Rosco Coldflow vs. LSX Low Smoke Converter

[jheliker]

Hello!

I'm working on a musical theater show that requires a blanket of low lying fog on stage during two quieter scenes.

My rental house has both Rosco Coldflow, and LSX Low Smoke Converter units available. CO2 is not an issue for me either way - I am using it for other effects throughout this show.

The main question is this - has anyone used either units, with good -> awesome results? I'm concerned about:

1. Noise - not acceptable - I need to be able to pipe the fog to the stage
2. Dissipation - like a purely CO2 based system, I'd rather see the fog on the floor - and then have it dissipate into nothing. If the air becomes chock-filled with clouds of smoke then the effect is useless to me.

Suggestions, comments, real-world experience? I'd love an MDG ICE Q with a mile of ducting, but that isn't realistic for me - especially given that I'm loading in this coming Friday.

Thank you for your help -

- James

 

[josh88]

Hello!

I'm working on a musical theater show that requires a blanket of low lying fog on stage during two quieter scenes.

My rental house has both Rosco Coldflow, and LSX Low Smoke Converter units available. CO2 is not an issue for me either way - I am using it for other effects throughout this show.

The main question is this - has anyone used either units, with good -> awesome results? I'm concerned about:

1. Noise - not acceptable - I need to be able to pipe the fog to the stage
2. Dissipation - like a purely CO2 based system, I'd rather see the fog on the floor - and then have it dissipate into nothing. If the air becomes chock-filled with clouds of smoke then the effect is useless to me.

Suggestions, comments, real-world experience? I'd love an MDG ICE Q with a mile of ducting, but that isn't realistic for me - especially given that I'm loading in this coming Friday.

Thank you for your help -

- James

Just as a reminder for wherever this is going to end up/collect/ etc that it displaces oxygen, so if it is a scenario where it could be rolling off the front of your stage and collecting in the first row or two of seats that would be a bad thing. Just keep that in mind for ventilation and the like.

 

[jheliker]

Definitely understood, asphyxiating the expensive seats while an attractive idea sometimes... isn't my goal for this one!

I mentioned CO2 for a couple reasons - but keep in mind both of the units I mentioned do not output CO2 as a part of the fog effect - the LSX doesn't even use CO2 as a cooling mechanism but seems more like a little electric refrigerator.

 

[skienblack]

The only experience I had with a Rosco Coldflow was not a good one. We have one in our inventory as well as dry ice machines so I was testing both to see which gave a more suitable effect for our show. The coldflow was certainly wasn't quiet while it was cooling down, while not loud I would be aware that it does produce noise while it is taking in the CO2. Another thing to note, whenever we use it we expect to use a full 100# tank of CO2 for it to cool down.

 

[jheliker]

Does anyone from Rosco ever browse these forums? Given what Alex said above, that is enough for me to write off the Coldflow as a bad idea - I don't have time to experiment during a show!

No input on the LSX? Must be an amazing unit...

 

[jheliker]

Update: I went up to my rental house today and they showed me the LSX in action. Not the best looking effect, but simple, and with the appropriately quick-dissapating fluid in your fogger of choice, it's okay.

Does anyone in the Los Angeles area know of rental houses that carry Martin Glaciator X-Stream Foggers, similar?

 

[besmoe1]

I actually own a rosco cold flow and I would recommend it if you can find a way to suppress sound. I made a plywood box and the put 2 inch foam insulation on all sides to help with noise. And it works. I would suggest using a rosco delta 3000 fog machine to shoot in the cold flow. With the rosco low lying fog fluid. Trust me on this one I've spent countless hours testing every fog fluid out and roscos works best. They're fluid also dissipates real fast when warm.which is very positive. You can cover a stage super fast with a cold flow.