Blocked Hazer - any ideas?

[Imagine]

Evening all

My Look Unique 2.1 went belly up on Thursday night (it's actually been a little "weak" for a while now and lockdown didn't help it).
Basically, I've had it to bits and the heat exchange coil on it's completely blocked mid coil in at least two places.

I've tried the old tricks of white vinegar and even shoving some sturdy resistance wire through it - but no joy. You're supposed to be able to blow through the damned thing when it's working right....I can't even get 44AWG wire through it!

I'm hunting for a replacement at the moment (hens teeth seem to be easier to find). Any other ideas for trying to unblock it though that people might have tried and tested?

[Excalibur]

It it's vital, I might have a couple of options. I have a hazer in the shed I didn't know I had, and I know one dealer near me who might help.

[Nakatomi]

Ouch. If the heat exchanger coil is that bunged up I'm afraid your only likely option is to replace it (as you've started looking into doing already) or to get a new machine.

I've seen the guts of many a fogger & hazer over the years but none can compare to the utter simplicity of a le maitre Neutron XS if you're after something that's going to last. Why? The operating principle of the thing is pure genius. Rather than boil and atomise fluid in a coil they use a short length of stainless steel tube heated by passing a very high current through it. Replacement tubes are cheap & easy to fit, should it ever come to that - they're a much wider diameter than most heat exchanger coil bores & an absolute doddle to clean.

Lesson to be learned here Wayne (and everyone)... You should clean your hazer regularly, certainly before you start to spot the tell tale signs of blockages.

My current hazer is a qtx Vapyr 900. A mate of mine bought 2 faulty ones for a silly low price. One needed a new fan (£15 on eBay) and the other a new capacitor for its 12V rail in the power supply. My fee for fixing both - I got to keep one! Still going strong after loads of gigs and a year in storage. Oh & works very much the same way as the Look Unique (air pump etc).

[Imagine]

It it's vital, I might have a couple of options. I have a hazer in the shed I didn't know I had, and I know one dealer near me who might help.

It's not vital (I have other options). Just blimmin' annoying

Ouch. If the heat exchanger coil is that bunged up I'm afraid your only likely option is to replace it (as you've started looking into doing already) or to get a new machine.

I know - already on the case and waiting for dealers to come back to me. Looking to be around £150 but as the machine's nearly £800 new and it's a simple enough fix...that's the route I'm going to have to take

Lesson to be learned here Wayne (and everyone)... You should clean your hazer regularly, certainly before you start to spot the tell tale signs of blockages.

I was always led to believe the Look Unique was self cleaning and that's why it has the lengthy shutdown routine. Apparently I was wrong looking around the web at people who've had the same problem....sigh....

[Chris1984]

do you run the power down cycle or just switch it off? never had a 2.1 block up when running the ower down purge

[Imagine]

do you run the power down cycle or just switch it off? never had a 2.1 block up when running the ower down purge

I normally go through the boot in power off routine. It’s second had though so who knows what the previous owner used to do

[Chris1984]

I normally go through the boot in power off routine. It’s second had though so who knows what the previous owner used to do

Often people don't which normally causes the issue you're having, the only things I can think of is to run it at 100% for a while and see if it clears it then run the shutdown purge a couple of times, if no joy then phone White Light tech service 020 8254 4740 and they will abe able to supply what ever parts you need, normally form stock as they are the UK distributor.

hope you get it back up and running.

[Imagine]

Often people don't which normally causes the issue you're having, the only things I can think of is to run it at 100% for a while and see if it clears it then run the shutdown purge a couple of times, if no joy then phone White Light tech service 020 8254 4740 and they will abe able to supply what ever parts you need, normally form stock as they are the UK distributor.

hope you get it back up and running.

Noticed a typo in my earlier reply - was at work at the time. It's the built in shutdown routine.
Can't run it at 100%. It's completely blocked and forcing fluid back into the airline causing the E8 error

I've now gone through my local dealer who are on the case. They can get one (probably from White Light Tech), but there are apparently none in the country at the moment and it could be a wait of several weeks.

Time to blow the dust off the old QTX hazer I used a couple of times before acquiring the Unique.

[Imagine]

By Jove - I might be making progress on this.

Managed to get hold of some proper white vinegar today (not the distilled malt stuff the supermarkets sell), and left it in the heater. Cleared the airline down and heated her up tonight and there's some haze coming through. Not great amounts, it's although I've managed to open up a pin hole somewhere in the tube.

Feeding it nothing but vinegar and heating up then shutting down repeatedly and I'm finally starting to see a little progress (have to keep shutting down otherwise the vinegar goes into the airline and errors out).

I've got a replacement on order (4-6 week waiting time at the moment), so nothing to lose and might just manage to fix it without resulting to the horrid little QTX fazer I have as a backup