Best place to put a smoke machine?

[The_Blue_Dragon]

Hi people,
I dont know if Im putting this in the right place, but, at the youth centre we have a smoke machine and when we are having a disco we normally just put it on the stage which is where the DJ equipment is set up.

My question is, where is the best place to place a smoke machine so it will flow through the room? at the moment it just stays in 1 corner, you eather get no coverage or absolutly covered in the stuff.

Is it better up high or down low?

[rob1963]

On the rare occasions I've been able to use a smoke machine, I've always placed it on floor in front of my set up...so the smoke gradually rises & brings out the light beams nicely (the lights are on a t-bar above my head).

[Corabar Steve]

Also depends on if there is a through draught in the room & which direction it is.

[Excalibur]

Hi people,
I dont know if Im putting this in the right place, but, at the youth centre we have a smoke machine and when we are having a disco we normally just put it on the stage which is where the DJ equipment is set up.

My question is, where is the best place to place a smoke machine so it will flow through the room? at the moment it just stays in 1 corner, you eather get no coverage or absolutly covered in the stuff.

Is it better up high or down low?

The legend on the side will tell you not to place it high up. I seem to remember this is to avoid hot liquid spraying out and damaging punters.
( shouldn't happen, but that's the theory). Try to get an airflow in the right direction ( place a fan behind it, open a door, whatever)

[Excalibur]

On the rare occasions I've been able to use a smoke machine, I've always placed it on floor in front of my set up...so the smoke gradually rises & brings out the light beams nicely (the lights are on a t-bar above my head).

Best effect I ever got with one was in a hall with infra red heaters in the roof. My smoke didn't rise above knee high for ages, looked like a Hammer Horror set. :eek:

[flatliners]

you can put them on a t bar of truss just incase some kid decides to touch it they can get very hot

[Dragonfly]

Round Derby sadly the only place you are allowed to put a smoke/haze machine is in the car...... only come a cross 1 or 2 venues that allow them in recent years.

[UltraBeat Entertainment]

I always get a better effect when its on the floor as the smoke slowly rises.
if you put it at head height your gona choke your crowd and over head height it will just rise to the ceiling. try positioning on the floor, under your lights.

[super-hero]

Low down always works well, but as said earlier, be very carefull of kids touching it.
High up also works well. you only need a little to get the most from your lights.

[Vectis]

Best place to put a smoke machine?

About 2 feet in front of a desk fan.

[UltraBeat Entertainment]

But my desk fan is about 4 feet from my face:confused:

[Sam]

It depends on the room however I generally have it low down and to the left of my set up. So it picks up the movers nicely and so it is below head/eye height.

Sometimes I place it facing the back wall with a fan.. so that it spreads out nicely.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Round Derby sadly the only place you are allowed to put a smoke/haze machine is in the car......

That must get a bit claustrophobic? :D

I've got visions of Imossibleds on the steering wheel and moving heads hanging from the sunroof now....

[Dragonfly]

That must get a bit claustrophobic? :D

I've got visions of Imossibleds on the steering wheel and moving heads hanging from the sunroof now....

indeed I am now the ultimate mobile disco !!! :D :D :D

[Excalibur]

you can put them on a t bar of truss just incase some kid decides to touch it they can get very hot

Please read post#4. Though I'm not saying I disagree with your theory.

[sleah]

That must get a bit claustrophobic? :D

I've got visions of Imossibleds on the steering wheel and moving heads hanging from the sunroof now....

Funny you should say that.....mmmm now which part of the van roof is strongest.....:D

[onyxsound]

I put mine behind me and use a flexy 2"tubing to duct it to a T tube that in the center of the light show on the floor.
Also got an another that's also tubed up all 4 stands and pours down over the light show and just in front of the laser with a small fan behind it

both run on a timer as well as on a boost button.

[The_Blue_Dragon]

Thanks for the help people,
My next question is...

Is is better to do long bursts or lots of short bursts to get a good flow

[UltraBeat Entertainment]

Short Bursts you don't want to choke anyone or set any asmatics off.

The size of the bursts should depend on the size of the venue and air flow. try a small test burst before you start and see how the smoke reacts.

[groovy-nights]

we have a jem pro 2000.We fog the place out before the guests get there so there is just a light haze in the air.Then sometimes short blasts or just fog the whole place

[sleah]

Short Bursts you don't want to choke anyone or set any asmatics off.

The size of the bursts should depend on the size of the venue and air flow. try a small test burst before you start and see how the smoke reacts.

Unless someone has their mouth over the smoke machine outlet, you're not going to choke anyone or set off asthma attacks.
The whole coughing/ashma thing is an urban myth, possibly a tiny strain of truth from back when fog was oil based, but that nasty stuff was replaced at end of the 80's. Even then unless you went mad with it, it was harmless.

[Tom]

I have my smoke machine by the side of the rig on the floor but i get a chair to cover it as i dont want anybody to stand on it or burn themselves.

Iv only has it a month (i think) and used it twice. from what i have read from other posts this is quite good. :D :lol:

[Dragonfly]

I have my smoke machine by the side of the rig on the floor but i get a chair to cover it as i dont want anybody to stand on it or burn themselves.

Iv only has it a month (i think) and used it twice. from what i have read from other posts this is quite good. :D :lol:


indeed it is I ve been allowed to use mine that many times in the last year ... shame as I love the effect of smoke with a mirrorball.

[The_Blue_Dragon]

Well I used it last night and it looked pretty good untill one of the kids started messing and standing right infront of it. I cant use it today though because the school has smoke alarms that will get set off.

[daz226]

where is the best place you guys put ya fog machine to give the best possible lighting effects.

reason i ask is i just got a kam one which has mounting brackets and it got me thinking as my old one i just placed on the floor

[djsteve10]

I have always placed my hazer on the floor,
I would of personally gone for a hazer as most venues i work in dont allow me to use a fog machine.

[Corabar Steve]

This has been done recently.

Threads merged

[Paul]

Whats the difference between a smoke machine and a fog machine then???

[sleah]

Whats the difference between a smoke machine and a fog machine then???

<pedant> A fog machine is a theatrical machine that produces white 'fog' using a water based fluid by heating it up. I.e. wot this threads about:D

A smoke machine is the slang word for a fog machine, and not really correct. A machine will only produce smoke if it is on fire, therefore the correct terminology is Fog. </pedant>

[Tom]

Best effect I ever got with one was in a hall with infra red heaters in the roof. My smoke didn't rise above knee high for ages, looked like a Hammer Horror set. :eek:

That must look really cool. best for halloween then. :lol:

The annoying thing with my smoke machine is that when i give it a short burst that is enough for most rooms as it comes out really think. i got the long lasting solution thinking it will last longer in the air, instead it comes out like a white cloud and just stays there unless you wave your arms around in the smoke to move it.

[Vectis]

it comes out like a white cloud and just stays there unless you wave your arms around in the smoke to move it.

See post #10 ;)

[Tom]

See post #10 ;)

Cheers martin. :lol:

Does a fan really make all the difference. I was thinking of putt the smoke machine behind the fan so it hits the blades and shoots of in all directions. Would that be ok.

Also how big does the fan has to be as im limited to space in the car.

[Vectis]

Does it make a difference? Yep. It sure does.

You can buy dinky little ones but a standard 7" £5-from-woolies job is just as good.

Also, try buying 'Light' smoke fluid. It's much better for the haze effect.

[Tom]

So really any size fan will do then. Got a small desktop fan so might start taking that to gigs.


I will look into the light smoke fluid.


cheers again. :)

[daz226]

yes sorry i did a search for post on this did not find any ill search better next time.:rolleyes:

[One Vision]

Hya The_Blue_Dragon, probably of no help as you dont have one but if you had a haze machine you can afford to have it on the timed settings so rather than giving the odd blast every so often it can be on almost continuous.
This way you just get a fine mist often rather than a big puff of smoke.

We usually place too one side of the setup turned facing the center, eventually though once we get the larger halls we will have one either side of the full setup and set so on the timers in synch and a wider gap between operations so we get a more even effect.

Hope this helps a little.
Just a small tip: if using traditional lighting i.e. bulb types and or motorized head types as apposed to low powered LED lights its best to have such items as smoke machines etc. on a separate power feed to your music and lighting feeds especially if using a laptop or MP3 type players as the drop in power can be enough to crash your system.

[UltraBeat Entertainment]

Hope this helps a little.
Just a small tip: if using traditional lighting i.e. bulb types and or motorized head types as apposed to low powered LED lights its best to have such items as smoke machines etc. on a separate power feed to your music and lighting feeds especially if using a laptop or MP3 type players as the drop in power can be enough to crash your system.

This is true has happend to me many times before. the only way around this is to plug the smoke machine into its own wall socket but this can't always be done.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I put my haze machine under the Giraffe stand and to the left with just the end of it sticking out from under my velvet cloth. No'one can see it, no'one can really knock into it and it picks up the beams of light really well. The effect it gives with the LED's are really good as the beams are sharp and clear. The Dynarocks are more like search lights...haha. Anyway, sorry for going off topic slightly, gotta go out now as it's my monthly Indie night.