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HZ-500 Mini Review

S serraavaMember
So, we got in a HZ-500 couple weeks ago now. For its first show, it ran for Monday for about 7 hours, Tuesday for about 12 hours, Wednesday for about 12 hours, Thursday for about 6 hours, and Saturday for about 14 hours without a single hiccup. Of the course of that time period roughly 50 hours, it used about 2-2.5 liters of fluid which is incredible. The unit itself just sounds like a small air compressor and has very little volume to it. I would say the intake fan is louder then the compressor itself. It comes in a road case and can live in there. The only lid that needs to be open for it to work is a small trap door, as seen in the photos below. It also has DMX in (no thru though) and a timer just like the X series, so if full on is too much haze for the space, you can set up an interval and duration for it to tone it down. The menus are also easy to navigate. Here are some photos of the HZ-500:

This is a shot of the whole unit. As seen, it is not very large at all. About 3/4s of the size of the X-310s that we also own.


This is a shot of the control section. It is under the right half of the lid in the shot above. Note the right angle IEC that comes with it and a small gap in the case for it to pop it. This is nice because you can latch it down and note worry about people playing with it, in my case children for this particular show.


This is the section in which the haze comes out and also where fluid is added. It is under the left half of the lid in the photo above.


Now, here are my only complaints with the unit. First, filling the thing with fluid is a pain. You unscrew the silver cap seen in the photo above and pour the fluid in there. This wouldn't be bad except for two things: A) cap is too centered on the unit to tip a bottle into it without fluid getting all over, this is easily corrected with a funnel however. Just make sure the funnel is used ONLY for the hazer (I have a small one that lives in the lid of the unit now). B) The fluid falls through the sponge, so it gets backed up quickly and takes time to run through the sponge into the tank. The unit itself says that you should fill it in 200cc intervals and wait about 10 seconds between intervals and then 5 minutes unit you turn the machine on to haze so all fluid can fall down through the sponge. Maybe the next version will have a separate spot for the fluid to pour into for refilling to make it both quicker and easier.

Next problem is the haze comes right out the top, which is fine if the unit sits center stage somewhere. however, almost all the shows I am on, I need the unit to sit off stage left or right. This is easily corrected however with a small fan, so not really a big issue. However, for setting center stage this would be great and as such, the unit I have travels with a 12" fan now which is no big deal.

Last problem, this little guy weighs a TON. It weighs probably more then our X-310s. Again, this isn't so much an issue as a gripe. My boss went to pick it up and was dumbfounded by how much it weighs. I haven't pulled it out of the case yet to see if is the case, the unit itself or a little of both. No big deal, since the thing is set and forget.

All and all, I love the unit. I haven't tried it with oil yet, but the water looks great. The X-310 when doing haze isn't as fine, tend to create roaming clouds on stage, looks soupy for the people on stage, the 'haze' doesn't hang as long, and is quite a bit louder as well as power hungry. However, if you need a unit to do both fog and haze do to budget or other reasons, I would highly recommend the the X-310. However, you are still much better off using a hazer to haze and a fogger to fog (the X-310 does count as a fogger since that is technically what it is). Quite happy with my purchase and might grab another one or two.

Questions/comments welcome.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affliated with Elation, Antari, and/or any and/or all other AMDJ Family companies (including but not limited to Global Truss, Accliam, AMDJ, American Audio). As such, my views and opinions do not reflect that of AMDJ Family and are strictly my own. Just a guy trying to help some other guys out Wink.
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S studio42Member
Way outside my budget, but a still rather fair review. I think the DMX in only is a shortcoming. I bet most people put these units at the end, but what if it's not at the end of a run?

For 50 hours and that much fluid, that's like nothing at all. Wow. I "broke in" my HZ-300 last Friday. Show is Saturday with a "family and friends" performance Friday. Won't compare, but condering my focus and budget, it's OK.

So, the HZ-500 LIVES in the case? The web photos(not yours) indicated it was integrated into a case. Minor detail, especially if it can function inside that case anyways. Add some locking casters and you're good.

I do see the need fo the X-310 in my inventory now though.

It is best to get a dedicated hazer AND a dedicated fogger, the results are most ideal by using the right hardware for the right job.
S serraavaMember
In my opinion, DMX is not really needed on a hazer. They are set and forget really. I didn't buy it for the DMX, I bought it for the haze Wink.

As far as I can tell, it lives in the case. In the photos above, you can see two handles next to the nozzle. When I grabbed it by that once, it lift out of the case. I would assume it would have to to be serviceable. Otherwise, you would have to rebuild the thing every time for service.

Here are some on stage shots to show the lack of soupy-ness as well as the evenness of the haze.



S studio42Member
It simply comes down to the right tool for the right job.

For your work, an HZ-500 is the ideal tool. For me, with light(ahem...) work, the HZ-300 fits the bill right. You're doing lots of events, while I'm a sound company handling a secondary task of lighting and lighting is not high on my priority list.

I'm just glad you steered me towards a hazer instead of the fazer. I'm sure it would have gotten the job done, but I don't think I'd have been happy with the results. I can't wait to see it in action this weekend.
S studio42Member
Well, my experiene with my HZ-300 at my event were nothing short of me really wanting to move towards more and more LED fixtures because I fail to see how I was able to function without a hazer.

I will say this though, but I need to evaluate the statement more:
It appears LED's don't have as well defined "beam" as non-LED fixtures, but still look good through the haze.

I know you said that you're not concerned about the lack of a DMX OUT because you say "hazers are set and forget". I'll first off agree that they CAN BE set and forget. In my case, I do want and need control. I did need to shut it off, I needed to turn it to full from around 75 or so(DMX values, not percent). Using the water-based fluid DID in fact cause it to vanish quick, but a lot still hung when I turned it off. But, each show has their own requirements.

Also, I took some of your other advise by placing off to the side. MUCH better! Less obvious where it was coming from.

Due to some wierd air-movement patterns in the room for reasons I don't understand, I could not get the ICE-101 to really give the results I wanted: it was getting blown back to it. The producer's fogger was doing similar type things on the other side of the stage. Yet, hase worked.

The HZ-300 is easy to use, a good, durable machine and is going to be your new best friend if you don't already have a hazer. This is so affordable, you'd be foolish to not get it. I'd rather bring my hazer than get a fogger, but I know I need to buy a real fogger.

Now, have to move to LED's to replace incadescent fixtures. Due to circuit shortages, this ensures i hae enough power to run the hazer and run all the lights I really want to.
S serraavaMember
quote:
It appears LED's don't have as well defined "beam" as non-LED fixtures, but still look good through the haze.


This is because LEDs are a wash fixture and not a spot fixture (minus the few spot LED fixtures out). All wash fixtures in haze will look more like clouds of color vs spot fixtures which will make tight beams. Also note that the stronger the intensity of the light, the better the beam. Remember when I mentioned angles to you before? Well, its much easier to see when the room is hazed. So, in order from weakest to strongest, front light, over head light, back light, side light, high side light, and finally on the deck shooting up over the stage/audience. If you notice on a few shows I have done, I put 250w movers on my back truss and 575's on the deck, because the 575's cut better. On the even larger shows I am doing now, I am doing 700/1200w movers on the deck with 575/700w movers in the air.

Here is a picture to better show what I am talking about:


In this picture, the 8 lights on the deck are DLED 36 MHs and the two lights projecting the blue stars are DS 575 E's. Notice how a few feet up, the DLED 36's lose there power to 'cut' the haze. All the way up in the air, however, once their beams have joined together, they create a cloud. The ones on the end, however, just fade away.

Likewise, the 575's, with more power, better angle, and sharp beams, cut through the haze all the way to the floor. When I have had those on the deck with frost filter in, they create a much better, bigger cloud then the DLED 36's do.
S studio42Member
Right, makes sense. The picture really sums it up quite well because of the practical example.

Thanks to my HZ-300, I can see the beams off my spots really good as well as off my Q-spots(both non-ADJ Elation fixtures, sorry!), and it makes sense what you're saying about the wash lights now because it's not a "focussed" beam of light. I did get a few photos and they from what came out usable, they are pretty cool.

I'm looking for more wash lights, maybe even some moving head units or something. I have to do something soon because I'm very unhappy with a particular non-ADJ/Elation fixture that has given me a high degree of grief over the years. I'll be revisting my LED wash discussion, which is very much budget based.

Bringing it back around:
The cast and crew(and myself) LOVED what the HZ-300 hazer brought to the show. It helped make the lights "pop", gave a more professional edge to the production, gave the cast on stage and on the floor an appearance of being "shot on film". Granted, for me, it was quite a pop. The HZ-300 and the ICE-101 have been the highest priced bits of gear I have bought to date in regards to lighting. My hand is being forced into buying better gear, which is good and bad. It's bad because it's costing me so much more, but overall the good outweighs the bad, because the results are what I'm after. It just costs me more to get stuff, which means it takes me longer to get it. I can't drop prices to do more shows to make it up on volume.

My needs and requirements for lighting has evolved from "just need some lights" to now having some fairly exact requirements(some self-imposed). I feel pretty comfortable with the choices I've made. I've also gotten good advise from yourself, Jingles, my dealer and Support from Elation an ADJ.

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