[Mattmopar] figured out how to get a white Christmas even if the weather isn’t frightful. He built a simple DIY snow making machine with a few plumbing parts, and tools you probably already have. Snowmaking machines used on the ski slopes cost tens of thousands of dollars. Even the “low-cost” home versions are $400 and up.

[Matt] cut things down to the basics.  Snowmaking requires two ingredients: Water and compressed air.  The water is coming from a cheap electric pressure washer he found used.  The air pressure is from an old air compressor. [Matt] is using his shop compressor – but even a cheap compressor will do fine.

The cold is an unforgiving environment though – so a few changes are needed. The trick is to use garden hose instead of air hose. Traditional air hose has a rather small hole. This leads to ice clogs coming from the compressor itself.  A check valve also ensures that water from the pressure washer doesn’t back up into the compressor.

The nozzles are pressure washer nozzles.  Two 40 degree nozzles for the water, and a 65 degree nozzle for the air/water mix. In true hacker style, the frame of the machine is a ladder, and the gun attached via zip-ties.

Of course you still need cold temperatures for this to work, but that’s not too hard in the winter months. Now if you have the opposite problem of too much snow, check out this self clearing concrete.

Continue reading “Let It Snow With A Sub $100 Snowmaking Machine.” →