Help with a dodgy fogger...

[danielbriggs]

Hi,
I know this might not be the best place for help with a smoke machine, but I know you've all got one, so thought it best to ask.

Basically I picked up a 'new' 'bought as spare' fogger from a guy on eBay, and he dropped it off at my place which was nice of him. It's an Antari F-80-Z with the wireless remote included.

I popped out to Maplin and picked up a litre of the medium fog, filled the tank half full. Switched it on and waited 5 mins. There are no lights on the unit, so I didn't know what I was waiting for. Pressed the button on the remote, the little light flashed, and nothing happened. So I waited for another 10 mins. The unit gets fookin' hot, but it's totally silent, no motors or pumps churning away.
It just sits there as a little space heater, no fog!

I had the lid off and all connections are solid, I don't fancy taking the thing with lagging around it apart, but has anyone got any ideas?
Could it be the thermostat?

Ta,
Dan

[buffo]

I had the same problem with my Antari 1200Z fogger. It *could* be a loose wire on your thermostat, but more likely it's a plugged up pump. Fortunately, this is not hard to fix. Have a look at this thread and see if the pump looks similar to the one in your unit. There's some good general information in that thread too. But if your pump is similar to the one pictured in the thread, you can go to my gallery, where I've set up a bunch of pictures with captions that show you how to take the pump apart, clean it, and put it back together again.

Adam

[danielbriggs]

Thanks Adam,
I'll give that ago if I can't kick life into it by tinkering with the connections.
I've traced a few wires through, and the heater circuit is fine, it's the circuit which connects up to that motor and the wireless remote which isn't working.
The pump doesn't even try to start, but I'll certainly give it a clean in the next day or two.
I'll get in touch with the eBay guy and see what his take on it. So much for a new unit. I'm in two minds to as whether it's really new. There was a small amount of fog fluid in the tank when it arrived, but came with the box, all bells and whistles and still had the plug guard on. But when it heats up, it smells like a smoky club

Thanks,
Dan

Edit: By the way, my motor DOES look like the ones in your pics.

[colouredmirrorball]

But when it heats up, it smells like a smoky club

Mine has also the typical smell of a fog machine, so you could better get used to that. Also, when I heat it up after a longer period of not being used, there is also another kind of smell. I think it is just dust that get burned by the heather (300° C).
I have the same type of fog machine. After 4-5 minutes heat-up time, the light on the remote controller should be very dimmed and flash whet you press the button. If nothing happens, it is the pump for sure.

Mine came also with a bit of juice in the tank, maybe they tested it in the factory.

[danielbriggs]

I don't have the wired remote. It didn't come with one, just the wireless block which I plug in. There are no lights on any of the parts apart from the led which lights when you press a button on the handheld part.

Does anyone have a spare wired remote (FCW-80 or FC-4) I can buy off them to try?

I've attached a few pics for reference.

Thanks,
Dan

Edit: Just tested the thermostat, and it does work. It clicks and goes from 0 ohms cold to infinity (or more than my meter can measure) when hot. So it's not that. I'm convinced it's something in the remote receiver with a cable on it, but I'll certainly give the pump a clean to rule that out.

[ionlaser555]

I have a fog machine from maplins and i clean the insides of it with water and viniger and it still works after 2 1/2 years.


There may be a blok inside the system as some of the smoke liquids leave a limescale type crap in the heater area and in the pipes .


Im not sure the viniger and water thing may work for urs but have a look on the internet for something that can clean the insides of the fog machine apart from that i dont know what eles could be wrong.



Good luck getting it going.



Ben

[Onge]

If anyone needs a manual for that fogger it can be found here. http://www.showfotos.nl/manuals/SHOW...0651-Z80-E.pdf

Gives a very small troubleshooting section but no mention about a wireless remote only a wired remote.

Onge

[buffo]

If the pump is plugged up, it will not make any noise even when you apply power to it. The pump is built like a solenoid; the piston jumps up and down in response to an externally applied alternating magnetic field. Essentially, you've got a large coil of wire outside the pump with A/C flowing through it, and that forces the piston inside to jump up and down. (Well, the spring inside forces it down, but you get the idea.)

Over time, and especially if you store it without flushing the pump, the fog solution will gum up, causing the piston to stick. When that happens, you won't hear anything even with the coil energized, because nothing is moving.

Check the wire leads to the pump and see if you get A/C voltage on them when you push the "fog" button. If you've got power, the pump must be plugged up.

Adam

[danielbriggs]

Thank Adam, like you said it must be the pump. I'm getting 28V AC across the motor, (it doesn't change when I press the fog button though) so it defo looks looks like the pump. I'll give it a clean tonight. It does fit the story of it being stored in a box for a long time...

Thanks for your help, I'll keep you posted!

Dan

[The_Doctor]

Over time, and especially if you store it without flushing the pump, the fog solution will gum up, causing the piston to stick. When that happens, you won't hear anything even with the coil energized, because nothing is moving.

That sounds right to me. It fits with the burning smell of dust as well as fog, it's probably been stored inactive and unpurged too long. I think you have a straight claim against the seller. There's a limit to how much you should have to do, especially if it was sold as working.

Edit: Anyone know of any peristaltic pumps for small fog machines? Seems like they'd be a good choice for machines that saw intermittent use and long storage. I have a Martin 700, nicest machine I know of, but the DC motor pump, though ok for storage, is noisy, messy, and a quiet high-torque peristaltic pump would totally redeem that machine.