Vertical fog LED machine for small stage

[bagel]

I'm been researching vertical fog LED machines for pantomime use in a village hall (3m high, capacity 100 seated), for the entrance of the genie, fairy godmother, etc, to use as an alternative to a flash pot. Initially we'd like to use two - one on each side of the stage.

Does anybody have any experience of these?

 

I've come up with the following shortlist (excluding those that don't have DMX, as they'll be too tricky to operate in conjunction with the rest of the lighting, I think):

1. Chauvet DJ Geyser P7 (7*9W RGBA+UV). (The P5 could also have been possible but it's not available in the UK).

2. Equinox Verti Jet (21*3W tri-colour RGB)

3. LightmaXX Vertical Fog 1.5 (12*3W (4R,3G,3B,2A))

4. ADJ Fog Fury Jet (12*3W (3R,3G,3B,3A))

 

 

I also considered the Eurolite NSF-100, but discounted it as it cannot be used horizontally or upside-down (which could be useful in some cases).

 

Does anyone have any experience of using this kind of machine for small stage pantomimes?

I'm currently erring towards the ADJ Fog Fury Jett as it's good value and has good reviews. However, it's quite old now (2014), and on the face of it I'm wondering whether the Equinox Verti Jet could be better because it has 21*3W tri-colour LEDs rather than the 12*3W single-colour LEDs of the Jett, so ought to produce a brighter, more dramatic effect. However, I cannot find a single review of this one, so am reluctant.

 

Any thoughts? Or any other suggestions that I've not listed above?

Thanks

[Ynot]

Your best bet would be further research into finding a local hire supplier who can show you the machines in the flesh as it were so YOU can make the distinction over what works for you.

 

One of my locals has the Geysers in stock for example and I've used one a couple of times, though not for the purpose you're thinking of. But that said it's not a bad RGB effect with the LEDs doing a good job of colouring (most of) the smoke as it rises.

 

I would recommend using a fast dispersing smoke fluid however, especially if the performers are in & out a lot :)

[bigclive]

A couple of things to consider here are making sure you get one that doesn't turn off the pump while it's heating, so that you can get an effect on cue.

 

There's also the tendency of most smoke machines to randomly put out an unexpected bonus random puff as fluid still in the heater pipe starts to boil and propels itself into the heater block.

[bagel]

Your best bet would be further research into finding a local hire supplier who can show you the machines in the flesh as it were so YOU can make the distinction over what works for you.

 

One of my locals has the Geysers in stock for example and I've used one a couple of times, though not for the purpose you're thinking of. But that said it's not a bad RGB effect with the LEDs doing a good job of colouring (most of) the smoke as it rises.

 

I would recommend using a fast dispersing smoke fluid however, especially if the performers are in & out a lot :)

 

Thanks. I was going to try the hiring option but it seems nowhere in my local area (Hull) does them.

[timsabre]

Light The Way in Leeds have the Geyser for hire for £15 p/w if you were over that way. I've used these and they are OK, though the LED lighting is a bit of a gimmick and only visible in low light levels.

[bagel]

Light The Way in Leeds have the Geyser for hire for £15 p/w if you were over that way. I've used these and they are OK, though the LED lighting is a bit of a gimmick and only visible in low light levels.

 

Wow that's cheap. I've only found one other company so far that can hire these out, also near Leeds, and they quoted me £81 for 9 days or £32 for a weekend. Bearing in mind that we'd like two of them, plus the hassle of pickup and return, that's why I went down the lines of buying instead.

That's fine about them only being visible in low light levels - I'll blackout all the other lights just before to enhance the effect, and hopefully it'll look good.

[timsabre]

Wow that's cheap.

Mmm, just bear in mind LTW can be somewhat variable in equipment quality, some of it has had a long hard life.

I have seen some of these knocking around on events in Hull so I think there may be some locally, have you tried Gig Shop or ITSL?

 

[bagel]

Wow that's cheap.

Mmm, just bear in mind LTW can be somewhat variable in equipment quality, some of it has had a long hard life.

I have seen some of these knocking around on events in Hull so I think there may be some locally, have you tried Gig Shop or ITSL?

 

 

Yep, tried both of those, plus HPSS and Protech.

I'm just going to go for purchasing - the company I have in mind have said that it's fine to return them if they're not right (even after having tried them out), so I think it'll be less hassle in the long run, as they'll also be delivered to my door. :-)

[A.Russell]

If you haven't already made up your mind, the Martin Thrill vertical fogger (link) are also reasonable units (very similar build to the original Chauvet geyser). With light use and reasonable care they will probably last for years, really a case where buying can work well in the long run.

 

QDOS Entertainment (Beverley/Scarborough) also have a number of vertical smoke machines in their hire stock, though these do tend to be in high demand on their shows during panto season. Their hire website can be found here (link). Disclaimer - I work for QDOS Entertainment, though have no incentive or reward for suggesting them to people for hires.

[timsabre]

Didn't know that Qdos did equipment dry-hire.

[A.Russell]

It’s not hugely well known, but may well get people out of a bind. As ever it’s good to have several places to go to for equipment hire quotes!

[empyfree]

We (AV Matrix) have geysers in stock, I’m heading hull way tomorrow if you want to borrow one over the weekend to experiment with? They’re a good unit when they work! I’d always advise taking a spare, and if you’re doing an extended run you’ll need to factor in some cleaning to keep them running nicely.

 

(What’s the rules on posting and mentioning a company we work for? As above there’s no direct benefit to me for saying we can help but it does seem a bit awkward somehow!).

[bagel]

Thanks all for your comments.

I've decided to just go ahead and purchase the ADJ Fog Fury Jett.

I'll let you know how we get on!

[Shez]

We've had the ADJ unit for a while. It worked well initially but then stopped responding to DMX. We've been using the wireless remote since then but that's not 100% reliable. Might be a one off (it was second hand) but something to consider.

[ImagineerTom]

Are you sure this type of unit will produce the effect you want? In my experience you don't start getting a decent cloud of smoke until about 1m above the unit and they generally couldn't run cryo type fluids so ultimately it didn't provide any meaningful cover for the performers entrance and after they had arrived there was a cloud of smoke perfectly blocking their faces.

 

When we do effects like this we use a massive traditional smoke machine (Jem ZR units, something of that power) with a cryo fluid in it either mounted under the stage vertically or horizontally on the floor behind a scenic item firing towards a small piece of wood at the point where you want the "plume" to shoot upwards to create a wide wall of smoke instantly and which dissipates straight away.