# Fogger Pump Repair Step-By-Step (SP-35A Chauvet Hurricane)



## DexterSinister (Aug 13, 2011)

I'm pretty excited that I just resurrected a used Chauvet Hurricane 1250 that was suffering from the dreaded pump failure that seems to plague a lot of us. I just finished a second attempt at teardown and reassembly with pics and a bit of video. I just fired it up and voila, it's back from the dead. 

Sorry about the size of the pics, but I wanted to be sure you could see them clearly (and I'm feeling a little too lazy to edit them).

Here's the video I uploaded to YouTube




I hope to get around to making some annotations...

Pics of the pump disassembled and going back together:






















the brass sleeve here sits in an o-ring and can be pulled out and cleaned 






















this cylinder is just pressed in, held, and sealed by an o-ring then the metal plate with three screw holds it down








This spring and (what I think is) the check valve are held in place with the brass cap















The metal plate with three screws needs to go on before the brass cap








Here the brass cap is on to show, but the solenoid, cover and washer need to go on first - then the brass cap holds them in place


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## DexterSinister (Aug 13, 2011)

I alluded to this in the video, but the more I think about it, the more I think that we should consider a different approach to long term storage - at least those of us who want to be anal retentive about it and ensure long life of our foggers. 

I'm pretty certain that most of the pump problems are caused by corrosion of the pot metal that forms the base of the pump. There are few soft parts, gaskets, o-rings, or seals that are involved in the moving action of the pump. What I saw when I disassembled it and cleaned it out was grey corrosion products caked around the piston shaft and the brass sleeve. I think that may have caused the piston to stick or possibly the bits of corrosion plugged up some of the various small ports in the pump. Corrosion products may also block flow through the heater - though that doesn't seem to be my problem. 

I suspect that the corrosion forms when the pump is left unused for a long time, the fluid evaporates, and air seeps in to fill the void. As we know, air, water and metal cause corrosion or rust. So; it wouldn't make much difference if the pump was stored with fog fluid, water, vinegar solution, or special cleaning solution - because they are all water based. 

To prevent corrosion; we should either run the foggers regularly, pull the pumps and dry them out completely (dry layup), or come up with a way to keep the pumps full of fluid (wet layup). Foggers might be better designed with the fluid tank above the pump inlet to at least allow the static pressure of the fluid to help keep the pump full. apart from that, I'm thinking about how I might improvise a small bottle above the pump to keep the inlet hose full.


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## SoCalNative (Nov 10, 2016)

You are right about these pumps needing to be run periodically. They are actually designed for continuous operation as unlike diaphragm or peristaltic pumps, the fluid being pumped moves through the pumping mechanism and can either react, leave deposits, coagulate, or cause oxidation/rust on the pump components which will result in either a performance loss or non-operation. And acidic solutions, such as vinegar, should never be run through the pump as it will damage the pump. The pump should never be run without fluid as the fluid acts as a cooling agent and the glycerin in the fog solution provides some minor lubrication for the piston and springs.
The best method for storage is to prime the entire fluid path with *"Pump Armor Fluid"* by Graco, Store SKU #356143[/URL] which can be purchased at Home Depot. It not only prevents corrosion and clogging, it also conditions the O-rings and prevents damage from ozone in the air. It is widely used in Airless Paint Sprayers. I have used it in my VEI Super Fogger V-950 to store it until the next Halloween for 10 years and have never had a pump problem. You just have to ensure that you do 2 things:
1. Flush the entire fluid path with the Pump Armor Fluid using a syringe, then plug both ends of the fluid path to ensure that the fluid does not drain out which would create air gaps/bubbles. *DO NOT TURN ON THE HEATER CORE AT ANY TIME!!* You can circulate the fluid with the pump so long as the heater stays off.
2. Before fogger startup, flush the entire fluid path with distilled water.

Depending upon how many hours that you run your fogger, the use of only high quality fog solutions (Like Froggys), you never run vinegar or any other acidic solution through the fluid path, and that you never run the pump dry, your fogger pump should last for many years and can be relied upon to function every Halloween.


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

SoCalnative, I was wondering if rather than using a syringe could you use a new picnic ketchup squeeze bottle, fill it with the fluid then squeeze it into the pickup tube of the fogger until it comes out the business end of the fogger? Also, did I read your post correctly that you can also just put the pickup tube of the fogger in the bottle of Pump Armor Fluid and run the pump until the fluid is expelled out the fogger (but don't have the heater on).


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## SoCalNative (Nov 10, 2016)

Scary Papa said:


> SoCalnative, I was wondering if rather than using a syringe could you use a new picnic ketchup squeeze bottle, fill it with the fluid then squeeze it into the pickup tube of the fogger until it comes out the business end of the fogger? Also, did I read your post correctly that you can also just put the pickup tube of the fogger in the bottle of Pump Armor Fluid and run the pump until the fluid is expelled out the fogger (but don't have the heater on).


Yes and yes. If you can infuse the Pump Armor Fluid into the tubing and pump with a clean ketchup bottle, then go for it. I use the syringe to prime the pump, then I run the pump to circulate the Pump Armor Fluid through the pump, the tubing to the heater, and heater. I then plug the heater output and the tubing input to the pump to prevent air pockets within the entire fluid path due to fluid leakage.

The next Halloween I flush with distilled water, then fog fluid by running the pump with the input tubing in a bottle of distilled water, then moving it to the fogger fluid bottle once the distilled water comes out clear and clean for about 10 seconds.

PS: I jumper the pump to 120V AC to run the pump without turning on the heater.


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## sledge (May 6, 2007)

My pump was making noise but no fog! Took the whole pump apart and cleaned. Several times. I hook it back up....just noise, not drawing any juice at all. Does the pump need to be primed?? It sounds like it should work. Any thoughts?


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