# Fogger issues



## Olliez0r (Dec 6, 2008)

Hey, I've got two smoke machines on the blink at the moment. One is a Martin Junior 700 and the other is an Antari Z-1000. Both have been well used but looked after to a certain extent (correct fluids etc).

The Antari first...
When the controller DIN is moved when it is plugged in and on the green ready light flashes on and off, and a relay inside can be heard to click. When this happens the heater does not come on but the pump will still function so it just squirts fluid. When wiggling it so the green light doesn't come on until it's properly warmed up it works fine. I've replaced the DIN connector on the controller wire and it still does it so I'm thinking it's either the PCB (loose solder somewhere perhaps?) or the DIN plug on the PCB. It is only minute movements that triggers it though.

The Martin now...
The pump has recently packed in, sometime when the pump itself is knocked it'll do a very poor sounding reverse action on power on but it seems to have given up there as well. I've removed the pump and another website I found after a lot of Googling says "The fluid pump is a standard 24V VDO pump". I've spent ages on Google/Froogle and ebay but can't find anything looking like what I've taken out. Does anyone know if it will be easy to find a replacement? Here's a picture of the pump from that site.

Another quick question about the Martin. I think the nozzle is a bit gunked up as it smells quite nasty when it heats up, what should I use to clean it out?

Thanks,
Ollie.


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## lightman02 (Dec 6, 2008)

Ok, for the Martin, if you need a new part you can go to: LightParts.com - The Parts and Repair Source for Entertainment Lighting

They will usually be able to get you fog and haze machine parts as I have gotten hazer parts from them before. As far as the Antari machine, well most likely it's the solder joints on the PCB, cold joint is a possibility. I would resolder the din solder joints on the PCB, if that does not solve the issue then it's most likely a bad connector. Hope this helps.


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## Olliez0r (Dec 7, 2008)

Thanks for that link, will have a proper look through later today, looks good though. And I'll warm up the soldering iron and have a go with the antari, I'm hoping that that sorts it. xD


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## Olliez0r (Dec 8, 2008)

Sorry for the double post, took the pump to school today and worked fine when tried with a power brick there. Cleaned it up a bit so it runs smoother. It still refuses to work in the machine though.

Hard bit to explain now as I don't really know what everything does... there's a metal line coming from the delivery/heating pipe (the end is wrapped around a sticking out bit) that has a spring around it on the side of the electrics and hooks onto a small switch like box. Basically when I move this switch in with a screwdriver the reverse pump comes on for a second and the status of the heater can be seen to change as the green light will come on on the remote for a second. Still though pressing the fog button does nothing.

Sorry this is so vague, here's a picture of the part I'm talking about...
Any ideas are greatly appreciated.


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## lightman02 (Dec 8, 2008)

Im thinking the swtich and thin metal rod is a mechanical thermistat. When the heater gets to the right temp the metal will flex enough to activate the switch and turn off the heater and also allow the pump to operate. When the unit cools the metal flexes in the oposite direction switching the switch in the oposite direction tuning the heat back on an disableing the pump. Usually thesse switches control relays in the PCB that will actually carry the load of the pump and heater. So eather the switch in the picture is bad or u could have a bad relay. This is my guess but please be carefull when working with electricity.

Thanks


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## Olliez0r (Dec 8, 2008)

lightman02 said:


> Im thinking the swtich and thin metal rod is a mechanical thermistat. When the heater gets to the right temp the metal will flex enough to activate the switch and turn off the heater and also allow the pump to operate. When the unit cools the metal flexes in the oposite direction switching the switch in the oposite direction tuning the heat back on an disableing the pump. Usually thesse switches control relays in the PCB that will actually carry the load of the pump and heater. So eather the switch in the picture is bad or u could have a bad relay. This is my guess but please be carefull when working with electricity.
> 
> Thanks


From the looks of it the wire from the power switch goes directly into this unit and then the brown wire out goes to the PCB. And there's another _so called_ sensor apparently. Hmm. I found the PCB layout if it's of any use, lol.
It's always worked fine, just one day it didn't kinda thing.

http://www.nrgrecording.de/Martin_Fogger.pdf
Methinks if there's a relay responsible it's gotta be "PUMP RELAIS"

Wee update - fixed the Antari machine. 
The legs of the Din socket had broken the end of the solder off and were moving around, school sent this machine off for repair when it started doing this and they sent it back saying they couldn't do anything. Lmao.


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