# Internals of a fog machine heater block!



## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom

Ever wonder what a fog machine heater block choped in half would look like, well here ya go!


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## monty1269

photos STILL arent visable. only the links. LOL!

Anyways....

A SPIRAL path in the solid alum block???!!?? Gotta be to keep the fluid on a hot path long enough until it vaporizes.... Maybe also aids in preventing the fluid from 'back-flashing' toward the pump?? 

Additionally, this shows that there really isnt any harm when cleaning-out a block... just go ahead disconnect it all (plumbing/elect) and just feel free to blast a shot of water/vinegar mixture thru it... feel free to use a decent amount of pressure too. (exact amount, I dunno!)


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## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom

monty1269 said:


> photos STILL arent visable. only the links. LOL!
> 
> Anyways....
> 
> A SPIRAL path in the solid alum block???!!?? Gotta be to keep the fluid on a hot path long enough until it vaporizes.... Maybe also aids in preventing the fluid from 'back-flashing' toward the pump??
> 
> Additionally, this shows that there really isnt any harm when cleaning-out a block... just go ahead disconnect it all (plumbing/elect) and just feel free to blast a shot of water/vinegar mixture thru it... feel free to use a decent amount of pressure too. (exact amount, I dunno!)


I bet almost all the small cheap foggers are like this to some extent.
If we find another one in the pile as were cleaning up the shop were going to chop it in half to.
Im betting the bank that the small cheap foggers could benifit from more precisie control of fluid instead of just dumping fliud in them to get better short term results, I betch ya that the makers come up with a decent desgine for the blocks each time only to throw a cheap pump on it, it makes sense, the pumps are the most expensive part of the units from what im seeing.


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## Scottzilla

That was pretty interesting. Thanks for sawing your stuff in half in the name of science!


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## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom

Scottzilla said:


> That was pretty interesting. Thanks for sawing your stuff in half in the name of science!


Stick around, were getting ready to get crazy with it!


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## Moon Dog




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## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom

Thanks Moondog.
My pic post skills are yet to be desired, LOL!


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## Brad Green

Well, guess that explains why trying to run a fine wire through the heater block to clear a plug never worked for me! Any ideas how to unblock that puppy? Thanks for the pictures (and fogger sacrifice!), I've been tempted to do that myself, just never worked up the courage!


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## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom

Brad Green said:


> Well, guess that explains why trying to run a fine wire through the heater block to clear a plug never worked for me! Any ideas how to unblock that puppy? Thanks for the pictures (and fogger sacrifice!), I've been tempted to do that myself, just never worked up the courage!


If you have a heater block that is completly clogged up and you can remove the block from the housing, I would recommend the following, 1st try compressed air, if that dosent work put some CLR ( Calcium - lime rust remover)in there for a few hours, that will dissolve just about anything if you let it set long enough, however if you use the CLR then you must COMPLETLY CLEAN OUT THE CLR after you are done becasue if you dont you will have CLR steamy fog and that stinks to high hell and will burn your eyes extremely bad.
It never fails, we hire a new guy here at the shop and they will forget to rinse out a block and they fire it up with CLR residue in there and we have to open the doors and turn the fans on and the smell wont go away for days.
Seriously after you have the block out you can try a lot of different methods to get the block unplugged.
You just dont want to run any chemicals or pressure through the pump, those things are friggin fragile, matter of fact while your messing with the block dont let the pump inside dry out, keep it wet, plug up the end of the pump.
The only thing is im not sure if the CLR will work on these smaller cheaper blocks, from what im seeing the passages are friggin tiny compared to the higher end ones like Martin / Jem or Lematries and the trick is getting the CLR where the blockage is.
If I get a chance and have a cheap clogged up fogger come our way I will try it just to see if it will work on the smaller cheaper ones.
P.S. Just dont go trying to force CLR in there with high pressure theres always the chance of it getting in your eyes, that stuff burns.


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## monty1269

kentuckyspecialfxdotcom said:


> It never fails, we hire a new guy here at the shop and they will forget to rinse out a block and they fire it up with CLR residue in there and we have to open the doors and turn the fans on and the smell wont go away for days.
> ....
> 
> P.S. Just dont go trying to force CLR in there with high pressure theres always the chance of it getting in your eyes, that stuff burns.


Dude! I just wanna hang out at your shop for a couple days! With all the "been there, done that" you keep reporting, it's gotta be a fun time! :googly:

I've been trying to figure out how to create an alum. block assembly. My friend at Wilson is even curious... If I can draw it in CAD, he can have a 5-axis machine carve it up! LOL! (yep...sick minds)

But a spiral is out...that seems like it would have to be cast from two pieces, and then "welded" together??? PLUS, I'd like to be able to open the block for those extreme cases where there is a blockage. - Maybe just a zig-zag pattern in one half of an alum block, then another half that seats in there...kinda like heads/headers on a car - might hafta use a high-temp gasket similar to a cars'??? i dunno....


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## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom

monty1269 said:


> Dude! I just wanna hang out at your shop for a couple days! With all the "been there, done that" you keep reporting, it's gotta be a fun time! :googly:
> 
> Fun.......are you kidding me, and I wonder why my insurance is so high!
> If you think the foggers are fun for stories it realy gets interesting when we start messing with LN2 and Co2, that's when I get nervous.
> 
> I've been trying to figure out how to create an alum. block assembly. My friend at Wilson is even curious... If I can draw it in CAD, he can have a 5-axis machine carve it up! LOL! (yep...sick minds)
> 
> But a spiral is out...that seems like it would have to be cast from two pieces, and then "welded" together??? PLUS, I'd like to be able to open the block for those extreme cases where there is a blockage. - Maybe just a zig-zag pattern in one half of an alum block, then another half that seats in there...kinda like heads/headers on a car - might hafta use a high-temp gasket similar to a cars'??? i dunno....


That would work as long as you came up with a desgine that had a cover you could take off kinda like the lite f/x constant 1200.
It seems though the spiral is EXTREMELY efficent for the low wattage minus the clogging issues, I cant help but wonder if the wattage is too low for the spiral thus allowing the mixture to not totally evap.
This needs to be looked at close, I think were on to something.


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## monty1269

Got a few pics of the 1200?? 

I've *just* cranked up one of these 400w machines... yep. clogged already. geesh! SO tired of these crappy foggers.

Also... I *think* I just discovered access to a MONSTER fogger... came from a movie set... I'm gonna try to get access to it this weekend.


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## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom

monty1269 said:


> Got a few pics of the 1200??
> 
> I've *just* cranked up one of these 400w machines... yep. clogged already. geesh! SO tired of these crappy foggers.
> 
> Also... I *think* I just discovered access to a MONSTER fogger... came from a movie set... I'm gonna try to get access to it this weekend.


OHHH! If you find that the movie set fogger is to big or pricey let me know I could use another 2500 watt fogger LOL!
I thought I put a few pics of the monster fogger we made on the myspace page if I didnt let me know and I will post some for ya.


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## monty1269

well... I dug thru the warehouse for two hours where this BIG fogger was *supposed* to be... found lots of cool stuff, but no luck finding the fogger. :evil:

Plan on another trip there soon tho  ...this time with bigger pockets! heehee

I dont remember seeing the 1200 heater pics tho...


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## kentuckyspecialfxdotcom

monty1269 said:


> well... I dug thru the warehouse for two hours where this BIG fogger was *supposed* to be... found lots of cool stuff, but no luck finding the fogger. :evil:
> 
> Plan on another trip there soon tho  ...this time with bigger pockets! heehee
> 
> I dont remember seeing the 1200 heater pics tho...


Thought I sent the pics, oh well ill getem later tomorrow.
I didnt send ya the sealant yet, were supposed to be getting a paste from the same place we got the ropy stuff and the sample they sent was awsome but not really enough to play with.
Im considering getting a big big can of this new paste for high temp seal, I did some research on it and if NASA uses it then im sure it will work on any fogger we want to mess with.


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## monty1269

on hold... Had another type of blow-out:










Dont know details yet.... gotta get into it to see what happened. :roll:

Anyways.... I'm very interested in the 1200 block. I can probably get a block machined.  I know a few people in the alum. machining biz.

http://vertexprecision.com/

and Wilson Manifolds  heehee....


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## monty1269

BUMP for the Holidays!


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## BobbyA

The myspace links to the pictures in this post are dead. However google crawled them sometime and can be found by googling " Fog machine heater block " then select Images.


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## dstading

monty1269 said:


> But a spiral is out...that seems like it would have to be cast from two pieces, and then "welded" together???


Old thread, but an interesting subject. Think of the spiral insert as a single-flute twist drill. The reason for the spiral, of course, is to increase the length of the fluid path so the juice sees as much heat as is optimal for vaporization. With the right tools one could (carefully) make one out of thin aluminum flat stock. It would create two fluid paths, so I think you'd need to block one path for it work properly.


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## Tyler_Durden

kentuckyspecialfxdotcom said:


> Ever wonder what a fog machine heater block choped in half would look like, well here ya go!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I cant see any pics or links! I have been searching everywhere for such pictures how can I see them?


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## RoxyBlue

It appears the links are long gone. I was able to find through Google a couple of the images the OP had from what might now be a defunct Myspace page:


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