[Otaku]

Hi all,
Some of you have been following the thread on the falsely advertised specifications for the Chauvet F-1250 fogger. This problem was discovered back in Oct. 2008 by OpenTrackRacer, and confirmed by a number of members here. Chauvet was informed and made no offer to fix the problem. After much pressure was applied, Chauvet agreed to upgrade the heaters. After failing at the attempt, Chauvet made an offer to refund the purchase price of the fogger to those who requested it, and the owner would be allowed to keep the fogger. This offer has now been rescinded by Rasheen Williams at Chauvet. The owner may still obtain a refund, but must return the fogger at their their own expense. So much for Chauvet's vaunted customer service.

There has been no indication that Chauvet intends to start selling fog machines that actually meet their published specs. Since the wattage spec (for all of their foggers) has been purged from the Chauvet website, the remaining spec of 10,000 CFM output (for the F-1250) is the only metric that can be used to compare their foggers to other manufacturers. This spec has been tested by CraiginPA (on his F-1250), and he found it to be very unlikely for the fogger to be able to meet the output spec. Again, when presented with the test results Chauvet did not indicate that they would change the product to meet the published spec. The false 10K CFM spec remains on the web site. When we inquired as to the test methods that were used to determine the output, Chauvet ignored our requests. They did tell me that they use Kill-A-Watt meters to test the current draw of each fogger they ship, so I have to believe that they knew they were shipping out-of spec product and they just didn't give a damn.

Bottom line: Chauvet is advertising output specs for the F-1250 fogger that it cannot possibly meet. While they took care of a few of their customers, they have pretty much given the finger to the remaining customers who purchased those machines based on the false specifications and asked for restitution. I plan to never buy from this company in the future and advise all to do the same.

 

[Lurks in the shadows]

I'm on this bandwagon! I'll never purchase their products again, and I'll tell anyone who cares, why I wont!

 

[DawnDead]

I had a problem with my Chauvet f1700 a couple of years ago. Their customer service is pathetic (actually apathetic as well). Not only did they send me the wrong replacement part, but acted like I should be grateful for it! They lost a loyal customer that day.

 

[Homestead Haunt]

I will never purchase from this company again!

 

[Xpendable]

Wow, just saw this thread. I was about to buy one of these. Thanks for heads up. Anybody have a good recommendation for a ~1200 watt fogger? I'm using crappy 400 watt foggers now that suck.

 

[wilbret]

I'm on the fence. I'm ticked the way this worked out, and the way they handled it.

However, I have 3 Chauvet foggers that all work like champs. I never would have known they were underperforming had someone not investigated.

Product. Ok.
Customer service? Eh. When I bought my 2nd unit, it was DOA and they sent another to me next day and paid for shipping the DOA unit back.

But with this deal, they renegged and only offered me resolution if I shipped them my units at my expense.

 

[MikeBru]

I too bought a Chauvet fogger last year. I spent a lot of time trying to research units on-line and decided that the Chauvet would be the way to go. I wanted a unit that would put out copious amounts of fog continuously. My plan was to use less than what the machine could produce so that I could depend on the output to grow as my needs grew in the future. I planned on leaving a reserve in capacity in the machine for future needs and growth.
It cost me a lot of money. When I got it I was very excited, it was my first fogger and was excited to run it in and play with the settings. I'd wanted one of these since I was a kid. I spent money on the unit I could have put to other uses.
When I got it out of the box, the fluid resevoir was wet with liquid. (Factory testing I figured at the time. Now, I'm not so sure.) The Chauvet had an extrememly long initial warm up and quite short fog production interval, then a very long reheat. The reheat was so long that any fog produced was long gone before the unit started making fog again. I tried to figure out a setting that actually made continuous fog as advertised, or even a setting that filled my patio continuously. No matter what I did the Chauvet wouldn't produce enough fog. (it would heat for about 3-5 minutes and fog for about 10 seconds)
When I called them to see what could be the issue they simply told me to change the setting to lower the fog demand. I wanted more fog so that didn't make sense but I tried it anyway. Sure enough, that made even less fog. I decided to return the unit and gave Chauvet a call to set that up. Man, what a friggin' ordeal! They spent the call trying to get me to admit the machine worked to specifications but that my expectations were at fault. It was like playing legal verbal symantics ping pong with a professional. In the end they did accept the unit back and refunded my money. I was also made to feel fortunate that Chauvet would accept my return. With my Chauvet performing nothing like advertised and the lack of customer service I experienced I will not purchase from them again.

 

[Otaku]

Mike, I know what you mean - their CS is terrible. Most of my conversations with them were obvious attempts to get me to say that I was satisfied with the product performance, rather than trying to fix the problem with the false specifications.

 

[MikeBru]

Hi fellow Californian Otaku. Yep, no more Chauvet for me.

 

[Gorey]

Wow, just saw this thread. I was about to buy one of these. Thanks for heads up. Anybody have a good recommendation for a ~1200 watt fogger? I'm using crappy 400 watt foggers now that suck.

Try the VEI935, affordable, tremendous fog output and both wired controller and wireless triggers included.

 

[kentuckyspecialfx.com]

Foggers

Hi all,
Some of you have been following the thread on the falsely advertised specifications for the Chauvet F-1250 fogger. This problem was discovered back in Oct. 2008 by OpenTrackRacer, and confirmed by a number of members here. Chauvet was informed and made no offer to fix the problem. After much pressure was applied, Chauvet agreed to upgrade the heaters. After failing at the attempt, Chauvet made an offer to refund the purchase price of the fogger to those who requested it, and the owner would be allowed to keep the fogger. This offer has now been rescinded by Rasheen Williams at Chauvet. The owner may still obtain a refund, but must return the fogger at their their own expense. So much for Chauvet's vaunted customer service.

There has been no indication that Chauvet intends to start selling fog machines that actually meet their published specs. Since the wattage spec (for all of their foggers) has been purged from the Chauvet website, the remaining spec of 10,000 CFM output (for the F-1250) is the only metric that can be used to compare their foggers to other manufacturers. This spec has been tested by CraiginPA (on his F-1250), and he found it to be very unlikely for the fogger to be able to meet the output spec. Again, when presented with the test results Chauvet did not indicate that they would change the product to meet the published spec. The false 10K CFM spec remains on the web site. When we inquired as to the test methods that were used to determine the output, Chauvet ignored our requests. They did tell me that they use Kill-A-Watt meters to test the current draw of each fogger they ship, so I have to believe that they knew they were shipping out-of spec product and they just didn't give a damn.

Bottom line: Chauvet is advertising output specs for the F-1250 fogger that it cannot possibly meet. While they took care of a few of their customers, they have pretty much given the finger to the remaining customers who purchased those machines based on the false specifications and asked for restitution. I plan to never buy from this company in the future and advise all to do the same.

Most low end companies that sell low end price foggers like shove it americana JD LOL! measure the wattage when the fogger has the pump going as well so that helps them out with getting the wattage use up.
We dont sell those foggers and never will just for that reason, we don't want to be associated with them and the whole Cubic Footage thing is a joke, I can sell anyone a 400W fogger and claim it puts out 20,000 CFM but how dense is the CFM is the question, something those companies dont whant you to know and don't care about.
My suggestion is to save up and get a JEM / Martin or Rosco we only make reapirs on those when they have seen some serious crazy use.

 

[DawnDead]

Yes, to reiterate: I will not buy a Chauvet product ever again. Nor will I do business with Ghost Ride Productions.

No to Chauvet and Ghost Ride! Steer clear of these two!

 

[Otaku]

Most low end companies that sell low end price foggers like shove it americana JD LOL! measure the wattage when the fogger has the pump going as well so that helps them out with getting the wattage use up.
We dont sell those foggers and never will just for that reason, we don't want to be associated with them and the whole Cubic Footage thing is a joke, I can sell anyone a 400W fogger and claim it puts out 20,000 CFM but how dense is the CFM is the question, something those companies dont whant you to know and don't care about.
My suggestion is to save up and get a JEM / Martin or Rosco we only make reapirs on those when they have seen some serious crazy use.

Agreed. My next fogger will be one that has verifiable specs and a solid track record. Even with the pump running the 1250 couldn't possibly meet 1200W - it's shipped with a 10A fuse. That'll work fine with the 800W heaters that are in the foggers, but a larger load will blow them. The only time the 1250 pulls ~800W is in preheat mode; after that the current draw drops to as little as 25W.

 

[Gorey]

Agreed. My next fogger will be one that has verifiable specs and a solid track record. Even with the pump running the 1250 couldn't possibly meet 1200W - it's shipped with a 10A fuse. That'll work fine with the 800W heaters that are in the foggers, but a larger load will blow them. The only time the 1250 pulls ~800W is in preheat mode; after that the current draw drops to as little as 25W.

Which is why Minions Web represents VEI fog machine products.
Excellent products, excellent track record, great support.

The new models are spectacular.

 

[Hellspawn]

I contacted Rasheen at Chauvet, they agreed to replace my f-1250 with a h-1300 model and arranged a pickup, problem was is that they scheduled a pickup time other than what I requested, needless to say, I wasnt there for fedex and its now been 5 days and I cant get Rasheen to return my calls or emails.. all I want is for them to schedule a new pickup time for me.

Im pretty pissed.

I might just ship the package at my cost.. but im going to hold out until monday

the thing that really bothers me is the fact that they will not respond to any emails at all, or return any phone calls.. they think that if they ignore me I might go away? I dont think so.

 

[Gorey]

FYI, VEI V935 is the same as the Chauvet 1300.
VEI delivers it with timer and wireless triggers.

I am truly sorry you got screwed with the Chauvet deal.
Perhaps they will finish resolving this.

In their defense, I have never heard of Fedex making a pre-arranged pick up time without first contacting you, the pick up-ee.

 

[LukeSkiewalker]

I have a 1250 that I bought in 2007 and have been very happy with it. However, I have been waiting for an affordable VEI that is comparable or better. Having a wireless controller on that 935 seems like a no brainer to me. My budget is blown for the year, but maybe I will get lucky and have some xmas money so it can be for next year.

 

[DawnDead]

For all those interested, I recently borrowed a Kill A Watt meter and decided to check all my machines. Here are the results:

Machine & Wattage Specs Measurements (low to high)

MBT Brutt II – 800 watts, 670 – 700

Lite Quest Dragon – 1200 watts, 958 – 997

Chauvet F-1700 – 1700 watts, 1164 – 1221

VEI v960 – 1200 watts, 1135 – 1192
(changed from 1500)


While testing, I found that all these machines stayed in the median area of these ranges most of the time.

As one can see, it appears that reporting higher wattage than actual is the norm for companies in the industry.

P.S. Apparently, we cannot use formatting such as tabs here. Also, HTML formatting has no effect as well. I tried to add spaces to the table to no avail! Wish I would have known that before posting.

 

[Gorey]

You got higher results from the Kill-o-Watt than I did with 2 different True RMS multimeters.
A Fluke 77 and a No-name model both had identical readings.

The V935 and V960 measured out at 1165 peak pumping, 1137 idling heat - these are the measures I provided VEI after I got the models here.

The V3000 was 1575 and 1544 respectively.

As far as I understand it, foggers, as long as they are within 5% are supposedly to spec.
One company I wont mention states claims with 10% (a lot of leeway).
My opinion is it should be within 3%.

 

[Gorey]

P.S. Apparently, we cannot use formatting such as tabs here. Also, HTML formatting has no effect as well. I tried to add spaces to the table to no avail! Wish I would have known that before posting.

You need to use BB tags, if this forum supports them.
Some are supported (img, url) since I use them from time to time here.
You can look up known tags with your prefered search engine, or the Forum help should have some info.

Then simply test them in preview to see if they work (activated) in this forum.