Snow Machines

tuppetsdad

tuppetsdad

Funding & Tech Support
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
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549
Location
Melbourne
OK so we are looking for a snow machine and would like those of you who have one to give some comments. Prefer with DMX like this one

http://newcaiyi.en.alibaba.com/product/316780007-209971480/1500w_snow_machine.html

.........maybe 50m3 capacity could be big enough for us....

Not sure if you folks in the US need these (well maybe only in the south) but appreciate

Any comments you have on running costs, performance, costs, suppliers and any issues we should be carefull about with using these please put HERE.. 8)
 
Love the Snow Machine
Got one last year (1200w), very similar to this one on eBay( http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Snow-Machine-Christmas-Party-DJ-Club-Stage-Effect-Light-/270651859498?pt=AU_Gadgets&hash=item3f041ba22a ) and it was a HUGE HUGE hit with the kids, there is a couple things to consider when buying these.
The cost of the fluid is not cheap and was about $125 for 20 litres, and if not careful you can go thru a 20 litre drum very quickly and we went thru 30 litres last xmas, in order to get a good distance you need to run the machine longer which also means you go thru the fluid even quicker, to get past this we only done short bursts from the balcony snowing down on to the kids below.
Ours was a bit noisy, so will be building a insulated box this year to make it quieter using high density insulation batt inside a box.
Did not hook ours up to a DMX last year but the remote control that comes with it is not very long, to get around this we did buy a remote control power point from jaycar which worked a treat from the park opposite our house.(similar to this but we got 4 x indivual power points - http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MS6150&keywords=remote+power&form=KEYWORD)
I would suggest do your research on where you can buy the fluid and be careful on the time of use, apart from that I would highly recommend buying one as we was known in the area as the snow house, again I say it was a HUGE HUGE hit with the kids doing the countdown from 10 - 1 and yelling out snow.

 
Artificial Snow, eh? How'd you get that through? I've had that knocked back by the ministry for culture several times - usually on the hard to argue against premise that its the middle of summer.... I countered with the standard 'I've got reindeer' response... but to no avail so far!!!

So thanks if you get this up... precedent is a powerful ally! :)

Looks like the juice is expensive... i noticed there have been threads on DIYC like this one on how to make your own. Also to consider the capacity of the reservoir... dictating how often you need to fill up... I think I've seen modded versions about with extended tanks ....
 
you mean it doesn't snow where you are Tim....we must be in one of those self contained weather zones...
 
Cant believe I can make it Snow when its 38 degrees plus outside.

The 5 litre container does last a good night if used alot, if not you could make the hose longer to draw straight from the 20 litre drum.

Sounds great if you can make home made Snow, but would be careful if you know the Snow will come anywhere near kids eyes and skin.
 
TD, we have had a snow machine for about 4 - 5 years and, apart from the lights, the main thing that the kids remember. It is an Antari S100 MK2 and controlled through DMX. You can make some pretty good effects by shining lights through the snow as well.

Snow fluid is very expensive but I have found that certain types of (cheap) bubble bath work just as well. There are some recipes on the net as I've seen that a few people add a little glycerine to the mix which makes the bubbles / snow effect last a bit longer. You will probably need to play with the mixture a bit to get a consistency that works best for you, as too much or too little fluid can change the effect quite dramatically. For an average evening we were chewing through approx 4 - 5 litres of fluid, so you need to make sure that the machine is easily accessible to refill.

Up until this year I have had ours mounted in the garage at a height of approx 2.5m, as it is not waterproof, facing out on the drive and it has thrown snow out to around 3 - 4 metres depending on any breeze. I've seen some videos of them mounted on a roof or in a tree, but remember the refilling and waterproofing issues. This year I'm planning on placing it in a weather protected area outside.

It is quite noisy so you need to bear this in mind if you have music playing with your display. I tended to use it sparingly, eg 10 second bursts a few times per song.

Another consideration is what surface is it going to snow over. Ours snows over our concrete driveway and as it is basically bubble bath it can get slippery if the driveway is wet. To this end, if it is a wet night, I disable it and wash down the drive for safety reasons.

Most kids would beg their parents to stay for one more snowfall for 5 - 6 times and generally left smelling fresh, covered in snow. I'd love to add a second snow machine when budget permits.

Hope that helps...
 
Karob said:
Sounds great if you can make home made Snow, but would be careful if you know the Snow will come anywhere near kids eyes and skin.
Click to expand...

Agree with this, and we keep a supply of water next to the snow machine in case any eyes need a quick rinse.
 
snow-maker-1.jpg



This looks great. To get this to work in Australia, you'll just need to provide a super cool air stream and lots of water, things that are both kinda hard to get i guess, but you are all an inventive lot.
 
OK thanks for the help so far. Looks like noise is an issue. Anyone found a quite snow machine or is this more like finding a quiet son...not theoretically possible.
 
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