My fog machine revival

This is post for the lighting and theater nerds, I guess. I busted out my fog machine because I wanted to fog up my office (I put the lights in there), and to make sure it was still working well in advance of Halloween. Why the concern? Because fog machines are notorious for not working, seemingly regardless of their cost. I've had cheap ones before, and they last a year or two, and that's it. This one was about $250, because it puts out way more volume than the cheap ones, and can be controlled via DMX (the lighting control protocol). I wouldn't describe it as cheaply made. It's from ChauvetDJ, Chauvet's "pro-sumer" brand. Sure, it's made in China, but the Miami-based company seems to have pretty solid quality control. The moving lights I have are also from them. Still, I had a feeling.

A fog machine really has just two parts. There's a pump and there's a heater. The pump pushes the fluid, typically glycerine based, into the heater, where it vaporizes. The pressure pushes the vapor out into the cooler air, and the vapor kind of hangs there. A good machine also has various sensors to detect that fluid is moving or the temperature is at the right spot.

This time, I fired it up, and when it was at the right temperature... no sound. I figured that the pump had failed. I opened it up, and carefully probed the motor to see that it was getting power, and it was. Just to make sure, I took the pump apart (because YouTube videos), and there was no blockage. Fortunately, I found a replacement on the Amazon for $33, and the next day I replaced it and it worked right away.

I don't really know why the motor would fail while being idle for 10 months, but it did. There is so much conflicting advice about how to store it, ranging from always keeping fluid in it, to emptying the fluid and running water through it. There's a copper fitting on the end of the hose that goes in the reservoir, and it was a little green, so I speculated that maybe that created some strain on the pump. But I can't really know for sure.

Regardless, there's something deeply satisfying about fixing a machine that you never get from technical things like software. I suppose there's some basic skill in troubleshooting, but swapping out the part was hardly difficult. It's just feels good to do it. I repacked the gear box and replaced the control board in our Kitchenaid mixer, and while also not hard, it was satisfying.

Now I can fog up my office, but only when the air conditioning isn't running, because it pushes it out the vent toward the smoke alarms.