Foggers and Hazers

[Dylandtech]

I am doing a lighting design for A christmas Carol for my school, and i need a decent hazer that will work for a pretty big stage. I need it to be cheap as the budget for this show isnt very big.
I also need a good fogger, something that can simulate dry ice foggers, but doesnt need the dry ice. Same thing needs to be semi cheap.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thank You

 

[techieman33]

Call your local rental houses and see what's available to rent, it's hard to make suggestions when we don't know whats available in your area.

 

[icewolf08]

Ironically, it isn't really so easy to mimic a dry ice fog without using dry ice. While it is possible to build a home made chiller for a chemical fogger, the most effective way to actually chill the fog is with dry ice.

Given your situation I would second what has already been said, look into a rental. You won't be able to buy machines that are worth using if you don't have a substantial budget. Renting will get you a lot further. Just start making some phone calls to local theatre suppliers and see what they have to rent.

Also, you may even find that, depending on the length of your run, it may be cheaper to build a dry ice machine than to rent or buy one. They are pretty simple and you can probably find all the info you need to make one on this site.

 

[hobbsies]

in my experience, the radiance is a pretty good hazer. Really anything by Le Maitre is pretty awesome. Fogger wise doesn't matter, Le Maitre is a pretty good brand to go by. In the shop I used to work at we only had Le Maitre foggers and hazers, with City Theatrical ice foggers. I'd go with whatever your local/near by rental house has though.

 

[bishopthomas]

I use a Radiance. The DF50 is pretty industry standard but has no DMX.

 

[coldnorth57]

Hey Guys the Radiance Hazer is now from Ultratec Special Effects - design by Sleepless Solutions the name has changed, still a great hazer i want another one

 

[BanditRO]

If a local rental house has the Antari ICE, the unit makes a cost effective low lying fog effect using only bulk ice.

Of course, it is NOT going to be the same as a PeaSouper or Aquafog, but may fit your budget needs.

Second the Radiance.

DF50 are great if you don't mind residue...on virtually anything and everything...

 

[derekleffew]

...The DF50 is pretty industry standard but has no DMX.

The DF-50 is available with a DMX option: DF-50 DMX . However, the machine is likely too noisy for most theatre applications.

Dylandtech, I agree with Icewolf08's statements. The only ways to make low, ground-hugging fog is to

1. Use a dry ice fogger
2. Use a chemical fogger with a chiller module that incorporates a refrigeration unit (for example, Product - Jem Glaciator X-Stream™ or Rosco UK : Fog : Coldflow )
3. Use LN2 (liquid nitrogen).

A while back. a member reported success building his own "chiller box" that used regular frozen H2O-type ice to cool the output of a chemical machine.
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/special-effects/16405-diy-fog-chiller-help.html
or search CB for "chiller box".

 

[bishopthomas]

Derek, I stand corrected. I've only used a couple of DF50's and neither have had DMX. Of course, you can set it on a relay if you only need on/off control.

BanditRO, welcome to CB! Nice to see your company represented here. Stop by the new member board if you have a chance to introduce yourself.

 

[hobbsies]

Hey Guys the Radiance Hazer is now from Ultratec Special Effects - design by Sleepless Solutions the name has changed, still a great hazer i want another one

Oh right, they used to be the same company...I didn't get a straight story about how they split, but yeah, still a solid product. I just bought a Radiance, and it is AWESOME!!

 

[aemeeich]

I also need a good fogger, something that can simulate dry ice foggers, but doesnt need the dry ice. Same thing needs to be semi cheap.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thank You

Here are two chillers that I've made over the years. My dad and I had originally made one back in 2004 for Romeo and Juliet out of a large Rubbermaid 120 quart tub. There were no fans in it, however the fog moved though it very well since the hose runs were very short and didn't have any elevation change.

We made the two pictured below for subsequent shows after realizing that fans were needed for longer hose runs, especially if they gained height.

They are just filled with plain H2O ice from the ice machine at the school.

I put a layer of plastic sheeting across the entire top of the ice with a sheet of plywood on top of that to make sure the fog doesn't flow up and over the ice and thus not get chilled.

The fans were run off of a relay that was triggered by power flowing to the fog machine pumps. This way, the ice wouldn't be prematurely melted throughout the beginning of the show.

This set-up works extremely well for how inexpensive it was to make.

I've been considering designing a chiller based around liquid CO2. It should be much smaller and easier to work with than all that ice/water.

Michael