# Distributing Haze



## zackw250 (Nov 29, 2005)

Have any of you tried using pipes to distribute your haze?

We have 1 Martin Jem ZR24/7 hazer, puts out alot of haze, but we only have one. The smoke would billow in from one side of the stage, blow around, and would never really distribute. 

So, I went and bought 72 feet of 4" black PVC pipe, capped one end, and attached the hazer to the other. I drilled 1.5" holes (2 per 8ft section of pipe). Not only is there an evan distrubtion from left to right, but the haze itself is much thinner & nicer. 

I think even if I had 1 hazer per side, I would still distribute it through pipes. If anyone wants before/after pics, or a diagram of exactly what we did, let me know!


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## SketchyCroftPpl (Nov 29, 2005)

Wow thats a pretty cool idea. We don't actually have a hazer but we've had the same problem with getting a fog machine to spread out the fog everywhere. If we ever have to do it again this seems like it would be a great idea. Awesome thinking.

~Nick


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## jonhirsh (Nov 30, 2005)

Its a cool idea not really practical for the touring world. If you have the problem again and you dont have time to hook up pipes and such a well placed fan infront of the hazer will do the trick. 

JH


ps would like to see some pics of it in action.


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## moojoe (Nov 30, 2005)

for my last show, I did almost the same thing for a fog machine, but i had the pipe loop back 15 feet up stage to get coverage over the entire stage. i then put small fans inside the pipe to distribute the fog evenly.


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## Peter (Nov 30, 2005)

You generally dont want fans in the path of your smoke/haze. You are better off putting the fans BEHIND the machine blowing air over it and into the fog / haze. That way you dont gum up your fan and condense the fog / haze out of the air. For inline bosts, put a Y piece in your pipe, with the fog coming in one branch and the fan blowing air in the other, with them both going out of the single end. Also, I have had great luck with scrap pieces of ventelation ductwork being used as smoke directors / transport, as another option instead of pipe.


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## jonhirsh (Nov 30, 2005)

Well peter you better tell that to the concert industry and lematrie because we have been putting fans infront of our hazers for years. and now lematrie has simplified this for us by inventing a hazer with a builtin fan infront of the out put to distribute it. 


JH


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## Peter (Nov 30, 2005)

Interesting... If it works, do it I guess.. I have come very close to ruining one fan doing this and then read a bunch of different places arround the internet not to do it. Maybe this is more of a problem with fog then Haze.


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## zackw250 (Nov 30, 2005)

Yeah, I didn't have to use any additional fans, the JemZR24/7 has a very powerful built in fan... it's an awsome hazer, puts out an incredible amount!

We tried just using a fan to blow it across the stage, but then we got the "fast moving column of smoke" look.

This was definetly the best option.


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## zackw250 (Nov 30, 2005)

COrrection, using the pipe to distrubite it was definetly the best option.


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## len (Nov 30, 2005)

I have to agree with Peter on fans behind the machine. Less maintenance at the shop after. I've never run haze through a distro system, but I've done it lots with fog. 

And if you have a portable stage (risers) you can put the machine under the stage and let it seep up through the seams.


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## SketchyCroftPpl (Nov 30, 2005)

Heres a question. If you had the fan w/ in the fog is there any chance that the fog, if it were water based, could actually short out the fan and cause a small fire? 

~Nick


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## CHScrew (Nov 30, 2005)

There is always a chance that something might happen. To prevent it just get a waterproof fan. Like those the use on tahe sidelines at football games with the water hose attached to them to make mist. Or place the fan behind the fog machine.


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## jonhirsh (Nov 30, 2005)

Wait when did fog get introduced into this. the fan trick is only usfull for haze. there is a differnce. 


you should not get a stream of haze effect if you do you havent placed it corectly. place the fan pointing up like shooting it up to the flys. not pointing stright out. this will get it up and then it will fall from a greater hight so two great things will happen 

1 your haze will hang longer thus you need less. 

2 it will distribute evenly. 


ON a recent show i did we had one nutron xs hazer with a fan pointing up and it filled an stage that was 60' x 30' and 40' tall i think that is pretty good we didnt have to clean the fan once and the show ran for months. 


and to even further the point i worked a tv show that had a 4000' squre foot studio one jem hazer with fan pointing up running at full for 20 min filled the entire studio to perfection in a fine even haze. and we ran that hazer for weeks with out any problem to the fan we ran it non stop for like 3 weeks no problem. 


JH


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## zackw250 (Dec 5, 2005)

Well, we don't have a fly system. Theres a cieling above our lighting grid. And, we have a sick HVAC system that changes the air every hour in our auditorium, and the air exhaust is right under the stage, so the haze doesn't "distribute on it's own because it's constitantly on the move and being sucked under the stage and outside.... When I do work during the week when the HVAC is only online for 1 hour in the morning, 5 minutes of haze stays for hours, evenly distrubuted... but not during any sort of performance.


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## soundman1024 (Dec 5, 2005)

If you have an oil based hazer such as a DF-50 one can get some amazing results by putting it in the air handling room. When practicing this method it is a good idea to know where the air handlers in that room send air to. Sending haze into an office area usually doesn't go over too well. I wouldn't suggest doing this for hours a week every week, as it may not be the greatest on the air handler, but it makes for very good even results. If an even haze throughout the entire area is the goal and the end justifies the means it would see to me that the goal was accomplished. A week or two ago we ran one in the air handling room at our church for 8 hours actually. The auditorium gets a pretty good haze in it after doing this for about 30 to 45 minutes. As you can imagine it was quite hazy in there. I was taking pictures of people just because I do that and I could see haze in the air in these pictures. It made for some nice beams.


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## zackw250 (Dec 6, 2005)

we don't have a "air handling room". Our theatre's HVAC unit is on the roof, and is the size of a semi truck. But that would be a good idea...

Is that what they do at the award shoes? If yo uwatch the audience shots, there are usually beams in the entire stadium.. even... never see any "moving" haze on TV.....


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## jonhirsh (Dec 6, 2005)

"award shoes?"

foot ware stores dont like haze generaly. 

um no they dont they use the method i sugested by puting an fan infront of a hazer. i just worked on the Ovation awards here in LA and thats just what we did one hazer and a fan. its great you dont see any movement and you get even haze. 

JH


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