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Awesome and cheap halloween shiz (how to)

Xpress

Xpress

Strata Poster
I don't know if there's anyone else that obsesses over halloween like I do, but I thought I would share some creations of mine, incase anyone is looking for simple, easy to do projects.

First up is this neat fog maker I found plans for on YouTube.

Parts list:

-Large 48oz coffee can
-12V 2" computer fan (2 or 3 wire- doesn't matter)
-9v battery
-9v battery connector
-Sharp knife
-Dry ice
-Water

First, you basically place the computer fan ontop of the coffee can lid, and mark out where it will go. Cut inside the lines, or cut a 1.5" diameter hole for the air to go in through. Glue the fan here with hot glue or super glue.

Next, find a tube or something to use to direct the flow of fog. Pool hose works pretty great, and you can get them in 3ft. sections at a pool surplus store. Make a hole for the nozzle to fit in, and push it in.

Now take the fan, cut off the cable that was on it, and splice on a 9v battery connector. Take a 9v battery and plug it in to see if it works. If you're like me and hate to have your batteries dangling off the side, you can take a dab of hot glue, or use a piece of double sided tape to mount the battery on the side. These fans don't draw a lot of current, so a 9v battery should go for a few parties.

Lastly, heat up a cup of water in the microwave for 3 minutes (get it HOT) or boil it on the stove. Break off a chunk of dry ice, then place inside the container, pour the water in, turn on the fan, and place the lid on. Watch as the fog flows out :D

On a cold night ,the fog should settle on the ground and stick around for a while. Supposedly a chunk of dry ice with a cup of water will go for 10-15 minutes, which means you could increase the proportion sizes and go even longer. Dry ice is CHEAP CHEAP, so you can get a lot of it. Wrap the stuff in a towel and place in a foam beer cooler or something to keep it cool.

Great for parties and crap. :D

And of course a pic to show the semi-completed project. Still haven't gotten a tube for it (didn't mount up the battery in the pic either), but it will happen.

img3233mt.jpg


Keep tabs on this thread, because as I discover more neat things to do, I'll put a how to up here. Also, I'll be putting up a couple attractions you can use :)

If all you're going to do is post smart ass remarks, then take them somewhere else.
 
First up is this neat fog maker I found plans for on YouTube.
Click to expand...
A link would've worked just fine then... ;)
 
^Plans- not everyone can understand the plans, sometimes it takes someone with a mechanical background to put it all together.
 
^I think you miss the point. If someone was going to attempt to make something like this then they really should be able to understand what's going on.

;)
 
Xpress said:
Ingredients list:
-12V 2" computer fan (must be 2 wire- 3 wire fans need a special controller)
Click to expand...

This isn't a smart arse comment, you are just blatently wrong.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5ZuaBO6j4k[/youtube]

Xpress also said:
-9v battery
Click to expand...

My battery was 12v and allowing for voltage drops though the electronic circuitry that I would put in place to control the speed it should give around 11.5V to the fan at maximum RPM.
 
Leighton said:
Xpress said:
Ingredients list:
-12V 2" computer fan (must be 2 wire- 3 wire fans need a special controller)
Click to expand...

This isn't a smart arse comment, you are just blatently wrong.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5ZuaBO6j4k[/youtube]

Xpress also said:
-9v battery
Click to expand...

My battery was 12v and allowing for voltage drops though the electronic circuitry that I would put in place to control the speed it should give around 11.5V to the fan at maximum RPM.
Click to expand...

Sorry, wasn't being very specific- the 2 fans I pulled out are brushless fans and do not feature a built in ESC, and because they operate on AC current, they cannot be plugged directly into a power source. Brushless motors do not use 2 points of contact to power themselves, and because of this they need a signal coming from a brushless speed controller to tell the magnets when to turn on and off, very similar to a firing order in a 4 stroke engine.

I believe your fan has the speed controller built in (pretty much all fans do now), so all you have to do is apply power. The 3rd wire is for signal to allow the computer to control the RPM, sometimes.

The reason you want to use a 9v battery rather than a 12v one is because of the lower RPM. You don't want to blow your fog out in all of 2 minutes, you want it to somewhat ooze out of the canister, and flow somewhat naturally to make it seem more eerie.

I hooked this fan up to a 3S lipo, charged to about 12.2v, and it was just too fast to be practical.

(not sure if you understood more than half of this, but I'm assuming you would because of your hobby involvement)
 
^I'm almost 100% sure that Leighton understood that, if not more. That sort of comment really bugs me...

Hell, even I understood most of it and I don't have any specialist knowledge!
 
Yes, I understand the white wire is simply a feedback loop to tell the computer how fast the fan is running, in the case of the fans you are describing you can run them off a DC supply but it requires alot more fiddling than you would ever want to do for something as crude as this.

As previously mentioned, In almost all my applications of fans, I generally require some form of speed control in the circuit, so to allow for voltage drops, so at the fan you may only see 10.5-11v depending the controller.

For your application you really only want something to run at low RPM to draw fog out of a box, and you would not want to spend lots of money on circuitry to rectify the input or control the speed otherwise you might aswell go out and buy a fog machine.
 
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