[AndrewE]

I have a Unique 2 hazer on hire this week which has today started giving an E-8 error, which I understand from the manual is a clogged vaporiser. I have a replacement on order for tomorrow, but for the sake of having some kind of working haze today, is there anything I can do myself to unclog it?

Many thanks!

[thelxbloke]

You could try running de-ionised water through it but apart from that, it's a unique, it's dead unill you replace the HEM (vaporiser) oh I recommend you wear gloves when working inside as the vape is covered in a wad of fibreglass and they tend to get fluid everywhere somehow. Enjoy!
Steve

[themadhippy]

could try gently squeezing the clear tube that runs the length of the machine whilst pump and fan is at 100%,but the hire company might get upset.Next time make sure its shut down correctly

This post has been edited by themadhippy: 09 June 2011 - 01:56 PM

[AndrewE]

 themadhippy, on 09 June 2011 - 01:55 PM, said:

could try gently squeezing the clear tube that runs the length of the machine whilst pump and fan is at 100%,but the hire company might get upset.Next time make sure its shut down correctly

Yes I did try the squeezing but to no avail. Managed to get it to activate for a few seconds at a time before it reported the error again. Maybe if I'd persevered I may have had some luck eventually ...
I am very anal about following the shutting down procedure on the Unique and always make sure that it is.

Anyway, replacement was received and faulty unit is on its way back. Thanks for the suggestions

[hassiton]

Had the same.... again.
Someone didn't wait for the clean up procedure to finnish before cutting the power.

However, found a new way of unclogging the thingie.

Very quickly, before the hazer even realizes it has an error, when powering up, went to the menu and turned it off. Did this a few times, and got it to go through the whole cleaning up sequence. Then plugged it in and everything was fine.

It takes a bit of finger juggling, but would suggest trying.

Cheers.

[harrydir]

 hassiton, on 31 January 2012 - 11:16 AM, said:

Had the same.... again.
Someone didn't wait for the clean up procedure to finnish before cutting the power.

Are you using them at a very low level Pump & fan?

They seem a lot more prone to clogging up that way, understandably. I've found if you can run them at full pump & fan for a few minutes every few days then it runs the pipes through, and won't be as grumpy if you miss the odd shutdown.

[TomHoward]

Just on the point of shutting down the Unique 2 Hazers - if running via DMX, the hazer shuts itself down when the DMX signal is lost - so you can just leave hard power it it and cut the DMX signal - or cut the DMX signal to it to shut it down before someone turns it off.

[gyro_gearloose]

I'm not sure how the Unique 1 works, but the Unique 2 I repaired last year had an aquarium air pump which was pushing air through the heater constantly. Haze fluid is introduced into the air stream by the fluid pump. Just leaving the hazer powered up, but with the pump off, for about 5 minutes should be all you need to do before turning it off. I think that all the 'shutdown' procedure does is keep the machine running, but with the fluid pump off so that the air pump can push any remaining fluid out of the machine.

The manufacturers of the Unique don't recommend using any kind of cleaning solution, but if your machine is out of warranty it can be worth trying. I've running a 50/50 mix of distilled water and white vinegar through my machine to clean it. If you try this, do it outside! You could also try working a thin single strand of copper wire through the heater block. This will help break down any carbon deposits clogging the block. Both of these options are worth trying if you've got a blocked heater. If it works then its cheaper than buying a new heater.

[NJS83]

Gyro's method with the nozzle clearing is right, I use a thin drill bit with a pair of grips & twist it into the end of the nozzle to gently break up any crap built up & power her up with the pump at full immediately.

I'd say 8/10 times this eventually clears enough crap out for the unit to splutter & then suddenly kick into gear although may take a few goes at unblocking, same goes for trying this with de-ionised water which would work better but might not always be at hand.
Shutting it down properly & repeatedly after each attempt helps it to clear the fluid line too so be patient :/
Aswell as that I've found sometimes the pipe leading out from the canister can split at the valve entry, causing an air leak & a drop in pressure, in our case this is always due to some silly herbert not removing this line from the canister before putting the lid back on the flightcase, or on the wrong way around. (Not sure if our cases are specifically made for these units tho, but worth checking.)If there's a tiny split just cut back the pipe & re-seat onto the valve.



If you have time on your hands & the above just plain ain't working out you'll need to get into the unit & check the air pump (lung) as Gyro mentioned, as fluid may have entered it. You can take this apart & clean it out & bleed the fluid line but it's not a quick solution, and bloody messy!!

This post has been edited by NJS83: 22 February 2012 - 02:12 PM

[NM13]

I've found this service manual online that may be of help if anyone has same problem. If you are getting the E8 error it's detecting fluid at the sensor so it's either going to be the air pump or the HEM unit.

When I took ours apart after running with an intermittent E8 error and nothing like full output I discovered that the air pump was full of fluid. It's still not giving full output so next I'm going to try unblocking the HEM as fluid is being pulled back into the airline blocking it.

My link

[niclights]

Link not working