Dry Ice Smoke

[DJ INDIE]

Hi All,

Has anyone ever used a dry ice machine - the kind that leave a condensed 'smoke/fog' at floor level?

I think these can look great, but i'm worried that they may set off smoke alarms etc?

can anyone confirm?

[visualdjmax]

Yes they will set off the alarms. You will need to tell the venue that you are working in and they should be able to isolate the area that you are using for a specified time. They are not the cheapest things in the world, so probably best to only use it for a first dance, or as guests walk in etc. There is a cheaper option called a low smoke generator which is an attachement to a normal smoke machine that keeps the smoke lower rather than firing it all over the place!!! There not great though. Try these companies if you are interested in hiring. White Light or Gradav.

[Pe7e]

Yes they will set off the alarms.

I beg to differ, dry ice is solid CO2 frozen to around -100C it produces a low lying fog when it is rapidly vapourised by bringing it into contact with hot water. The resultant gas is much heavier than air, and will remain at floor level, well out of the range of detectors. The detectors themselves are looking for particulate matter, not CO2, although the beam detecting type could possibly be triggered if the level was sufficiently high. Before this happened you audience would already be dead of suffocation.
I think you must be thinking of dry ice effect machines which chill conventionally produced fog/haze to a low temperature, ie Martin Glaciator. These will trigger alarms when the smoke temperature increases and the gases rise to detector level

[visualdjmax]

The whole area is grey as you need to allow for air conditioning units. As a matter of precaution we always asked for the sensors to be turned off. I have used both types of machine that you have very carefully descibed.:)

[Pe7e]

The whole area is grey as you need to allow for air conditioning units. As a matter of precaution we always asked for the sensors to be turned off. I have used both types of machine that you have very carefully descibed.:)

Agreed, dry ice needs very careful handleing, it's toxic, can cause severe burns, and is capable of blowing containers up, if not they're not properly insulated and vented, best avoided.

[visualdjmax]

Agreed. Also don't A good pair of thick gloves as well! Nice effect shortly lived. Well on Top of The Pops anyway! They spent a decade using it, for power ballads!

[visualdjmax]

Using a Martin Glacitator for a Winter Wonderland Party. Poor old String Quartet!:D :D

[DJmissbehaving]

Hi All,

Has anyone ever used a dry ice machine - the kind that leave a condensed 'smoke/fog' at floor level?

I think these can look great, but i'm worried that they may set off smoke alarms etc?

can anyone confirm?

They used these in Amnesia in Ibiza when i was there....they are fabulous inventions

[christoph]

How much do you wanna put a 500mw low level RGB laser though that!

Cool.

[DJ Jules]

Agreed, dry ice needs very careful handleing, it's toxic, can cause severe burns, and is capable of blowing containers up, if not they're not properly insulated and vented, best avoided.

Not to mention very expensive - £35.00 for 10Kg which will produce about 5mins of high volume output. I've just bought a Low fog machine (the kind which cool the smoke with normal ice) for a specific gig, which I did last night, and will be putting it up for sale on here soon as it's now surplus to requirements.

Julian

[A1DL]

Not to mention very expensive - £35.00 for 10Kg which will produce about 5mins of high volume output.

The Glaciator that Max has pictured does not use dry ice, it is fluid based.
Downside is the machine costs around £7k to buy and needs a 32a supply.
Still a great machine though.

[DJ Jules]

The Glaciator that Max has pictured does not use dry ice, it is fluid based.
Downside is the machine costs around £7k to buy and needs a 32a supply.
Still a great machine though.

Yes, but my comment was in response to the notes about dry ice handling, not the Martin Gladiator, which is a great machine. You can also buy chiller add ons for standard smoke machines (as someone else has already alluded to) but again these are expensive (£600+).

Julian

[sleah]

Yes, but my comment was in response to the notes about dry ice handling, not the Martin Gladiator, which is a great machine. You can also buy chiller add ons for standard smoke machines (as someone else has already alluded to) but again these are expensive (£600+).

Julian

If you used to watch Blue Peter :D you can make your own.

You need:
A cooler box or similar you not mind cutting up.
Some hose, about 4inch dia.
Your choice of method of sticking said hose to said box.
Bit of chicken wire if you want to do it properly (to create a tunnel in the box)
And loads of ice cubes.
Put it together so the fogger blows down the hose through the box of ice and out comes low fog.... until it warms up that is:p
Like this:http://gotfog.com/fog_machine_chiller.html
Similar thing: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Fog-Chiller-for-10/
Several here:http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/HalloweenTech/fogchl_FogChiller69.html

[DJ Davy]

I have a ADJ Mister cool low fog machine... it is used occasionaly for weddings (some brides want to dance on a pink cloud!) and for haloween... I think the effect is very good but is kind of lost when people start walking through it. Initial wow factor is good though!

[MagicMusic]

They used these in Amnesia in Ibiza when i was there....they are fabulous inventions

Not quite, Amnesia has Co2 cannons but you are right, they are fantastic - especially at peak time @ Cream or Cocoon when the main room is a total sweatbox!

YouTube- Ibiza 2008 Amnesia CO2-Canon HD

[Cowlinn]

Low fog machine <£100
Great little machine

Here (http://www.thomann.de/gb/american_dj_mister_kool.htm)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Low fog machine <£100
Great little machine

Here (http://www.thomann.de/gb/american_dj_mister_kool.htm)

Mentioned 2 posts ago...:bang:

[Cowlinn]

Mentioned 2 posts ago...:bang:

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