Information on hazers

[White-Light]

I've pulled wallpaper off of walls before, and if all I needed was a hazer to do it I could have purchased a couple DF50s with all the labor saved by not needing to pull it off.

I only use my Martin smoke machine indoors in a small bedroom and I've never come across any form of condensation despite some real pea soupers. In fact the haze is re markedly dry - hence its reputation for causing dry irritable throats.

[allthatwhichis]

What would be a good machine for use with someone with asthma? In a small home use area.

[mliptack]

I only use my Martin smoke machine indoors in a small bedroom and I've never come across any form of condensation despite some real pea soupers. In fact the haze is re markedly dry - hence its reputation for causing dry irritable throats.

Same here... personally I love the Martin line of hazers. I think for the price they are incredible for the small to mid-sized event. You can do large shows with them too, you just need more of them. We of course run into some acts that specifically state that you cant use haze. Most of those acts are either old school and are familiar with the old oil based hazers or they are probably managed by someone who grew up with old school hazers...

Either way, I hate setting up 20-40 moving lights only to find out a performer doesn't want haze. At that point might as well set up 120k-160k of prerig and call it a show.

What would be a good machine for use with someone with asthma? In a small home use area.

I would go for a true hazer, water based. This would be your best bet. Typically a good hazer does not make it hard to see. In fact you want the smallest particle size so it refracts light better. Fog has a large particle size, which makes it far more dense and harder to see through. Haze is great for TV for example, it allows light beams to be seen, while still getting a clear image on your camera.

I'm not sure of the entire line of martin hazers (the Jem line) but if there is something smaller than the 24/7 that would be perfect for a small-midsized house. The 24/7 even at its lowest output setting (ignoring any DMX control) is too much at my house. But for theater, I like to use two, one on each side plus an external fan. DMX controlled. Usually outputting at or around 50% once I get it to a density I think is good.

-Max

[mliptack]

Just to add to that... when I get to play with a new console usually I set up 4-6 VL2500s (moving light fixtures) and one ZR24/7 for haze in the warehouse. In that setup I'll run the hazer at full fan speed and at 70-80% fog output. In that case it is far more than enough haze.

Notice in the picture the lights facing towards you, you can see the beams, but the lights facing away from you it looks like they are off. That is because of how refractive the haze medium is. The light beam for the most part continues upon its path, and small amounts are scattered.

EDIT: You can actually see the hazer in the background just above and to the right of the floor fixture that is yellow and pointing at the camera. Like I said, this is more than enough haze for this shop - and its pretty big. Forgive the photo skills... iPhone cameras can suck.

[buffo]

buffo, you should open other things and post pictures from the inside too...

Thanks Adrian... I might do that in the future, but right now I've got too many other things competing for my free time. Still, I'm glad those pics have proved useful.

Adam

[greenalien]

In fact the haze is re markedly dry - hence its reputation for causing dry irritable throats.

Glycol, the main ingredient in water-based fog mix, is hygroscopic. i.e. it absorbs moisture, hence the 'dry throat' effect; unfortunately, the residue continues to absorb water until it's saturated. This is very bad news for anything that might corrode if it gets wet, e.g. anything electronic that isn't sealed. It can also get into fabrics like drapes and curtains and can encourage fungal and bacterial growth - not advised for bedrooms!

What would be a good machine for use with someone with asthma?

'None' is the best advice here, as all kinds of theatrical smoke and haze may trigger an asthma attach if someone's susceptible. However, just because it can doesn't mean it will, trial and error is the best policy here if it's yourself that you are experimenting on. Another factor is that smoke machines that aren't cleaned regularly can build up bacterial growth in the fluid which can itself trigger an allergic response in some people.

[dzodzo]

Today we tested some lights at a friends with whom we'll be doing a small event in a village near our town and he has a 700W fog machine and for home testing i find it sufficient.

=



on the top around 40mW green, in the middle up 60mW and below that 290mW rgy, the beams were clearly visible, guess it's sufficient for small event in a club

[pimm87]

I think this is the best topic to post my question:

Which smoke fluid is the best for laserbeam reflection? I'm using "standard" foggers like martin, atari and eurolite.

What kind of fluid do most of you use?

[mccarrot]

Jem Pro Smoke Super (ZR mix).

[colouredmirrorball]

Would smoke fluid affect the visibility of the beams? I agree with mccarrot about Jems, it lasts like hours!