Haze machine
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Haze machines, or haze generators (commonly referred to as hazers), are effects machines similar to fog machines, designed to produce an unobtrusive, homogeneous clouds suspended in the air intended primarily to make light beams visible.
[edit] Properties
Unlike theatrical fog, which is typically intended to be dense and/or opaque, haze is generally very light and subtle. These properties allows a venue to be filled with haze prior to or during an event without creating an overtly distracting cloud. Haze typically has a substantially longer "hang time" than conventional theatrical fog. While conventional fog will hang in the air for a few minutes, a haze effect filling the same volume of space can last upwards of an hour to several hours or more, depending on the size of the venue and the amount of ventilation.
Some haze machines use a spray pump powered either by electricity or compressed CO2 to atomize a fluid, therefore they do not require any warm up time. This type of machines are often called "crackers" or "oil crackers." and the fluid is usually, though not always, oil-based. Other machines use a heater to vapourize the fluid (usually a water-based glycol fluid.) These machines are occasionally referred to as "faze machines" or "fazers." Most oil-based haze fluids use a mineral oil base, while water-based fluids use either a glycol or glycerol base. Although both formulations of fluid are referred to as haze fluid, the different formulations are neither compatible nor interchangeable. Glycol/water haze fluid is sometimes referred to as "water based haze" or "faze" for the purposes of disambiguation.
Smaller volumes of haze can also be generated from aerosol canisters containing mineral oil under pressure. Although to the density of haze generated and the volume of space that can be filled is significantly smaller than that of a haze machine, aerosol canisters have the advantages of portability, no requirements for electricity and finer control over the volume of haze generated.
[edit] Fire Detection
Although the atmospheric effect created by hazers produces a significantly smaller particle size, under 5 microns, compared to the effect generated by a fog machine (hence the finer composition of the "cloud"), the size of particle and effect varies by manufactures and type of fluid used. Because of this, there is no guarantee haze will not set off particle sensor based fire alarm systems.
[edit] See also
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