Low output on Antari HZ-350

[partyanimallighting]

Hi guys, I'm just throwing this out there hoping for a response. I have a brand new never used before Antari HZ-350 that was packed away in the warehouse for years (fog machines were my "go to" all this time). I finally decided to try it out in a little Christmas concert for my Alma Mater but there was little visible output. The manual states that the machine can use either water or oil based fluid and I used Antari HZL-W water based fluid but was very disappointed in the output. Should I attempt to flush the machine and retry the water based fluid? If so, how do I go about flushing the unit? It's not a "fazer" but an actual compressor type machine. Or will the overall recommendation be to switch to an oil based fluid? I'm quite sure the unit in the attached video link is using oil based fluid but the reason I bought this particular model so many years ago was because it could use water based fluid and I could avoid the residue issues from using oil based fluids.

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by partyanimallighting

[ianknight]

CTS used to have one of these in hire (and originally the original compressor based version too) & we never got good results in the new version with water based fluid (much to my boss upset because of the cost of the oil based fluid) & using water wasn't an option in the original.

I refilled the machine with oil and after running it for 10 minutes or so to flush the remaining water it worked like a dream and gave that fab haze these machines produce -easily better than the Unique but not many folks liked having a compressor on the side of stage in a quiet theatre. I'd swap to the oil fluid personally...

[indyld]

4 hours ago, ianknight said:

easily better than the Unique but not many folks liked having a compressor on the side of stage in a quiet theatre. I'd swap to the oil fluid personally...

Like the DF-50, creating a great atmosphere as long as the show was loud enough to cover up the racket.

[partyanimallighting]

Thanks for the replies, ianknight and indyld. And yes!!! It's really noisy solely because of the compressor. I've rented a DF-50 in the past and the atmosphere is fantastic but the noise??!! Based on your comments it seems that, even though it can use a water based fluid, oil based is the way to go. I specifically bought this unit to avoid oil residue but it seems that I have no choice now if I want to actually start using it on a regular basis. ianknight, when I do get oil based fluid, do I simply pour out the remaining water based fluid, add the oil based and run it until the water based has passed through the system? Nothing more? And what about maintenance? Flushing? Servicing?

[ianknight]

7 hours ago, partyanimallighting said:

 ianknight, when I do get oil based fluid, do I simply pour out the remaining water based fluid, add the oil based and run it until the water based has passed through the system? Nothing more? And what about maintenance? Flushing? Servicing?

@partyanimallighting - that would be my approach about changing over - empty the tank then run the machine for 5 minutes or so to flush the remaining fluid in the internals then fill with the oil based fluid and and run for another 5-10 minutes to get it circulated. After that - maintenance & servicing - I used to just ensure the machine was run regularly especially during quiet hire periods - the oil is a light oil so whilst it leaves a residue when the haze settles on surfaces it never seemed to clog the insides like a glycol based smoke fluid will in conventional machines. I think some of that is due to the fact that the haze fluid isn't actually heated - it's forced to decompose/mist by the compressed air.

It might be feasible that once a year - you run some conventional cleaning solution i.e. a mix of distilled water and white vinegar through the machine for 5-10 minutes to clean it's jets. BTW - this last part makes sense in my head but I'll leave it to someone used to repairing or maintaining these machines to come up with better.

[indyld]

The DF-50 we used to drain the tank, swoosh it out with distilled water by shaking it, then running a fresh tank of distilled water through the machine to purge. 

I use distilled water and sometimes vinegar on water based hazers, not sure if the vinegar brings anything to a cracker. 

As suggested, I'd just run the new fluid to purge the old and go from there. Perhaps a water run between might be worth it as maintenance day 0, though. 

Rather than cleaning the machine, the big job will be cleaning everything else in the room with it!

Edited December 14, 2023 by indyld

[partyanimallighting]

Thanks for all the feedback. I've sourced the oil based Antari fluid on Amazon and Froggy's also carries a compatible oil based fluid so I'll try a gallon of each. To those who have used these units before, what's the consumption like??

[partyanimallighting]

Hey all, I got the oil based fluid and completely emptied the water based fluid from the hazer and ran it empty for a while to remove the rest of the water based. I then topped up to the recommended fill line with the oil based fluid and started up. The unit took a while to start to produce haze but then the output died completely whilst the compressor was running. I shut down and started up again and same thing......some output, not great......then output dies down. Any external solutions/remedies to this or should I attempt the tear the unit down completely to clear what might be a clogged line? I've never opened a compressor based hazer before but I'm thinking that, if I'm getting output, I can ignore the compressor side of things and focus on the tank side although I'm not sure how it works. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[partyanimallighting]

Anyone willing to chip in with some advice here? I firmly believe there's a lot of residue in the tank despite all the rinsing out with distilled water that I did before. I filled the unit with water and shook it violently then flipped it to empty the old water based fluid and whatever residue and there was a lot of gunk in the tank. I repeated several times but maybe there's still residue and I believe that, during operation, the unit outputs haze from the oil based fluid and then the filters pick up the residue and clogs up, diminishing output. When the unit stops, I'm thinking that the residue falls off the filters and output increases until the filters clog again. I'm guessing here and I don't really want to open a unit I'm not familiar with without some guidance from one of you experts. I found a picture of the tank nozzle with filters.