Hazer on a high school budget

[DaveSHS]

I teach tech theater at a high school in the bay area and we have some money left over in our budget from last year. I am looking at purchasing a hazer for our 350 seat proscenium theater, but our budget is only $350 to $700. Does anyone know of a hazer that could do a decent job in that price range or are we out of luck? I know that with our budget we can't afford to be too picky, so we are just looking for something that can fill the space somewhat evenly that would ideally be water (glycol) based to make it easier on the actors and equipment. If we can find something quiet that doesn't chug fluid all the better. It doesn't need to have dmx control, but from what I can tell almost everything nowadays is.

The hazer would be used a fair number of times each year for classes, shows, and concerts so I would rather buy than rent, not to mention that I would love to save the time it takes to go through the paperwork necessary to get the money from the school in order to rent.

Thanks for help.

 

[sk8rsdad]

The Ultratec Radiance will do the job, but I don't know where you would find one that fits in your budget unless you find one used. They tend to sell for around $1,100.

 

[hobbsies]

its a bit more than that unfortunately. is there a way to split your budget up over two years or shows or something?

EDIT it's 1186 msrp

 

[DaveSHS]

There are all sorts of rules to the budgeting processes, some make sense and some don't, and one is that funds from one year cannot roll over into the next. I can try to request it as a capital expense and see if it gets approved outside of our regular budget, but that gets into its own set of issues and politics.

A friend I used to work with recommended the Martin Magnum 2500, which I could get for about $650. Has anyone had particularly postive or negative expeiences with that? I have used some Martins as rentals in the past for smaller venues and they worked out fine, but I'm not sure how they would work in a proscenium space or how they hold up over time.

 

[miketex517]

have you checked gear source and used equipment .com .I have also fouind used tand new equipment on ebay

 

[DaveSHS]

Thanks for pointing me to gearsource; it is giving me some of the best prices I've seen on the hazers I've been looking at. From what I've been able to find on controlbooth, it seems like the Antari Z300, Martin StageHaze, or Martin Magnums (1500-2500) are the most respectable ones in my price range. Does anyone have experience with those, know if they could fill up a decent sized high school proscenium stage, or have any other recommendations?

 

[Aman121]

We rented a Martin magnum for a show in our 1200 seat space, it did ok not exceptional, but for a theatre that's 1/3 smaller it probably would work ok. Allot of the problems were caused by our ventilators, which aggressively pull air from the house to grid level backstage. The haze ended up collecting up there and gettin blown outside. We needed the vents though, there's no AC in the building.

 

[DaveSHS]

Thanks for the input. Do you remember if you rented the 1500 or the 2500?

 

[Aman121]

not off the top of my head, I'll check some pictures I had of the rig and seeif I can tell.

 

[Tex]

I've used the Z300. It hazed an 800 seat house nicely and didn't use a lot of fluid. It looks like the Magnums have an optional DMX interface that doesn't come with the basic model, so that may add some expense if you need DMX control.

 

[samlish]

I used the 2500 a few weeks ago and it was awesome!! Made a bit of noise but nothing that couldn't be drowned out. Highly recommend for the price.

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[TimMiller]

I like using the antari x-310 it has both timer are dmx capability and it can haze a large venue quickly. I typically run mine at about 50% to get a good quick haze then cut it down to about 15% it takes 2 x channels one for fan the other for smoke. I personally like controlling it off the console. It also has a low fluid warning and shut off so you cannot run it empty.

 

[DaveSHS]

After looking over the suggestions that everyone posted (thanks) and some other sources, it looks like for this budget that I should be going for an Antari or Martin. I haven't had any personal experience with Antari, but it seems like most people speak well of them. The only concerns that I have are how they will hold up over time and if there is a significant downside to the fazers since they fog fluid instead of haze. If anyone has any experiences on either of those two points I'd love to hear them. I've had good experiences with the Martin hazers that I've used and they seem to be reasonably priced.

It seems like most of the forums on controlbooth focus on hazers over $1,000, so I'm posting some info on the hazers that I've been looking into in case anyone else is interested. All the info is off the manufacturer's website, but anyone actually looking to buy should double check the numbers before putting down money, since chances are there's a mistake or typo. Let me know if I should add any other hazers to the list.

View attachment hazer choices.ods - NeoOffice Calc.pdf

 

[TimMiller]

Glycol is the main ingredient in all forms of water based Foggers. I have used and owned oil based but they do leave a mess behind. Also most of them are noisy or you have a co2 tank to fill.

 

[StNic54]

Check out the Base Hazer - solid unit. Just remember to check with your fire marshall about the rules for particulates in the air - I prefer oil but you may find that water-based haze is more encouraged. You'll want to do a controlled fire test well ahead of time, no matter which hazer you get.

 

[Tex]

Sorry, I used the Antari HZ300 which is not a fazer. It's in the $700 range.

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