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hello, interested in adding a snow machine for next years display but would like to know how do you all control them? a lot on ebay are remote controlled and so i do not want to be standing outside pressing a button all night. is it possible to control using LOR, some machines don't need any time to load up so maybe i could leave the remote outside with the button taped down, any ideas?
I ordered two for my 2008 display. They should be here today or tomorrow so I haven't actually used them yet. In addition to the wired remotes, they are also DMX compatible so I will be able to control them with LOR.
Note that you will have to purchase the LOR DMX interface (IDMX1000, $260) plus appropriate cable(s).
I'm adding snow for next year... I have bought a couple American DJ snow flurry's, a Chauvet SM75 and a Chauvet SM-150x DMX, all for testing.
The snow flurry puts out quite a bit but is pretty loud. The Smaller chauvet puts out less but is quite.. The Chauvet DMX is huge, but mine was used and doesn't put out hardly any...
To control the snow flurry, I'm either taping the button down and putting each machine on a channel (haven't checked the load, but I'm sure it's not much), or wiring a relay into the controller. The Smaller SM75 has a simple On/Off switch on controller, so it's power will be plugged in to channel with switch left in On position. All of the machines are 'instant' snow, so there's no warmup, just enough time for blower and pump to get up to speed.
For those that haven't taken one apart- it's just a small blower, a small pump that pumps the fluid into the exhuast pipe, and a sock covering the pipe to make the fluid bubble while passing through it...
Along this line, the noise is annoying, so next week I'm building one with air compressor in garage, small pump (from rc plane days) and a home made sock. I'll test with a gate valve, but if I can make it work, will have a solenoid valve on air line.
I am going to be using 3 of the ones from Herb this year. I have built in a shelf near the top my my re-engineered Z-tree where they will sit. They are dmx, so LOR will control them and I only plan to turn them on for a few seconds at a time once in the sequence. I am going to place a 5 gallon bucket in the center of them and let them all feed from it, then use a tube down to ground level with a drill type pump to refill the bucket.
I used the Amazing Snowman that I got on ebay. Here is the official website LOR instead of the remote ( I will post it later if you are interested or you could search for it). The snow fluid concentrate can be diluted about 3-4 times as much as they recommend. Here is a picture of it being used during the day since none of my night videos show the snow very well.
I used 3 of the amazing snow men in my 2007 display. I rewired them to turn on immediately with power (no remote needed), and just wired them into my SSR's Worked great.
I used my own home made snow juice recipe, and the results were excellent.... My snow juice recipe was 8oz dish soap (ajax because it was the cheapest at walmart), 8oz of Alcohol (70% white or wintergreen you choice) and 1gal of distilled water, gave me >1gal of snow juice that looked and performed as good as the "retail" stuff. Dissolved clean, looked great.. no problems for me... ymmv.
A note on the snowmen machines.. I kept mine on the ground, and have a fairly small yard - and still used 3 of them... They just don't make tons of snow... Maybe up higher the results would be more impressive?
We did not get a day time pic before it came down. All it is 2x4x10 with a small platform on top with a tub. It's light and holds up good in wind and etc. real easy to make and works great. People love the snow machines, I advise everyone to get one for their display. We had it were cars coming by and the sensor would pick them up and turn on. The snow would even get on their cars when the wind was coming out of the southeast. which is 80% of the time.
____________________ CHRISTMAS IN COTTONPLANT
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Did you turn the sump pump on manually, or did you have it rigged somehow to automatically refill the machines when they ran dry with floats in them, etc?
Where is the discharge line from the pump, all I can see at the top of the tub are the power cord and the float... but I see three lines on the manifold setup... does it come out the side of the tub at the bottom?
I see you used pipe insulation on the lines up to the machines.. Did you use any insulation up in the tubs to make sure the fluid in the machines themselves didn't freeze?
![:]](/images/emoticons/big_grin.gif)
(nudge, nudge) 
Worked great.
