Low fog! What really works?

[adamwanstall]

So you know when you watch the X-factor they have that low fog which creates an amazing effect....

 

What really is the best way to get a budget version of that?

 

I have a 'Mister kool' unit which is probably the worse on earth, but I was thinking.... would dry ice insted of regular ice increase the performance? Also I have seen the low fog fluid you can get which is suppose to be heavier than normal fog and can create low fog without chilling.... is this product aload of bull or does it work? Would combining the two of these together make a much better result?

 

Thanks guys!

:)

[timsabre]

Low fog fluid is just the same as normal fog fluid but designed to disperse quickly before it warms up and starts to rise into the air. There's nothing heavy about it.

 

Dry ice in your chiller would work better than normal ice, but if you can get dry ice you could do the classic rolling mist effect by putting it in hot water.

[adamwanstall]

I like the rolling idea, but there would be no way for me to control the output of it Via DMX

 

My only concern with putting dry ice into my fogger was that the ice might be too cold for it and ruin any of the inside parts?

 

Low fog fluid is just the same as normal fog fluid but designed to disperse quickly before it warms up and starts to rise into the air. There's nothing heavy about it.

 

Dry ice in your chiller would work better than normal ice, but if you can get dry ice you could do the classic rolling mist effect by putting it in hot water.

[paulears]

I quite like Glaciators, and when they're working well, they are excellent. My own experience is that their performance is a bit less than reliable though.

[ImagineerTom]

Getting a great dry-ice-effect on stage is easy, the problem is that the people who want it also expect to be able to walk/dance/run through it and for the fog to somehow magically not be effected by it; an almost impossible situation to remedy.

 

Pure CO2 / dry ice based smoke is the most durable in this situation, High end glycol based Heavy Foggers (ie the Glaciator) are the next best thing but are noticeably worse than dry ice, by the time you're looking at ice-cube based chillers you're on a hiding to nothing. These units can produce a great effect in small quantities with minimal air disturbance but as soon as "people" appear on the stage your effect is ruined. You can improve the situation by using the proper heavy fog fluid as specified and adding salt to your ice cubes to get the temp down that little bit further but it's still all fine-tuning of a far from perfect solution.

 

 

[gyro_gearloose]

We had a Glaciator for our panto a few years ago and it produced a superb effect and the machine ran flawlessly for a month. We got around the problem of the fog being disturbed by the cast by flying them over it!! We were doing Peter Pan, and it was the sequence where Peter and the children fly to Neverland, and the low fog represented the clouds over London. It worked really well, though I don't think the musicians liked disappearing in the fog as it filled the pit!

 

If anyone is looking for a low-fogger, then I know someone who has a huge Jem Heavy Fog 6500 monster. Be warned though - its only suitable for large stages...

[dunk_1984]

I've had good results from Le Maitre's Freezefog Pro. Only issue is it requires a CO2 supply. However that is a lot more obtainable and storable than dry ice.

 

http://www.lemaitre.co.uk/productInformation.aspx?UKeyCategory=8&UKeyProduct=89

 

The Glaciator's can work well, however that requires them to be kept maintained.

[timsabre]

I've had good results from Le Maitre's Freezefog Pro. Only issue is it requires a CO2 supply. However that is a lot more obtainable and storable than dry ice.

 

http://www.lemaitre....&UKeyProduct=89

 

The Glaciator's can work well, however that requires them to be kept maintained.

 

Yeah... but he said low budget... neither of those is low budget. Standard fog machine with a chiller tank is the only low budget way to do it, but you do have to use quick-dispersing fluid to prevent the low fog rising up. As Tom says as soon as you have people moving through it, it'll go up in the air and everywhere anyway.

[alistermorton]

I've had good results from Le Maitre's Freezefog Pro. Only issue is it requires a CO2 supply. However that is a lot more obtainable and storable than dry ice.

 

http://www.lemaitre....&UKeyProduct=89

 

The Glaciator's can work well, however that requires them to be kept maintained.

 

 

We hired a glaciator for 39 Steps and it worked really well. Bit noisy, but you can't have everything.

[LXbydesign]

You can improve the situation by using the proper heavy fog fluid as specified and adding salt to your ice cubes to get the temp down that little bit further but it's still all fine-tuning of a far from perfect solution.

 

Yes - that helps, and also storing the heacvy fog fluid in the fridge!!

 

TBH, dry ice IS the only way to get 'that' effect properly.

 

A Glaciator for me was 2nd best mind you.

[adamwanstall]

Will dry ice keep the fog much cooler than normal ice?

 

You can improve the situation by using the proper heavy fog fluid as specified and adding salt to your ice cubes to get the temp down that little bit further but it's still all fine-tuning of a far from perfect solution.

 

Yes - that helps, and also storing the heacvy fog fluid in the fridge!!

 

TBH, dry ice IS the only way to get 'that' effect properly.

 

A Glaciator for me was 2nd best mind you.

[gyro_gearloose]

Yes - that helps, and also storing the heacvy fog fluid in the fridge!!

I'm slightly confused by this. Why would making the fluid cold help? Doesn't the fluid pass through a heater to vaporise it, and this vapour is then chilled? If the fluid is deliberately chilled before use, won't that take too much heat out of the heater and possibly allow some un-vaporised fluid to escape?

[ImagineerTom]

The difference between using dry-ice instead of real ice is noticeable but not significant where it matters - the problem is the type of fog you're producing; dry ice will make it cooler which will make it hug the ground better and last longer but you will still have the problem that as soon as people start moving through it it will rise and because it's just regular smoke that's been chilled it won't disperse fast enough; it's a basic flaw of low-end chiller units. If you're going to go to the hassle of getting dry-ice in you might as well use it directly to make the fog and cut out the whole smoke-machine problem

 

Pre-chilling the fluid may have some negligible effect to prolong its storage lifespan (smoke fluid is essentially a foodstuff really) but it wouldn't have any impact on the smoke actually produced because as gyro points out; it gets super-heated to make it turn in to "smoke", aside from putting extra strain on the heater and shortening the heat cycles I can't see it actually having any benefit.