Any of y'all ever make Snow at Home??

retroedaddy

retroedaddy

Infidel
Joined
Apr 7, 2010
Location
Bahama NC
Last year I was thinking how fun it would be to live somewhere that there was snow on the ground all Winter.That obviously wasn't what Mother Nature had in mind so I set out to do it myself.There are simple plans online on how to make a snow making machine at home and for less than $40 in parts from Lowes or Home Depot,you can do it your self.Assuming you have a Air compressor which I imagine 90% of people on this site do.What they don't tell you is that you need a One Way Valve,I cooked 2 air compressors before I figured that out.I had my entire front yard covered by the end of January and my house became the spot that all the Neighborhood Kids hung out.If anyone is interested I will post the plans or PM them to you.Here are a few Pics.
 

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Alright.....................................

Parts List

1. ¼” cap - QTY 1
2. 6” x nipple - QTY 1
3. ¼” x Tee - QTY 1
4. ¼” x 90 DEG street elbow - QTY 1
5. ¼” close nipple - QTY 1
6. ¼” mini ball valve - QTY 1
7. 2” x nipple - QTY 1
8. ¼”female x ½”male bushing - QTY 1
9. ½”female to Garden - QTY 1
10. Quick connect air fitting - QTY 1
I used larger pipe because it was cheaper.I also added a second ball valve to better control the mix,you can see it in the pictures.Obviously it's Air in on one side and water on the other.Adding a pressure washer will increase the pressure and produce more snow.Also getting pressure washer tips instead of drilling the pipe cap will help vulcanize the water a lot more.The biggest thing you want to avoid is having any water that isn't a fine mist coming out of the valve.
 

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Thats Awesome! Can you link the complete plans? Thanks, My kids will love this and would make Christmas feel like Christmas. I grew up in Ohio so I really miss snow sometimes, not so much on the roads but in the yard. I assume it would have to be cold enough outside but is there an ideal temp? OK I am goin g to have to search this now LOL.
 
What you need is 27 degrees wet bulb.Which can actually be accomplished at as high as 34 degrees.It's a temperature derived from the humidity level as well as actual air temp.I have also made snow with the wet bulb as high as 31 by pointing the nozzle straight up in the air to give it maximum time to descent.There are simple charts for it or on the main page of this site there is a spot to put in your zip code and it will tell you what the wet bulb is.The site is

http://www.snowathome.com/

They also have free plans,explain the fundamentals and give some really good tips.I also learned a lot from trial and error last year.Including one night when I left it running on the wrong mix + aimed too high and iced over the entire driveway.Ask me how many days my wife went without talking to me when she fell going out to her truck that morning.As I said before the most important thing is making sure you don't have any water coming out that isn't well vaporized.
 
man that is awesome!! be neat to hook it up on a rotating deal like a sprinkler, leave it on all night an wal-lah! snow covered yard.
 
Would a small 2 gallon compressor work on something like this. I have a couple of them I could use to set up in seperate places if it didnt require to much air pressure to operate.
 
I'm gonna have to get in on this action !!!! One thing I miss from back home is having snow on the ground Christmas morning... Maybe even a little slay ride action in the back yard !!!!!
 
I used a 2 horse 8 gallon $99 air compressor from Harbor Freight.I think a 3 horse would be better,the 2 horse ran almost non stop.The one way valve is to keep water from backing up into the compressor if it shuts off,so it goes on the air line.I used to let it run most of the night and shut it off when I went into work in the morning.It would put down a line about 8 feet wide 15-20 long and make about 3-4 inches deep of snow a night.Although I figured out too that if you pointed the nozzle almost straight up,you would get a huge round area of snow.By the end of January last year I bet there were place in my yard that were 3 feet deep.
 
Saw today that 3HP compressor is on sale for $119 at Harbor Freight right now.Plus I have seen a 20% coupon float around on here a couple times.I am gonna pick one up tomorrow,I definitely plan to run multiple snow makers this year.Last year one was enough to cover the yard,but 3 would of course be faster.
 
sounds like a high power bill to me. water too if ur on city.

badass though.
 
Does the one way valve go between the air line fitting and where the cut off for the water valve goes?
I will have post up some pictures when the snow plow has to come by and clear my road for the bus to come by.
 
jackedHB said:
Does the one way valve go between the air line fitting and where the cut off for the water valve goes?
I will have post up some pictures when the snow plow has to come by and clear my road for the bus to come by.
Click to expand...

It would have to go in between #3 and #10 somehow from the way I see it.
 
Definitely trying this, I have 80% of the parts needed in the drawers in my shop. Just thinking, wouldn't a pressure washer work basically the same? Might could have both going at once to build it up a little quicker, wouldn't have to run the pressure washer wide open, just about idle would give a nice fine mist, so it wouldn't waste too much fuel.
 
jackedHB said:
I will have post up some pictures when the snow plow has to come by and clear my road for the bus to come by.
Click to expand...
I actually screwed up last year and put it down at the road facing towards the house.Apparently a strong wind set in overnight and totally coated a 8 foot section of the road.I was so thankful no one hit it and wrecked.I worried about it all the way to work that morning,coming home to a lawsuit.
This is the one you build if you want to hook a Pressure washer up to it.Without Air the pressure washer's mix is too wet.
1# SAH™ Upper Misting Nozzles - QTY 2
2# ¼” x 1/8” Bushing - QTY 3
3# ¼” x 90 DEG elbow - QTY 2
4# ¼” x 4” nipple - QTY 1
5# ¼” x Tee - QTY 3
6# ¼” close nipple - QTY 4
7# 1/4” x 22mm p.w. adapter - QTY 1 \
8# 1/4” mini ball valve - QTY 1
9# 1/4” quick air connect - QTY 1
10# SAH™ Air Nozzle - QTY 1
The super misting nozzle they are referring to are just Pressure washer nozzle with out the attachment thing.They are just threaded .
 

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Helped the neighbor cover his yard last year. make sure you get that one way valve in the right place. On his set up, he had several nozzles. First night we ended up filling his compressor with water trying to figure out why the hell it wasn't working right.

got that straightened out and he had snow in his yard for a week.
 
i think maybe some firetruck parts might go missing over the next few weeks, er I'm going to make a withdrawl on the retirement plan
 
russ0943 said:
sounds like a high power bill to me. water too if ur on city.

badass though.
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It's not bad,the water is only maybe 10% open once you get the spray mixed right.The compressor running all night is the trade off,but those little compressors don't draw all that much.Besides I literally have so many Christmas lights in my yard that flash on and off in sequence with music that I can't run them at the same time as the compressor or the 20A outside circuit trips.So it's a trade off,I can't run the lights late into the night when I am making snow.
 
Very cool, I'm gon'na try this.

One question about the yard/air compressor version.

What size and how many holes did you drill in the tip?

Found it on the website 7/64". I might try to tap it for pressure washer tips.
 
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