Problem with Antari snow machine

[toozie21]

I inherited a broken Antari S-100 snow machine that I am attempting to revive. The blower works fine and if I probe the power connection for the pump, I can see it going from 20Vac - 12Vac depending on how I rotate the controller, but I get no suction. I bought a second pump from an online dealer (for some other model), and it doesn't seem to be working either (absolutely no suction).

 

My question is, are there any other simple things that go on the circuit boards for these machines that I should be looking into? The fuse is fine on it, I have voltage at the pump, what use could have gone wrong? The circuit board has SP-100A written on it, but I am not sure that that will do anyone much good.

 

Thanks in advance.

~Jason

[KevinE]

Is the pump 24V AC? I thought they were 240V AC, they use a similar pump to a smoke machine. I do have a spare S100 pump on the shelf somewhere, I'll dig it out and have a look. I assume you've checked the filter, it's fitted on the end of the tube dipped in the fluid bottle.

[Richard CSL]

I recently had one of these go down on me, the only solution is to strip clean and rebuild the pump.

 

common fault is that somebody at some stage ran out of the proper fluid and thought they could use fairy liquid, which will work fine for a while until the wax that gives fairy liquid it´s colour will eventually clog the pump.

 

The pumps are really easy to strip and clean, only tool needed is an adjustable spanner. just wash the components with water.

[toozie21]

Kevin: Sorry, I had a typo in my original post. The voltage goes from 120Vac - down to 12V. This is with a load on it (if there is not pump, the voltage reads much higher; but the original pump says 120V on it so it seems right).

 

Kevin/Richard: I don't have any tubes hooked up to the pumps right now, I just put my fingers on the input/output of the pump and don't feel any suction or pressure.

 

Thanks for the help on this guys!

~Jason