters?
I used to spend 20 minutes with my heat gun trying to get the glycerin mix just right for my homemade fogger, but last week I grabbed my girlfriend's $15 hair dryer instead and it worked way better at a lower temp. The heat gun kept scorching the wick material before the fluid could even vaporize, while the hair dryer spread the heat more evenly and gave me thick clouds for our Halloween party. Has anyone else tried ditching the fancy tools and going with something random from around the house?
I spent three years building fog machines for Halloween, and I always used a propane burner because that's what the plans called for. At a party in Phoenix last month, a guy named Mark told me to try an electric hot plate instead because it gives more even heat. I was real skeptical, but after one test run I saw he was right - my fluid lasted twice as long. Have any of you switched away from propane and regretted it?
I was at Spirit Halloween in Denver last October trying to buy their pre-made fog juice, and the guy stocking shelves told me to just mix my own with distilled water and propylene glycol from the pharmacy. He said their stuff is basically the same thing but with a 300% markup. I went home, tried a 3:1 ratio in my homemade machine, and got way better fog output than any store brand I ever used. My only question now is does anyone else find the thicker fog hangs around longer with a higher glycol ratio?