Thread: Fog machine "tune up" and maintenance

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I have a small 400 watt fogger that I will be using very sparingly with an "ice pipe" indoors at a party on the 31st. I like it because it has the settable interval and duration on a remote. I have had it for 1-2 years and have left fluid in it (I know, that's bad).

It kind of works, but is real sporadic. If I leave the continuous fog button pressed down, it maybe shoots for a few seconds then stops for 5-10 mins. I have left it plugged in for a long time with the button down, and eventually it just stops. I was hoping to run it full blast for a bit to clean it out.

Is there any tricks to maintaining these things, cleaning them out, tuning them up? Its a cheap dept store one, I can hear the pump running when nothing comes out. Tank is full of very clean looking fluid. Do I remember reading somewhere about running water through them?

I search on "fog machine maintenance" here but didn't find anything. I will buy another low power inexpensive unit before Halloween if I have to, but don't want to wait until the last minute and have to buy local and spend more....

TIA

JH

how much did u get it for?

Originally Posted by BackYardHaunter

how much did u get it for?

Don't remember, maybe $39. It used to work really good...

I heard vinegar works

You might try this...

Theatre Effects - Cleaning Fog Machines (Not!)

Run distilled water through it before you store it for the season. NEVER leave fog juice in it over the winter, as it will gel inside the pump, and clog it up. I know because I did just that, and ended up throwing two of them away. Luckily, they were the cheap ones from Walmart.

I always heard to leave fluid in to keep the pump lubed during the off season.

Hmm. After reading the link from yubney, it would appear that I was misinformed. Sorry!

Yeah, I found that article about cleaning after I posted. I think I will dump what is in there, and try the vinegar thing.

I used to have similar problems, and I would clean my machines after each season with distilled water and vinegar. I never understood why a clean machine would sputter so much. It eventually failed. It was always the pump that seemed to have problems. The heater never really got clogged.

Later I discovered that it's better NOT to clean the machines. Now, I always dump out the fog juice at the end of the night, put a small amount of fresh juice back in, run a few long blasts, then dump out the rest of the juice prior to storage. This will keep the pump lubricated during storage so it doesn't sieze up.

When you're ready to fire it up again next season, flush the tank with fresh juice a few times, then fill it. It should work fine for years to come.

-dgm