SkyTronic Fogger burnt out - what component is actualy gone

[srcaudio]

Heya - this is my first post, so go easy :)

 

 

basically, a couple of years ago I bought a SkyTronic (Sky Tec) F80 water-based Smoke Machine/fogger, 700Watt. was very pleased as it gives a decent smoke coverage for about 50notes.

 

now, I am not so happy as I lent it to a friend for an ongoing function, and he got a couple of uses out of it (over a few weeks), till he told me the smoke output had drastically reduced, but not stopped altogether. also, at one point someone else that was using it (another DJ) had run the tank dry - so I'm not sure how much this affected the unit....

 

a bit of googling told me that the fogger needed cleaned out, the best way of which was by using either Skytecs own smoke cleaner solution (and theyve gone out of business, or rebranded anyway) or to use a solution of distilled water and white vinegar - so I took the latter option. I went to my mates pub (where the fogger was installed) and emptied the tank, and ran the solution thru it (outside) - which came out as steam - and the output seemed to have increased a bit.... so I left it running for a while (but not emptying the tank) - but then when I plugged the thing back in once inside with smoke fluid in the tank instead of the distilled water, the unit heated up, but didn't want to trigger.

 

I picked the unit up, and tilted it slightly to one side to view the innards of the unit from the vent, and at that moment I saw a blue-green flash, at which point a fuse in the unit must have gone as the fogger lost power.

 

 

 

so I now have the unit home with me, and have found the following:

after replacing the 1amp fuse on the main circuit board (the 4amp at the rear is NOT blown however), and plugging into the mains, the heater switches on and heats the chamber as per.

also, the thermostat eventually reaches the operating temp (I previously thought the ozone flash came from the thermo sensor, but it appears to be ok)

which activates the green light on the wired remote control, also as normal.

 

BUT:

as soon as I press the trigger button on the wired remote, you get a blue-green flash from the main circuitboard - most likely the 1amp fuse blowing again.

also, a popping noise. and a smell of burnt plastic.

the 1amp fuse now appears black and scorched

 

SO:

the heater and thermo must be fine (otherwise the 4amp would blow)

the fault is only in the circuit when I press the trigger.

so it's either the pump, the relay, or somethign else on the circuit board, maybe a tranny, cap or a triac etc, or maybe a short in the remote.

 

(I have some experience of fixing audio gear, where a relay solenoid is to blame *cough* BEHRINGER *cough*)

 

 

Conclusion:

I've heard about pumps going etc

 

does anyone know if this would be easy to fix?

or, more to the point, what is wrong?

[Jivemaster]

As you say it's a £50 smoker, you are going to invest 2+hours diagnosing the fault and £50 replacing parts to see whether that mends it, then you have a possibly working old smoker. Buy a replacement!

[J Pearce]

I'd hazard a guess that the pump has failed short circuit and this is blowing the fuse. However if youve let it take the fuse a few times it's probably also blown the triac/thyristor too.

 

If it was a £300 martin smoke machine it'd be worth fixing, as it's only cheap just replace it.