Replacing the Heater in the Antari Z800II Fog Machine

This time, I'm going to show all of you how to replace a heater on the fog machine. Here we have a customer's ANTARI / Z800II to repair.

ANTARI / Z800II

Symptom: No smoke is coming out.
Cause: Clogged heater *Please note that the smoke not coming out is due to many reasons other than a clogged heater.

The clog here literally means that the heater is clogged and no smoke will come out.

The photo below shows the heater with the cover removed.
The silver part on the right is the heater. It becomes so hot that you can't touch it when the fog machine is on.
A pipe runs through inside the heater, and when the fog juice passes through inside the pipe, the liquid for the fog changes into smoke and is ejected.

If you're unsure how to know if the heater is clogged, pass air through the heater with an air compressor and if no air comes out, you can assume that it is clogged.

Now, let's replace the heater.

1. Remove the case

- The red box in the picture shows the location of the heater. Here you can see a pump, tank, and other parts in the picture as well.

2. Remove the heater and replace with a new one

- Be careful not to bend the pipe that is connected to the pump.
- Old heater (L) and new heater (R)

The old one seems to have been used a lot.

3. Check if the heater properly works after the replacement

- Check if the issue has been resolved.

It works perfectly.

4. Repair complete

- We confirm that the fogger has no visible problems, so the repair is now finished.

This kind of clogging of the heater can be prevented effectively if it is properly maintained when using it.

■ How to clean inside

Empty the tank, pour the cleaning liquid (distilled water: 80%, acetic acid: 20%) to 1/3 of the liquid tank, and turn on the fog machine.
Warm the machine up, let the fog out until the cleaning liquid in the tank is almost gone. Be careful not to empty the tank completely. After that, pour the fog juice and turn on the machine for a short time. This is to eject the cleaning liquid remaining in the pump and heater.
*Never let the fog machine work with the liquid tank empty.

Please also refer to the Lighting Course page from the Lessons for Beginners about how to maintain the fog machine.
Lessons for Beginners/Lighting Course/Smoke Machines

I hope you'll find this tutorial useful. That's all, folks. Thank you for reading.