Well, 2018 started off with a glorious cold snap here in the zip code 29708 (Fort Mill, Tega Cay, SC). The temps on New Year's Day headed into the low teens and would not rise above freezing for almost a week! The ground froze solid. New Year's Day was a cold one and of all places, I was the boat helping out with our club's New Year's Day Barefoot Tournament on Lake Norman, NC. Spent the day on the water with ice on the boat.
Next morning I woke up and it was cold.. cold cold cold! I ran out to my garage and got my rig back up and running. I built it after reading about how to make snow at home from a few websites and friends. (cough cough Garrett!) Winter of 2017 was trial and error. We only had maybe 2-3 days of good snow making weather. I had made my own nozzles for the snow and it was a bust. Ice crystals kept pouring out and the ground was chunky. The picture you see here is my homemade nozzle for the air/water to pass through and nucleation. I drilled a hole and screwed in the cap and tried different bits, etc... no luck.
Nucleation?!
What the hell is nucleation and why do you need to know about it? Technically speaking, "Nucleation, the initial process that occurs in the formation of a crystal from a solution, a liquid, or a vapour, in which a small number of ions, atoms, or molecules become arranged in a pattern characteristic of a crystalline solid, forming a site upon which additional particles are deposited as the crystal grows." (per Britannica)
When you make snow there is a point on where nucleation happens and you can actually see it happening in front of you. Blowing pressured water out nozzles may make ice, but its not snow. The mixture of compressed air and water is what produces the fluffy snow at the right temperature. Mixing can occur internally or externally in the snow gun or device. The unit I made is mixing internally. External mixers require way more pressurized water and less air. It also happens with air and water on separate nozzles at 90 degree angles. So if you have a huge high pressure washer, you might be able to get nucleation externally with the correct setup.
Wet Bulb is Your Friend
Wet Bulb is basically the snowmaking temperature when the air temp and humidity is calculated out. Higher temps below freezing and low humidity would be the same as lower temps with higher humidity. (assuming below 32 degrees). For us lazy people, you can look at the best online source here: SnowatHome Weather Link. It will basically tell you if the temp is ready to go or not. As you can see on this day, the window to make snow is small but fierce. Wet bulb is at 16 degrees, but then jumps quickly today. (Cold weather is moving out and warmer air in).
Its kind of a bummer when you see its "too warm" but my neighbors probably are happier not hearing my air compressor and pressure washer running for hours. If you are lucky enough to have a source of ice cold water, it will most likely increase your snow amounts about 40 percent. IE, a lake, pond to draw water from instead of tap water from the house.
Speaking of Neighbors
One thing to remember in this entire process is that its noisy! There is no way around it. Well, a little bit you may be able to help out on. With my setup, I made snow near my garage. With a longer air hose, I was able to keep my compressor in the garage and run it. The pressure washer being gas, has to be outside. You dont want carbon dioxide filling your garage up. (or house!). You may be able build a box to muffle the sound of the pressure washer a bit without suffocating it or overheating. I may be lucky as my neighbors are okay with it. Other places I have heard the cops have been called because us snow junkies are making snow at 10pm at night for our kids and they want to spoil our fun.....
My Setup.. Finally The Good Stuff.
My setup is fairly straight forward, its not fancy but it works! We start with the piping. I used regular piping from Lowes/Home Depot to build the unit itself. 1/4 pipe if I recall. You have:
- (3) T fittings
- (2) 3" nipples
- (1) 90 degree elbow
- (2) 1" nipples for the ball valve
- (1) ball valve
- pipe tape to seal or it will leak and freeze/ice up
- (1) Air compressor fitting male (at the bottom red hose).
The fittings you have to order are from Jack's Small Engine. Amazon may have this stuff, but sometimes inflates the prices. Jack's is a great deal for these items.
| Part Number | Description | Quantity | Price Per Item |
| 6315 | 22MM X 1/4" FPT Screw Plug | 1 | $3.04 |
| 5655 | 1/4" MPT Brass Socket | 1 | $3.36 |
| 1121 | 1/4" MEG 25° WASHJET Stainless Steel Nozzle | 1 | $6.02 |
| 3235 | 1/4" MEG 40° WASHJET Stainless Steel Nozzle | 3 | $6.02 |
I did not end up using part number #5655 for my air compressor, but it was in case I messed up my originally one. #6315 is where my pressure washer plugs in to the unit. I unscrew the wand from the handle and screw the handle into the nozzle. Be awesome to find a quick release type fitting for speed..
The most important pieces to this are the nozzles! They call them MEG washjets in the parts list, basically a pressure washer nozzle. They are 1/4" screw in, hence they work in the 1/4 "T" fittings. I cant recall why I bought (3) 40 degree and (1) 25 degree. I was all excited one morning and screwed them and didnt realize I i put (2) 40 degree fitting in the top two holes and the 25 degree in the bottom closet to the air.
The degree setting on the nozzles are its fan width as it leaves the nozzle. Wider nozzles will not shoot as far. Lower degree with have a narrow path. My theory is that the 25 degree nozzle closet to the air compressor is shooting air out further and blowing the 40 degree mixture more around the outside cold air.
When its all together it looks like this on my ladder. Notice the angle of the ladder shooting up in the air. The ladder is convenient, but not ideal. My setup will blow snow all over a 40x40 area if there is no wind. I actually put a chair under the back legs and shot the snow lower, more concentrated in one area, then moved it a bit left/right.
I like to leave the pistol handle from the power washer and simply clamp it. My power washer needs a little bleeding of air to build up pressure and feathering the handle grip helps. Once I get a steady flow, I then clamp it with the blue clamp. My pressure washer is probably 10+ years old with a replacement pump, but it works!
Pressure Washer
My pressure washer is a standard off the shelf Lowes/Home Depot. If I wear to buy a new one, Id go bigger. I cant see blowing snow at less PSI or GPI. Keep some gas handy and as you start blowing snow, you will go through a bit. Pressure washers are not exactly fuel efficient.. but why would they be?!
Have fun! The kids have fun no matter how much you make!
Air Compressor
I tried to run this setup with a pancake compressor and I think I probably destroyed, which is fine. I like buying new tools. I went with the minimum I could buy in case "this whole snowmaking shit is BS". And also if I destroyed. I went to Lowes last winter and picked up this Kobalt. Its an 8 gallon and 4.0 CFM @90psi. (For those that cant read the picture?!) The air compressor is an important part of this puzzle. Its mixing pressurized air inside the pipe and pushing it out even faster to create that fine mist for the cold air to freeze.
Like the pressure washer, bigger is better. the more CFMs you can push through at a constant PSI, the better quality snow (and more) you will get. My little compressor worked well. I was impressed for $150 or less you could buy. And its been reliable on top of that. I would say though the biggest when using this compressor is to wait for it build up a full tank before plugging it all into the snow gun. With 4.0CFM, it cant keep up with the water pressure when you first turn it on. I'll go over the process once of turning it on in a minute, but you want the compressor fully pressurized before starting up the snow machine.
Come on already, make some SNOW!
If you took your time with the above, this step should give you pure joy! I stage all my stuff in my garage. Why? Because its cold out fool! You dont want your pressure washer frozen, garden hose or nozzles. You will have some disappointed kids quickly! I hook it all up in the garage with the hosed coiled behind their respective component.
- Hook the pressure washer gun to the snow gun and tighten
- Hook the garden hose to the pressure washer
- Start up the compressor and let it build pressure to full. (Max)
- Pull the ladder out and position where you want to blow snow.
- Pull the pressure washer out and put it somewhere it will not leak water all over. If it leaks at the hose connection, you will get ice under it or a skate ring eventually.
- Turn the water on
- Turn the pressure washer on and get it pumping at full out the nozzles (ball valve still closed!)
- Grab the air hose and plug it in so air blowing out the bottom nozzle only
Now, the most important part, the mixing. With the air flowing, the pressure washer pumping and blowing mist (might be wet snow depending on wet bulb), slowing open the ball valve just a tiny bit until you hear the glorious sound of air and water and also look closely at it. The top two nozzles will almost pull the air/water mixture from the bottom nozzle up into "the storm". This is key.. you want that uplift going on, its basically how you tell its working correctly. Otherwise if you open the ball valve too much, it will simply blow straight out the bottom nozzle and not mix at all.
The nozzles are position horizontally to let the air/water mixture flow and disperse correctly. If they are off not exactly level, it will mix wrong. But notice the updraft or pull going on at the bottom nozzle spray. This is how you know its mixing correctly. It should sound like a howling spurting sound. If you can bare through the cuteness of my daughter, you will see it running strong!
Some Tips to Remember
- Be patient when setting it all up. Once the work is done, it will work continually for as long as you have gasoline and water!
- When shutting down, turn the pressure washer off first, then the water and let the air blow out the water. Put it all back somewhere above freezing. Garden hoses, pressure washer and hoses and snow nozzles dont work with ice! Finally turn off your air compressor. You do not want water flowing back into the compressor or you will run the risk of killing it.
- Flow the wet bulb temp. Wet snow is wet snow and it will be a hard crust on top.. still snow, and makes a nice base. "Good Snow" meter will produce the fluffy stuff. (colder temps).
- Plan where you blow snow. Shady places will help keep it around, or shelter from the wind. The wind is not your friend as it will blow it all over if you are trying to put it down in a single place. Also when it melts, where it runs off to. The driveway for was fun place to play, but the melting part took awhile. ha!
- If the ground is frozen, you will get more snow to stick quicker. If the ground is not, it will take longer.
- Blow snow in the morning or after the sun goes down. Colder it is, the better/more snow you can make.
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