Mist King Troubles

[zachmcgaughey]

Hey guys I have been having some serious troubles with my mist king. I have school for 8 hours a day so I really need to get it up and running. I have water circulating but it is not going out of the nozzle. I then took apart the nozzle and could not blow out any air. Please Help. Has anyone else had this problem????

 

[windex]

was it working at some point and then stopped? there is an in and an out on the pump as well, make sure you have the hoses connected properly to the pump.
If its still not working disconnect all the nozzles and make sure water is being pumped through the hoses into a bucket, then connect one nozzle and try again..
If it has never worked you may have gotten a batch of nozzles that were not made correctly but that is very, very rare..
If you're using the no drip feature, try removing it from the system and start with the most basic set-up

 

[xraygirl]

Have you primed it?

 

[zachmcgaughey]

I just got the system and Ill keep trying thanks

 

[Lathis]

The two things mentioned above are the two most common questions the forum gets about the MistKing, so definitely check that the hoses are seated nice and tight into the collets and make sure the pump is primed.

Funny story: Once, I even emailed Marty at MK because my pump was vibrating but not pumping water *facepalm*. I should have checked the forum first because all it needed was to be primed Marty is super nice, BTW.

One more thing to check: there is a little bit of screen inside the nozzle head. It is a very fine screen and gets easily clogged with the normal junk that is in tap water. If you are VERY careful, you can take the nozzle apart, pop out the screen, and gently clean it with an old toothbrush. Since you can't blow air through the nozzle, this is what I would suspect. You might even try soaking the nozzle in dilute vinegar overnight to break down any calcium deposits which might clog the opening. If your water is hard (mineral heavy), this will happen pretty regularly.

 

[Lathis]

I just got the system and Ill keep trying thanks

Sorry - I assumed it was an existing system in my earlier post.

Try running it will the nozzle DISCONNECTED from the hose. That is called "priming" the pump. If the water flows, stop the pump, then put the nozzle back on. If it's not working, then it's something with your nozzle. Try adjusting the various parts of the nozzle and try again.

One thing - make sure you insert the tubes firmly into the collets. The tube should actually "pop" into place - more a feeling than an actually noise. Otherwise, you run the risk of one of the tubes coming loose from the water pressure (been there, done that).

 

[windex]

I've also had to prime the mist king before manually since it wouldn't do it on it's own.. I did this by having a bucket handy and taking the hose from the pump to the first nozzle and removing it from the nozzle, then sucking on the hose until the water came up.. attached everything and its been going strong ever since

 

[LookinRound]

Funny story: Once, I even emailed Marty at MK because my pump was vibrating but not pumping water *facepalm*. I should have checked the forum first because all it needed was to be primed Marty is super nice, BTW.

When it is all set up correctly and the nozzles are working, does the pump and lines still vibrate/pulse?

 

[MelissaB]

When it is all set up correctly and the nozzles are working, does the pump and lines still vibrate/pulse?

Yes, that's normal. You can use cable clips to mount the line to the cage, so it doesn't knock against the cage.

 

[Lathis]

When it is all set up correctly and the nozzles are working, does the pump and lines still vibrate/pulse?

Yes, this is normal. I have my pump sitting on a block of soft foam to reduce the vibration. I also have the hoses ziptied in place every 6 inches to prevent the tubes from knocking. It's almost silent if you do those two things.

 

[LookinRound]

Awesome. Thank you Melissa and Lathis. I just got an arcadia bulb and fixture from Todd on Thurs and the MistKing on Fri. My new cage from Dragon Strand is to arrive tomorrow for me to get it all set up and have a much nicer setup for my flapneck

 

[kplatvoet]

I want too see a picture of your flapneck - Mine's going in her own Dragonstrand when I finally get it set up - I was trying to set up two new cages this weekend - but it looks like it's going to be next weekend for their upgrades now - there just isn't enough time in a day -