Fog machine not pumping?

**Xpress** · 03-21-2011,01:35 PM

Alrighty, newb here. Did a quick search but didn't turn up anything of help.

Basically I (my dad) bought a fog machine at a garage sale for a whopping $4. Brought it home, plugged it in, heated it up, put juice in it and pushed the button. She was pumping away! But yesterday, we plugged it in again, ;et it heat up, pushed the button and nothing. We could hear the pump giving a slight buzz, so we knew it was running, but nothing was coming out.

So I tried flushing out all the lines with some cleaner (409), followed by a bit of filtered water and then fog juice to lubricate again. Put it back together and nothing. So then I took the pump apart and cleaned that, and after futzing with how to put it back together for half an hour, finally got it pumping again. Worked great for all of 5 minutes and then it wouldn't pump no more, all it did was buzz. Tried injecting some juice down the lines, but as soon as I unplugged the syringe, nothing, just more buzzing. I'm pretty sure the pump may just be gone, so is there a replacement out there? It's one of those Party City $30 specials. Or would it just be cheaper to get a new one for the low low price of $30?

I also picked up another fog machine the following day for $5, has FX-8 printed on the side, says it's by Spencers on the back. Quick google search turned up little results. The thing works amazing, such high output, but i'm wondering what the proper fog juice is to put through it, and what the proper maintenance would be for these? I just dumped some of that purple party city juice into it to try it out. Thanks in advance!

**UnOrthodOx** · 03-21-2011,01:48 PM

First of all, welcome to the site.

The FX-8's are what I have. It's a 700W machine, I use Froggy's Swamp Juice in it, but have used both Spencers and Wal-Mart brands in the past, they all work. Any water based fog fluid will work. I like Froggy's.

Maintanence is pretty simple, empty and clean at the end of the season: http://www.instructables.com/id/Care...achines/#step1

Anyhow, on the first one, did you check the nozzle is/was plugged? When our machine did that, we just had to take a little pin and scrape around the nozzle (WITH IT TURNED OFF AND COOLED DOWN!!!) for it to start spitting out again just fine. I've noticed the tend to plug up when you try to pump without them being fully warmed up. (and the light is not always the best indicator)

I don't know about a replacement pump, personally, I'ld just buy a new one.

**Xpress** · 03-21-2011,02:03 PM

Cool, thanks for the info.

The party city fogger isn't plugged, I cleaned it so that it's all flowing. Might just wind up buying another one, I was thinking a 1000 watt one. More wattage means a higher output and coverage, right?

**UnOrthodOx** · 03-21-2011,06:40 PM

Originally Posted by Xpress

Cool, thanks for the info.

The party city fogger isn't plugged, I cleaned it so that it's all flowing. Might just wind up buying another one, I was thinking a 1000 watt one. More wattage means a higher output and coverage, right?

More wattage means that more fog fluid can be pumped through without it needing to reheat, yes. 'Coverage' is a fickle beast. Weather, quality of fog juice, wattage, quality of pump, type of chiller system used, and whatever else I'm forgetting all play a part.

Personally, in our yard haunt, the 700W machines (of which we have 3) have done great for their job: fogging a particular prop, or used in concert to fog an area. A 1000W would be more for fogging the entire area solo.

**Xpress** · 03-22-2011,02:44 PM

Ahh, thought so

I tried out my 700w last night in just my front yard. with no wind, I had the entire place covered in just a minute. tried making a fog chiller by using a plumbing tube, a bunch of ice and water and spraying the fog through it. It kinda worked... Hoping it all goes well on the big night.

**UnOrthodOx** · 03-22-2011,06:50 PM

Chillers...well, you can find lots of designs for them online. Depends on your setup which will work best IMO.

**Death Dealer** · 03-23-2011,05:41 AM

Chillers are greatly dependent on the ambient temperature on the big night. If its typically cold out where you live you need to make your fog even colder to make it fall down.

**UnOrthodOx** · 03-23-2011,06:10 AM

Originally Posted by Death Dealer

Chillers are greatly dependent on the ambient temperature on the big night. If its typically cold out where you live you need to make your fog even colder to make it fall down.

In a very basic sense, that's the general idea, but there's a lot more science going on. For instance, there are some of us that live where Halloween is regularly in the 30's. It's impossible to cool the fog below the ambient temperature, but not impossible to attain low-lying fog. In fact, it's my experience extreme cold actually helps, the very air acting as a chiller.

**bl00d** · 03-23-2011,10:30 AM

Froggys makes some special desnged low lying fog juice. Used it w/ my fog chiller made out of a storage plastic bin, ran a dryer duct thru the middle, attached a peice of pvc pipe, then cut a small retangle slit for the exit. Worked great the fog was very low and thick, but the wind conditions were just right.

Besure to check w/ your fire marshal some use of fog machines are not allowed in some cities.