# AMDJ fogger trouble- good customer service.



## Chickenwire (Jan 6, 2012)

Long story- but here goes…
For all you folks out there who have no idea what fogger to buy, here is a little story for you.
Last month I purchased a fogger from a fellow who listed it on craigslist. I have always had good luck with honest people on CL, but this adventure was to be a little different.

The fogger he had for sale was an American DJ Fogstorm 1200HD. I did my homework and found that a new one could be had for $149. I went to the fellow’s house for a fog demo to make sure it worked OK. He wanted $100 for the fogger, a gallon of juice ($20 value), and supposedly an extra remote/timer that he bought extra.

When I got there, we had a little side story. His dog bit me. I had on long pants and I didn’t think it broke the skin, so I didn’t make a big deal of it.

He had some trouble getting the fogger going, but eventually did by syringing some fluid into the tube. I happened to notice that the ‘extra remote’ didn’t seem to have the same kind of connection as the machine. He pretended he didn’t know that. I’m sure he was trying to pass it off as correct. That, and the dog bite should have scared me off, but I was determined to get a fog machine. I offered him less money since the extra remote/timer was useless…but he insisted it was worth $100 with the gallon of juice. I relented and bought it.

(Meanwhile, I get home and look at the bite- skin was broken. He apologized, sent me paperwork to show the dog was up-to-date on its rabies shot, and I had to get a tetanus shot. He paid for the copay).

Back to the fogger. I set about making a fog chiller and did so successfully (I made both a trashcan & a kitty-litter vortex) but it became woefully apparent to me that the fogger was NOT performing as it should. It seemed the pump was not sucking the fluid. It did to some extent, but with lots of air, bubbles & fizziness, and it would end up emptying the tube. It seemed to be sucking air from some leak. Now I KNEW that if I went back to the seller and said so, he would have said, “well it was working fine when I had it”. So, being the capable woman I am, I decided to read all I could about fixing foggers….and fix it. All the while I was dreading that I would have to sink even more money into this thing.

The first thing I learned was that they need to be cleaned. There was much information about “Just use vinegar” and less information about “don’t use vinegar, it could damage your machine”. Wanting to tread on the careful side and not screw this thing up worse, I ordered some AMDJ Fog Cleaner. (It smelled like vinegar). I ran it through, having to syringe directly into the tube. This did NOT do the trick.

I decided to 1. Pull the cover and 2. Contact AMDJ. I described the problem to Ernie Santiago through an email. Ernie told me after looking up the serial# the machine was from 2007. When I pulled the cover, everything looked clean. Ernie offered to send me pictures of what everything should look like, and did. I pulled off the tubing and tested it elsewhere to find no leaks in it. I noticed that the plastic piece between the tube and the pump was not tight and wondered if it should be. Ernie told be yes it should be, and that it screwed in.

I finger tightened the piece and it ended up pointing down which was wrong. Against my better judgment (fear of stripping), but following Ernie’s advice, I forced the turn until it pointed upwards and was VERY tight. The happy ending is that THIS is what was wrong- now it is operating correctly!!

The reason I write this long story is 1. So that it may help someone else and 2. To praise American DJ’s awesome & patient customer service. If you don’t know what brand to buy, rest easy knowing AMDJ has people to help you with a problem.


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## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

I'm glad to hear you got it working correctly!


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## Chickenwire (Jan 6, 2012)

Thanks- me too! Now I will test that chiller.....


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