Mist King Trouble

[DjangoLeon35]

Hi,

I just purchased a Mist King setup - (the starter one).
I've been having problems with it getting clogged and
not working - this happened about a day after I set it up for the first time. I can hear the pump working but no water
comes out. I took the nozzle apart and swished it around
in some warm water and it worked again for about
a week and a half but now it has stopped working again.
I'm wondering if anyone has had this happen to theirs
or what I should do to make it work better. Do I need
to use a certain type of water in it like distilled or anything
like that?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Lazy Boy]

Mist king nozzles have very tight tolerances, this is how they make the very fine mist however they will clog if using tap water. I use RO water for all my herps.

 

[Hoj]

They do clog when using regular tap water the minerals in the water build up and create the clog. However this usually takes much more than a week.
I would think you could possibly be developing a air lock. An air lock can happen if your resivior runs dry. If that is the case usually unplugging the nozzle and allowing the pump to run freely for a few seconds then reconnecting the nozzle will often fix the issue.
If your nozzles are clogged one way to fix most of them is to put the nozzle in a glass with vinegar and microwave for about 1 min then reconnect the nozzle to a spare PC of hose and run it for a min or two to clear out the vinegar.
Hope that helps

 

[sharp229]

If you have hard water it would be easy for it to get clogged. You can test your water with a TDS meter if necessary, or use RO/distilled water. You can get an RO filter for around $100 or less.

Also, I would make sure all the connections are tight. It can take a lot of force sometimes to ensure a good seal with the quick connects, and if it is not sealed it will not have enough pressure to work.

 

[JohnDoe]

I agree with Hoj. A lot of times if your reservoir runs dry you just reprime it like he stated. It happened to me a few times also.

 

[DjangoLeon35]

Thanks everyone!
I have well water so it is probably full of minerals and really hard.
I'll try some RO water and see if that helps and also check all of the
connections. When I was messing with it yesterday one of them
was leaking a little so I fixed it and it started working a little better.
-Still not as much pressure as it should have though.

 

[Sanababit]

Did you clean the noozles with vinegar yet?, when you do, you will see the difference, vinegar dissolves hard water deposits, and safe to use, just rinse nozzle before putting it online

Sana

 

[MJKowal]

I found with mine that when I had the bucket on the ground it would lose it's prime regardless of being full. I now have my bucket on a stool with the pump mounted on a piece of wood upright and have had no problems since.

Try elevating your water source above your pump and see if that solves your problem. I use a $2 step stool from the dollar store.

Good luck!