djross38 Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 Hi Everyone!! I have got a show on next week and I am using X2 Antari Ice Machine's!! Has anyone used one before? This is my first time using this specfic one. I have good and bad things about them so I don't know what to think!!!! I would of liked to get something alot better than this but it was down to cost of hiring it!! Tell me what you think?? Cheers Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickb12345 Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 Do you meen the Z-ICE series Low Foggers? If so then they are alright, for the effect they produce. One pointer, the pump function on them for entering the melted water is... not too good. DO NOT use it during a performance, it makes a hell of a noise if it sucks in air, and still makes quite a lot of noise when its sucking water! Also never try and move them with water in... you will get wet feet and if you tip it the wrong way you will have a wet heating element... which isnt good! Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djross38 Posted April 10, 2005 Author Share Posted April 10, 2005 Not sure if it's that one or not. I looked on the antari website and all iut say's is ice machine. Does the ice last as long as it says it does?? This revolutionary machine is the first of its kind. it produces the ever popular, low lying "heavy" smoke of a dry ice machine, without the inconvenience of dry ice or the potential health hazards caused by dry ice's heavily CO2 laden smoke. Place up to 10 kg of ice into the ice chamber to cool the smoke produced by the 1000W smoke machine contained in this unit. Then watch the floor disappear in ankle deep smoke. Never before has one machine offered this unique, affordable function. 10 kg of ice placed in the ice chamber can last up to 12 hours or 80 minutes with constant use. Full DMX on board means 100% control along with an output for separate units, and the timer remote puts that control in the palm of your hands. Drainage pump can be activated manually or set to automatic for optimum convenience. Try it out for yourself and you'll never go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicktaylor Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Yup, I have one in my stock and it works great. If you need a long use in a show the two bags of party ice will do. Otherwise one distributed across the cooling box does the trick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djross38 Posted April 12, 2005 Author Share Posted April 12, 2005 anyone else used it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian kirby Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 HI on the ICE machine we are the official importers for Antari, we support a local charity gig with two Ice machines on a 30foot stage, and I think they do a remarkable job for the money Tips for use: Dont run them at full output try it low at first and then increase it until the effect is smooth.IF you run it at 100% the machine will take a breather to reheat just at the wrong time! Make sure the ICE is emptied before you leave the venue or you will have a pool of water in the morning. Due to the noise of the water pump use it on manual mode so you can suck the water out during the nisei bits of the performance. Sods law states if you leave it in auto mode it will stuck pumping during the quiet bit of your show with a resultant stare to the lighting tech! Make sure you use Gravity Max fluid as competitors fluid like heavy fog from Martin is designed to be used with a chiller plant running at much lower temperatures, this smoke will rise up as it warms and block your stage view, Gravity Max evaporates before it rises. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Just wondering, does it have to be loose ice? Or can you use those sealed bags of "party ice" already mentoned without opening them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djross38 Posted April 15, 2005 Author Share Posted April 15, 2005 Does anyone know where I could download a manual for the machine? Antari Don't seem to have it on there website. ???????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian kirby Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 I could fax or mail you a copy from one of our machines I do not think I have a pdf version but will check Im not in the UK until monday so ill check then Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian kirby Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 Hello Zaphod, We have been thinking the same way but have not had time to check if it would work ok, my guess is you would get an effect but maybe not as good as the individual ice cubes that get into all the nooks and cranys of the metal grate that the smoke blows through. ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisD Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 I've used this B****** of a machine. Smoke ouput dropped to about 10% slap bang in the middle of Javert's suicide in Les Mis and everyone watched him roll of stage, boy was I angry. I would suggest that if you're planning on sticking 10kg of ice in (we did 8 per night), stick a hose on the front. You'll need some PTFE (plumber's tape) tape to stop water leaking around the thread, but once it's in place, it saves a lot of work. I wish you the best of luck with it but all this machine did was give me a wet a**e. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinny baby Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 hmm odd because the machine was manufactured with no duty cycle! with the intention of it being used continuas through long scenes! I personally have used the machine and think its great, I never had a problem with leaking water, but the again I never let it build up, I always drained it when I could. The machine also blew out fog on full output alway through without duty cycle, from what I can gather it works on fog on demand, if you pause the out put the machine will go into heat, but soon as you press fog, the heater shuts down and the produces fog straight away. never had a problem! vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian kirby Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 JUst so as no one try's chris suggestion and gets confused as to where he is putting the hose that he mentioned, The early models had a tap on the front to manually drain the water resiviour, this was deleted when the machine was fitted with an automatic pumping system. So if you have a machine manufactured after 2002 then you will have to stick with the system as designed. Regarding the drop to 10% output, bear in mind this is a budget machine, what other products can make this effect for such a low outlay compared to a chiller or dry ice machine. Please remember it only has a small heating block (1000WATT) and I do not think there are many if any smoke machines at that power level that can run continuous without pausing to re-heat. Did you check my post earlier about running the machine at half-70% output, as this keep the block temperature higher plus any higher volume tends to just billow the smoke around the chamber without increasing the flow of the effect. You pays yur money............. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickb12345 Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 During panto last year we used these and we ran out of ice near the end of the run, we then attacked anything waterproof and froze water in them overnite and it worked fine, most of it was big lumps of ice... we used the bottoms of the empty bottles of gravity fluid to freeze most of it in! The individual cubes ment we could get away with not using as much, with the cubes we could just cover both sides of the tank base and get a good effect, but with the big lumps we had to fill both sides of the tank to get the same effect. I suppose thats because with the small cubes the fog comes into contact with a bigger surface area of ice, hence cooling it more! Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henny Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 ive hired these units many a time , and recently bought one, one tip, raise it up about 12" , its flight case often works , then run a hose from the front tap ,( older models only), threw the nerest fire exit or drain , and let gravity do the rest , ive maimley used these's in corporate work in hotels and the such, so access to an ice maker has never been a problem , just filled the unit every coupple of hours , the one ive just bought didn't have a tap, as ian kirby has allready said , so I soon drilled it and fitte my own tap with hoselock conector and 10m of black garden hose, henny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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