What is the difference between internal and external mix snow makers, and which one makes more snow?
Internal mix snow makers operate by mixing compressed air and water inside the plumbing of the snow maker. This design does work but it has its drawbacks. One of the issues with this design is maintaining the air and water pressure balance to keep an even flow of water coming out of the snowmaker. This issue causes a reduction in efficiency. Another problem is the likelihood of having water flow back into the airline and doing permanent damage to your air compressor. Internal mix free plan designs can be found here. External mix snow makers mix air and water outside the body of the snowmaker. This design eliminates most of the problems associated with internal mixing. External mixing completely eliminates the issue of water entering the air line because they are not connected. External mixing also utilizes the water and air more efficiently (less energy). The SNOWatHOME™ line of snowmakers and E-Type free plan design are all external mix designs.
