*** ATTENTION ***
Please be sure to look at the bottom of this page for an important update!
I originally created this writup to document the steps I took to clean a fog machine that would not work the day I purchased it. It slowly morphed into the PDF file found here. If you find the information in the article useful, or have other suggestions and ideas how to improve it; please drop me a line using my CONTACT page. If I use your information, I would gladly give proper credit where it is due.
Obtain "How To" Document
Click HERE to open the file in your browser, or Right Click and select "Save Target As" to download to your computer.
Updates and additional info
I would like to take a second and thank several people who have contacted me in the last year regarding my writeup. Some contacted me to say "Thank You" for giving them the courage to tear into their foggers and to fix it themselves. Others gave me some great insites to what they encountered while taking on the task. I'm not going to paste names here of people who thanked me. They know who they are. But the people who submitted information to me so that I could pass it along to the masses, I will give them proper credit. They did the work and they deserve it. To make it easier, I may simply post our email conversations so as not to "muddy" the waters.
Mark Deacon - FX-800 Model Fogger
FROM MARK:
"Well, I got it and I figured I'd let you know what I did. The heater was working fine, the pump is working fine, but I could not get the juice (or water) to go through the exchanger (an FX-800).
I took the entire heat block out, unwrapped the insulation, removed the 2 brass nipples, soaked it in boiling water for 2+ hours - no help, then soaked it in vinigar for 2+hrs - no help, then I got on to thinking about what was inside. When you look through, there is a plug with a slot in part of it on each end, I tried turning it with a screw driver and it would not budge, but then I tried tapping it with a brass drift - you have to tap it with the flat end on the floor, and heater leads pointing upward, then put the drift in the top and tap the pin outward toward the floor. It ends up the pin that is in there is an aluminum dowel that has a spiral groove cut into it to allow just a small amount of juice to go through the spiral groove and turn into steam. It comes right out (only in that direction) and the spiral groove was all plugged with junk - a quick cleaning, re-assemble all, and everything works fine.
Hope that can help you or anyone"
Mark was also kind enough to send me a hand drawn sketch of what his instructions noted above were referring to. You can view the sketch in your browser by clicking the following link, or right clicking on it and selecting the "Save As" option and selecting a destination on your local computer.
Marc's Hand Sketch of Heat Exchanger Pin Removal and Cleaning
Before I forget, Mark also mentioned to be sure to wear some kind of gloves when taking the insulation off the heat exchanger. The fiberglass insulation can really make your hands itchy when no protection is used. Thank you Mark for the information and sketch!
Steve Barnes - Lite FX Model 1741
Steve mainly contacted me to let me know that he was able to successfully get his fogger working again using the document but substituting LIME AWAY as the cleaning solvent. So there you go, another alternative cleaner you can use if you have it handy. Thanks Steve for the info.
Charpel Hamilton
Charpel contacted me stating that he followed my instructions using C.L.R. to clean the parts, but that his pump wouldn't function at all after reassembly. I personally don't see how C.L.R. would be any different than LIME AWAY as a solvent, as long as the parts were rinsed thoroughly and then well lubricated with clean fog juice. Personally, I feel safe in saying that C.L.R. is safe to use. Why Charpel's pump failed to work after him cleaning it was never determined. I followed up via email to him but never heard a response back.
***IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR ANYONE WHO FOLLOWED MY ORIGINAL HOW-TO DOCUMENT
It has come to my attention that I might have made a bad error when creating my How-To back in 2006. Although the fogger I used to create my original document was obviously abused by a previous owner, I believe that by me using a chemical cleaner to clean the parts, I might have seriously shortened the life of the pump in the unit. The pump isn't completely dead, but there is strong evidence that chemical cleaner might have caused more damage to the exhaust housing.
As can be clearly seen in the photos below, after only 3 years, the exhaust housing shows considerable amounts of pitting in the internal area. Unfortunately, I don't remember if there was any pitting evident at the time the document was created. I also noted an unusual amount of crud built up along the edges of the pumps internal parts and on the exhaust housing. I think that this debris might be the breaking down of the exhaust housing from the chemical cleaner.
To err on the safe side, I am no longer recommending the use of chemical solvents to clean your fogger parts. Instead, try to use a mild acids (such as white vinegar) and a Scotch Bright scouring sponge (like the kind you might use in the kitchen to wash dishes with) to lightly scour the parts clean. I also used a small set of very soft wire brushes to scratch away at stubborn areas.
Click on the picture for a larger view
In some of pictures, you can see the exhaust housing and the internal parts bubbling while soaking in some clear liquid. They are in white vinegar. Although I could be wrong, I am hoping that the vinegar is reacting with something "on" the parts and not the metal of the parts itself. Considering the exhaust housing and the piston are made from what appears to be two different types of metals, I am leaning toward the belief that it is something on the parts.
Some thoughts on the information provided by Mark
One of the foggers I have always sounds like the pump is laboring when running and very little fog is produced. The fog that is produced has always had a slight "burnt" smell to it. Since the pump actually pumped very well when disconnected from the heat exchanger, I figured the heat exchanger was plugged. Going on Mark's directions, I proceeded to attempt to remove the aluminum plug from the heat exchanger and clean it as he described. Unfortunately, it didn't go so well for me. I will try to outline what I did so that others may avoid my mistakes.
Following Mark's directions, I removed the heat exchanger from the fogger, removed the two brass nipples from either end and proceeded to attempt to remove the plug from the inside by placing the heat exchanger on the floor and taping on it with a flat pin and a hammer. That is when things started going bad. The pin in my exchanger wouldn't budge. No matter how much I smacked on it, the thing was not going anywhere. Instead, I ended up chipping some of the pin and really screwing up the threads in the inside of the heat exchanger. The threads were so messed up that I couldn't put the brass nipple back in straight. It would only go in at an angle. This can be seen in the pictures.
Also, when I was smacking the hell out of the plug, I ended up forcing the heater element from the slot in the heat exchanger. This was a blessing and a curse in one. With the element removed, I was able to turn the heat exchanger upside down and attempt to remove the pin from the opposite side. Unfortunately, the pin still didn't move. Instead, I now have damaged both sides of the plug.
And now, the final word of advice. If indeed your heater element comes out like mine did, don't put the heater exchanger in a vice in attempts to reinstall the brass nipples or anything else. If you do, either reinstall the heater core first or be VERY careful how much pressure you use when clamping it in. Also, be aware just how much torque you use when tightening the nipples. I didn't think of this and ended up tightening up the gap on one side of the exchanger. This made it very difficult to reinstall the heater core. I had to re-enlarge the opening and even then the fit wasn't perfect. I ended up really messing up the plug that holds the heater core in the exchanger.
In the end, the heat exchanger still heats up and performs just like it did prior to me attempting to fix it. Unfortunately now, I am at a loss of how to fix it properly. I think I might need to find someone that has a press or something else that can put some serious force behind it to get the plug out.
