Unique 2 Haze issues

[the kid]

Morning all, we have a pair of unique 2 hazers, both somewhat temperamental with coughing one more than the other.

 

The one that coughs a lot and on a regular basis decided to stop working at the half yesterday, everything was fine pre show checks (of course). The issue I cannot find in the manual, but it is not heating up or pumping at all and the powerdown [OFF] sends it straight to standby with the single red dot in the LCD.

 

Is there anything I can do, I saw a topic about resetting the thermal switch which I will look at but is that likley to be the cause of all the pain?

 

 

Finally both are maybe 3 to 4 years old (maybe a touch older im not sure) and have not exactly been run through the mill, should we possibly look at replacing them as they die or is it more worthy to fix?

[Young Johnstone]

It may be the thermal cut out, worth a quick look! What's the Max output you ever use it at?

I found that if you run it at full for a few minutes each time you power it up, it runs a lot better! Clear the pipes and all that jazz.

[niclights]

I doubt it's anything serious. From your description it's almost certainly thermal trip. Assuming it resets and heats/pumps again then try and run deionised water through at a fairly high level.

 

While doing this with the cover off check the air pump is running. This is the large unit near the front of the base. It should be lightly vibrating and you should see it smooth out the occasional pulses of the main fluid pump into an even stream, visible in the tube leading to the heat exchanger.

 

Finally, check the inlet and outlet of the fan are clear. One reason for thermal trip is blocked fan outlet where the heat exchanger isn't cooled effectively, typically when idling.

[the kid]

Thanks,

 

I checked the thermal trip and it was that after all, I honestly had not put 1+1 and decided that a thermal trip wouldnt take out the pump. It's working fine for now. The intake filter was a bit on the dusty side so gave that a once over.

 

Doesn't solve the unending issue of it coughing but that is a different matter.

[niclights]

Coughing will either be deposits in the heat exchanger or faulty air pump. If air pump is doing its job properly then blasting through deionised water will fix it. Do check the outlet of the fan is clear. It doesn't matter how clean the filter is if there's no way for air to come out. I doubt it's blocked as the filter should prevent this but it is one of the causes of thermal trips going and so could happen again.

[top-cat]

I found that if you run it at full for a few minutes each time you power it up, it runs a lot better! Clear the pipes and all that jazz.

 

This is good advice and having had a few mystery issues with our hazebase machines (which are much the same thing), I have found pumping them out at full for 5 minutes solves many issues!!!

[J Pearce]

We've had both hazebase and Unique2 machines, and part of my power up now is to blast to full for a short period, the machines then seem much happier to run at a low output.

 

Also ensure that the off cycle (and waiting for the single dot) is followed as a holy ritual. If leaving the hazers powered but out of use for a while (long dinner break etc) running the off cycle certainly won't cause any harm, and should ensure the tubes are clean when you return.

[Young Johnstone]

When I was at VME I used to do this as part of the de prep! Keeps them happy.

[dosxuk]

I always run our machines up to full power until they're happy producing a continuous stream of haze as part of my start up routine.

[gyro_gearloose]

Making sure you shut the machine down correctly is always a good idea, but lets clear up a few things about the shut down cycle. All that happens when you start the shut down cycle is that you can no longer pump fluid through the heater block, and the heater block is switched off. That's all, so if you've not run the fluid pump for about 5-10 minutes then it is perfectly safe to just unplug the unit without running the shut down cycle. The air pump runs at a fixed rate from the moment the unit is turned on to the moment it is turned off and the fluid pump can't reverse itself to suck any remaining fluid out of the heater block, so all that the shut down cycle can do is stop any more fluid being pumped through.

 

If leaving the hazers powered but out of use for a while (long dinner break etc) running the off cycle certainly won't cause any harm, and should ensure the tubes are clean when you return.

Won't cause any harm, but a little bit of a waste of time. Just leave the unit on, but with the fluid pump off. The constant flow of air from the air pump will keep the tubes clear.

 

As for cleaning, I've always used a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and distilled water. The vinegar makes the solution slightly acidic and is better than water by itself for cleaning. Use it outside though, or you'll make the stage smell like a chippy :D

[the kid]

I have done the mix before, but I erred on the side of caution and used something closer to a 5:1 water vinegar, we were using it in a 3x3x5 room for a really moving piece, I thought that perhaps the smell of chips was not the best tone to set.

 

On cleaning, how regular do people clean with water etc? I have been doing maybe every 2 months give or take a bit, I think the "cause" of the cough is possibly them NOT being used and just standing round for a month or so, it is more annoying that one is doing FAR more than the other.

[niclights]

How often it needs doing is probably going to vary depending on how they're used. There's no harm in doing it so ideally it's better to do it frequently in a proactive way rather than reactively when they're not running properly but in reality it sometimes ends up being the latter. As a rule I just tend to pump haze fluid through at a high level whenever it smells burnt and after refills and then every few months give it a blast with water.

[KevinE]

The air pump runs at a fixed rate from the moment the unit is turned on to the moment it is turned off

 

On the unique hazers, the air pump is varied by the control board. During start up cleaning and shut down cleaning it runs at full power and during hazing it runs at a lower level.

 

Spluttering is usually caused by a clogged heat exchanger but you might also find fluid in the air pump which should be periodically dismantled and cleaned out with particular attention to the one-way flap valves. These can clog with fluid and stick open so the pump buzzes but doesn't produce much air.

 

All these hazers including the similar le maitre one are calibrated to a certain viscocity of fluid and the wrong type will also cause spitting and coughing. The fluid pump only inserts small shots of fluid periodically into the air stream and if the shot is too much each time, you can get spitting or even raw liquid being ejected.

[gyro_gearloose]

On the unique hazers, the air pump is varied by the control board. During start up cleaning and shut down cleaning it runs at full power and during hazing it runs at a lower level.

Does it? Isn't it just a solenoid that oscillates due to it being fed AC? Not sure you can control the speed of something like that without a sine wave dimmer.

 

Spluttering is usually caused by a clogged heat exchanger but you might also find fluid in the air pump which should be periodically dismantled and cleaned out with particular attention to the one-way flap valves. These can clog with fluid and stick open so the pump buzzes but doesn't produce much air.

On the Unique 2 that I've worked, there was a separate one-way valve between the air pump and the fluid pump. That should stop any fluid reaching the air pump. The good news is that if your air pump has died they are available at many aquarium supply shops.

[timsabre]

On the unique hazers, the air pump is varied by the control board. During start up cleaning and shut down cleaning it runs at full power and during hazing it runs at a lower level.

Does it? Isn't it just a solenoid that oscillates due to it being fed AC? Not sure you can control the speed of something like that without a sine wave dimmer.

 

 

I don't know about the unique, but on the Jem hazers the pump is controlled by pulses from the electronics rather than straight AC and the strength of the pump is varied by the pulse length.