Is the Ultratec Radiance Hazer durable?

[HollyRawls]

I have seen a lot of great posts about the Radiance's performance, but I would love to hear from someone who has owned a unit for awhile. I have had an Ultratec fogger for about 6 years, and it has never performed very well. I have had to send it in for service several times, and I am not super fond of the "rapid change" procedure for cleaning it (nor the $100 for a new replacement kit every 500 hours (or as the unit has aged, less) of use). But, I am willing to believe that I may have bought a lemon of a unit as I have not seen many other complaints. I just saw a demo of the new Rosco V Hazer, and was very impressed with its low noise, high output, and ease of maintenance. However, its fluid intake is greater than a Radiance, and as the line is brand new there is no telling if it will stand the test of time. I am looking for a hazer under $2000, and so not in the market for a MGD or DF- 50. I would appreciate any input about the Radiance- especially from someone who has flogged the hell out of theirs.

 

[sk8rsdad]

We bought our Radiance in 2005. It's been running fine with no issues whatsoever. It sees maybe 100 hrs of use per year though. I think we're on our 3rd 4 litre jug of fluid.

 

[HollyRawls]

We bought our Radiance in 2005. It's been running fine with no issues whatsoever. It sees maybe 100 hrs of use per year though. I think we're on our 3rd 4 litre jug of fluid.

Thank you, this is good to know. How often do you do the "rapid" cleaning procedure?

 

[sk8rsdad]

What's that?

 

[HollyRawls]

What's that?

If you have the Service Manual, it talks through how to take apart the unit to get to the 4 port vaporizer. This is available as a PDF on the Radiance page on the Ultratec website.
So, I'm gonna assume no...

 

[sk8rsdad]

I have the service manual. It's never needed any service.

 

[porkchop]

If for have an F100 fogger I'd say it's probably a lemon cause those things are awesome. If it's a G3000 I've always hated them and never known them to work very well.

I used to tour with Radiance hazers and they got pretty beaten around, were used constantly, and they continued to fill arenas with haze (usually one or two units where all it'd take to fill a 5k+ seat venue). About once a year we'd do the cleaning instructions and that was all it'd take. Finding the exact right drill bit can be a pain, but it does the job. Gaskets could usually be recycled. They get a little angry with 50Hz power and the push buttons on the back for addressing can sometimes wear out (requiring the replacement of the whole motherboard), but that probably had a lot more to do with the way the units where treated than any design fault.

 

[len]

I have seen a lot of great posts about the Radiance's performance, but I would love to hear from someone who has owned a unit for awhile. I have had an Ultratec fogger for about 6 years, and it has never performed very well. I have had to send it in for service several times, and I am not super fond of the "rapid change" procedure for cleaning it (nor the $100 for a new replacement kit every 500 hours (or as the unit has aged, less) of use). But, I am willing to believe that I may have bought a lemon of a unit as I have not seen many other complaints. I just saw a demo of the new Rosco V Hazer, and was very impressed with its low noise, high output, and ease of maintenance. However, its fluid intake is greater than a Radiance, and as the line is brand new there is no telling if it will stand the test of time. I am looking for a hazer under $2000, and so not in the market for a MGD or DF- 50. I would appreciate any input about the Radiance- especially from someone who has flogged the hell out of theirs.

I never owned one, but the company I worked for had a couple, one in the road pack. I didn't like the road pack (too expensive and narrow, so it was tippy) but it was durable.

 

[cbrandt]

We have two radiances, in the touring pack in our rental stock. In the five or six years we've owned them, they've never needed any major service. We've needed to take apart and clean the heater blocks once or twice. I like the quality of the haze out of a df-50 better, but the radiance puts out volumes of haze at a significantly higher rate than the df-50.

 

[HollyRawls]

If for have an F100 fogger I'd say it's probably a lemon cause those things are awesome. If it's a G3000 I've always hated them and never known them to work very well.

I used to tour with Radiance hazers and they got pretty beaten around, were used constantly, and they continued to fill arenas with haze (usually one or two units where all it'd take to fill a 5k+ seat venue). About once a year we'd do the cleaning instructions and that was all it'd take. Finding the exact right drill bit can be a pain, but it does the job. Gaskets could usually be recycled. They get a little angry with 50Hz power and the push buttons on the back for addressing can sometimes wear out (requiring the replacement of the whole motherboard), but that probably had a lot more to do with the way the units where treated than any design fault.

It is a G3000.... Thank you for the info. I am interested to hear that you can get away with cleaning only once a year. That puts a point in their column.

 

[BillESC]

The Radiance is my biggest selling hazer by far. Great machine at the price point.

 

[firewater88]

I've had one for about 4 years now. On at least my second jug of fluid, maybe third. Just cleaned it a few months ago and it was pretty clean inside. It has been rock solid for me.