Ugh, it was one hell of a tough pair of shows. I had to do a lot of IT work, projector set, lighting, timecode, video and massive amounts of audio(7 channels of headworns).
One of the issues that I will focus on is fog. The producer has this Irradiant Flefx Fog fogger, but that model has gone out of production and Irradiant doesn't want to talk to me about it or sell me replacement parts, much less acknowledge that their logo is all over it and it's of their units, albeit most likely a discontinued model. Why do I need replacement parts? Well, when I attempt to trigger it via DMX or via manual, I can hear it hum, but nothing happens. I see some air in the feed line but those bubbles aren't moving, so I suspect the pump is screwed up, or maybe the nozzle is clogged. I will say that depending on the position, this fogger appears to be taking a piss by pumping fog fluid out the nozzle without heating it. If I don't have it in some "voodoo position", it used to take in fluid, heat it and pump out nice white fog.
Well, come show day and show time, it's doing as I described: hum when triggered and NO output. Doesn't do well for the next day when the fogger is also needed. I was going to bring in my trio of cheap foggers. By cheap, I mean low cost. 2 ADJ Fog Storm 700's(one was new in the box until April 30th, after being in the box for, oh, say, 7+ years and never opened) I couldn't find my other Fog Storm 700 with the wireless remote, but I did have this other ADJ fogger that came wiht this ADJ party pack, but that never used fogger, despite never being used, was DOA. It would not output any fog.
That left me with the formerly new in the box Fog Storm 700, which performed less than acceptable. I think this is largely due to the fact that it just simply ain't gonna fill up a 40'x18' stage, it's not meant for that. I mean, wrong tool for the job. Ideal for my Halloween decorations and house parties, but not for a big stage. So I'm not knocking the Fog Storm 700. It wasn't fun having to leave my FOH at side of house to trigger the fogger manually, but when all you got is a short remote, well, ain't much you can do about it.
Now, the producer chose the fogger he did because it could aim upwards and was cheap. That's odd for him since he doesn't do anything cheap Well, that ain't gonna cut it. Not just because the fogger is acting up. I bet if I call enough other companies that also produce this product these days, I could get replacement parts. But I don't see it being worth the money.
For some cues, I want downward fog. Some I want straight up. Some I want across, some I want at an angle, and some I want a storm of fog. Now, short of some stage ninja or myself adjusting it, it seems stupid to support this old beast.
It seems ADJ has the exact product I am looking for: the Accu Fog 1000. It has what I want: less power than that other fogger, and can point in damn near any angle. A mover with a fogger nozzle instead of a lens and a bulb!
I can get one hell of a deal on factory refurbs of this. I don't know, it seems like too good an offer to pass-up.I can even purchase a warranty program for it to cover it for 2 years.
Any reviews or opinions? Warnings? Bad experiences? Yeah, it's a lot more than getting a replacement part for a fogger I don't like, but until recently, the other fogger worked. It seems like now is the time to do something.
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