Smoke machine/strobe suggestions.

[Excalibur]

Hello folks. After shoving the smoke machine in the defunct equipment store for years, I've had two requests for it in a week. Also, another item which no disco was without many years ago, strobe lights.

So, what are the class of the field nowadays, without breaking the bank? I see some 1500w strobes just over the £50 mark, and as for smoke machines, well They were all Jem when we used to see them regularly. Mine is, and it still worked ( just ) when I last tried it. I wouldn't know what to look for now. Over to you folks, thanks.

[DJ Jules]

I've recently picked up a Equinox 1500w wildzap strobe for a local club where I do regular work (£50) and it's crazy bright. The room is about 60ft by 40ft and we run it on half power to save blinding the bar staff on the opposite side of the room!

For mobile work I did look at the ADJ Freq5 and Freq16 bars which are White multiple LED strobes that also do some very good chases and patterns so have multiple uses. They're a lot more expensive than the Wildzap though! ADJ also do a square block with 16 RGB LED's (even more expensive).

As for smoke machines I'm still using a Martin Magnum 650 which I've had for 6yrs and has never let me down.

Julian

[Excalibur]

Ta for that Julian, very helpful.

[Imagine]

I don't use strobes at all (too worried about setting off things like epilepsy)...but there's a story attached to that one for another time.

As for smoke, I've got a couple of Chauvet Hurricanes which I rarely use since I got my QTX FH-700, which is a nice bit of kit for both haze and fog (it can really belt it out when it needs to).

Trouble is, most of the places I go these days you can't get away with masses and masses of smoke so the Chauvets are sitting fairly redundant lately :(

[DJ Jules]

Trouble is, most of the places I go these days you can't get away with masses and masses of smoke so the Chauvets are sitting fairly redundant lately :(

I thought I was actually going to get to use a smoke machine this evening (which would have been good for a 30th birthday party with a planned hour of 90's trance at the end) but the bar staff told me I wasn't allowed because the venue doesn't have sufficient ventilation and they'd all end up coughing. Last weekend I thought I was going to be able to use it as well, but the venue left the bloomin' doors open all evening so there wasn't much point (the fog just blew away).

If the opportunity presents it's definitely worth going for a hazer rather than a fog machine these days as venues are so touchy about fog and smoke. I know quite a few who ban it purely because they don't get that it's not the same as cigarette smoke and they're still working on the presumption that it causes lung damage in the same way!!

Julian

[musicology]

Go for a fan assisted smoker with adjustable output like this http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_nh30_hazer.htm Works really well.
And get a controller with your strobe to make life easier http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_strobe_1500_dmx_pmaster_bundle.htm

[Excalibur]

Good advice so far, many thanks.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Used an acme firecracker which was a very good unit. With there not being much call for them these days I'd dig around the used section on eBay or even some locally based Facebook pages as well as on here of course.

Depends on your preference for haze/smoke but I used a maplin £40 which is still working even now (hardly any use but it's five/six years old). Haze I'd recommend the QTX HZ range which shouldn't break the bank such as this one http://www.decks.co.uk/products/Smoke_amp_Bubble_Machines/QTX/HAZER_HZ3?gclid=CjwKEAjwzeihBRCQ84bhxrz_0w8SJAAohy h1s2-iHm3ByerW4yPOWxA0tctp12KuoxjWC94fgYMhPRoCGDbw_wcB# .VDqIKGK9KSM

As I touched on because these aren't used as much I think some bargain second hand buys are to be had here.

[Creature]

not used strobe for about 6 years when venues started to not let you use them. Plus with the epylepsy fearsand not wanting to be taken to court in todays society I wont bother.

Smoke machines I gave up on about 4 years ago when I brought my 2 x qtx hz1's hazers.

But most venues still refuse to let you use it as they say it sets of the sprinklers.

deffo recommend the hz1's good solid kit I even use the on the big stages I do at the bigger Bike rallies and they cope well. - downside is they tend to dribble a bit and 2nd hand prices quiet high

Stay away from the hz2 - as it suffered motor/pump issues

the hz3 I brought earlier this year, initially to replace my hz1's - but altho its smaller, lighter, better haze distrib its been nothing but trouble, in fact its now back at kam as refused to work of dmx or the remote controller at last booking, But I may just be the unlucky person and got a monday morning built one!