[customrv]

Good day all,

I am new to this kinda stuff and went out and bought a Chauvet 1300 Hurricane smoke machine.
Reading the web I notice alot of trouble with the timer, first thing I tested. Works fine

But now I want to make a sizeable chiller (race car turbo intercooler ) and cover my yard in ground hugging fog.
So I see the remote has a continuous button and thought this is exactly what I need and the 1300W unit should hack it ......

It only does about 10sec of fog (allot I must admit) but then the pump shuts off and only about 8 seconds later will it turn back on but this time it will only produce about 4sec of fog and shut off again. It will continue like this.

I presume the pumps shuts off to alow the heater to reheat to required temp, but I was under the impression it has a large enough element to sustain continuous operation without having to pause to reheat?

Am I wrong, is that what it can do, period? OR is my unit defective? OR can I adjust the heater power?


Thank you,
Eddie.
Durban
South Africa

 

[WOLFPACK7483]

I just picked up the Chauvet 1301 and had the same question. I've adjusted the timer and even disconnected it and tried cycling it by
holding down the manual button. Only works for 30 secs or so and then goes into delay. With this being my 1st "Real Fog Machine"
I also expected long continuous bursts. What gives?

 

[OlderNDirt]

I'm fairly new to this myself and just got my 1301 this year, but.......

From what I have tested it so far using Froggy's Bog Fog, there is no way I could run it continuous if I was able to. The fog output and hang time is incredible and could cause traffic problems a block away it seems. The only adjustment to control the amount of fog is the timer controlling the frequency and length of the blast. If it turns out to be a windy night, no sense in trying to use it at all. Otherwise, adjusting the timer depending on the movement and dissipation of the fog. I'm hoping I will be able to adjust it so it won't ever have to shut down to re-heat, but if it does, so be it.

 

[J-Man]

Reheat cycles are normal for most fog machines unless you get into the BIG commercial units.

 

[annamarykahn]

yeah, what j-man said ...

the pump is permitted to run when the heat exchanger has reached temperature ... when at temperature, the heater will turn off ... when fog is produced the temperature drops until it reaches a limit and the heater turns on again and you're prevented from pumping more juice into the heat exchanger :-(

amk

 

[WOLFPACK7483]

Oh yeah, I understand that the machines recycle. Having had several in the past I was just under the impression that the better quality
machines like the Chauvet 1301 would produce cycles of 1 minute or so. Like the post from (customrv) indicated, the 1301 seems to run
foe about only 20 or 30 secs. at best before recycling. This is with the timer adjusted at max or using the manual button on the back.
Just curious.

 

[CountZero]

If its like my old Chauvet 1300, the continuous button doesn't actually do anything as the fogger itself doesn't actually support continuous operation.

Usually foggers that do support continuous mode have some sort of a "Volume" switch that lets you dial back the volume of fog so you can run continuously. For example, I have a VEI that will run continuously, but continuous mode is disabled when I have the machine set to run at 100%. I've run it for hours straight at a reduced volume, which has always been more than enough fog for my needs anyways. Generally on the bigger machine, running it flat out continuously will create TOO much fog anyways. If you eliminate the reheat cycles where the fogger needs to catch up to refill the space, its much easier to keep a nice fog bank going. The sweet spot for me is somewhere between 20% output for indoor use, and 40% output for outdoor use with a slight breeze. But my machine is also 1600W and rated for 35,000 CFM. A 30 second burst at 100% filled a 50'x75" space to a depth of 8'. You couldn't see anything in there, and it took 40 minutes to clear the space out afterwards.