# Bazooka Atomizer faulty?



## Bertie (13 Dec 2013)

Hi all,
I have a problem which I am struggling to understand.

One of my bazooka atomizers has stopped working. I use a splitter which has been ok up until now.

I did clean my atomizers on Weds with a 2hr soak in a 25% bleach 75% water mix and then rinsed loads then soaked in Prime solution x2 one of which was overnight.

When the co2 clicks on, one of my bazookas works and the other one does not until I ramp up the bc, but then a few minutes later the co2 "appears to stop" and even by opening the needle valve fully nothing happens. Its as if there is a blockage in the bazooka, although prior to that happening the bazooka is sort of working but not throwing out as many bubbles as before this problem.

If I unscrew the tubing from the bazooka and turn the co2 back on then it runs freely from the unconnected co2 tubing. I am running at 3.5 bar.

At the moment I have replaced with a ceramic diffuser and although I realise that it does not require such high pressure it seems to be working and the bc has stayed constant.

I have only had these since October which I purchased from one of our sponsors. If anyone has suggestions please before I e-mail the retailer.

Thanks


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## darren636 (13 Dec 2013)

I has the same issue with an up atomizer. It would work fine for an hour, then slowly come to a stop- even with massive flow from regulator.


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## darren636 (13 Dec 2013)

Swap the faulty one with the working unit. See what happens


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## Bertie (13 Dec 2013)

yes just putting in a new spraybar and then will do that. Thanks


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## darren636 (13 Dec 2013)

Also, if they each have a non return valve, check that.


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## Andy Thurston (13 Dec 2013)

Have you got a valve between the splitter and the bazookas. It sounds like the co2 is using the path of least resistance. If you fit a valve between the splitter and the working bazooka you can compensate for this 
Like this
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?sbk=1&nav=SEARCH&itemId=261240036679
Or this instead of splitter
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?sbk=1&nav=SEARCH&itemId=171144377228. 
Manufacturing porous ceramics consistently is a difficult thing to do which is why some people have to use more pressure than others for their bazookas or up inline to work properly


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## Bertie (13 Dec 2013)

well before I put the working one on I tried once more............firstly after a while nothing and then the jbl bc separated under the pressure with water going all over the place  then I put that back together as it was not damaged and tried again........this time it started to work slowly,very slowly and there were some big bubbles coming out of the bazooka....then all of a sudden,as if the blockage or whatever had cleared, it started working normally again. That was about 30 mins ago and at the moment it is still working. I will have to wait till the morning when the co2 switches on again. Next time it needs a clean I think I will use either h202 or some liquid carbon. 
Thanks


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## Bertie (14 Dec 2013)

Well a similar problem this morning. Even with the amomizer that appears to be working ok I had to re-adjust slightly and it had to "re-pressurise" which may mean leaks, as normally everything holds until the restart in the morning.I cannot find any leaks at the moment and the only break in the chain was when I unscrewed the tubing from the atomizers to clean.
I have cut a bit off the tubing an re-connected but still the same problem.


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## darren636 (14 Dec 2013)

Sounds familiar. I gave up and went low tech.  your check valve is not stuck from the pressure is it?


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## Bertie (14 Dec 2013)

I am now at a complete loss??? I increased the working pressure from 3.5bar to just under 4 and it is now working again!! I do not know what the safe working pressure is but in the future I will be very hesitant to increase it any further.


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## Bertie (14 Dec 2013)

Hi darren I don't think so although I use brass check valves and it has been working fine and was ok on low pressure when I checked the co2 with a ceramic diffuser. It is working at the moment but the bc is ok at the moment but if it carries on I will change to a plastic check valve and see if that makes any change. It just appears that it needs higher pressure to work and as I say since I cleaned the atomizers it seems that the tubing etc have to now get "back up to pressure" whereas before after a couple of minutes everything was ok.


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## foxfish (14 Dec 2013)

Bert, I don't think you need to be at a loss or don't understand what is going on!
We are talking about a piece of mad made ceramic, perforated with tens of thousands of microscopic holes that allow the C02 to be forced through.

By the very nature of the product, the holes over time will block up, bleach can be used to dissolve lime scale, if that is the culprit, but the devices are ultimately destined to block up. 

If you have one with even slighty less holes than another, it will allow less gas through & the one with a more porous nature will become bias.
You can try a much stronger bleach solution or lime scale remover like steradent & give it a more serious cleaning or buy a new one. (or two)
However you can expect similar issues before to long.
Of course there will be folk who have the same UP or Bazooka running for years!!! but, most folk get very disillusioned with atomisers eventually.
It is the nature of the beast.


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## Bertie (14 Dec 2013)

Hi foxfish,
Yes, but what I cannot understand is that it starts working and then the co2 stops, even opening the needle valve fully does not stop the co2 from stopping, until I jack up the working pressure to nearly 4bar! I can then turn the working pressure back down after about 10 mins. They did  receive a 2hr soak in a 25% bleach 75% water solution before this happened. As it happens I do have some steradent handy if it keeps happening then perhaps a soak in 2 or 3? of those tablets may help? I do have ceramic diffusers but it seems to me that they do need more co2 to produce the same level of saturation or is that just me?


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## ian_m (14 Dec 2013)

Its full of liquid after cleaning. Put in warm (60 'C) oven for an hour or two or airing cupboard overnigh.


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## thomas.bham (17 Dec 2013)

I clean my atomizer  using 100% bleech to remove organic dirt then I use vinegar to desolve any calcium builded up.
I works very well.


Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk


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## Bertie (17 Dec 2013)

Hi thomas, yes I have the bazooka working ok now......next time I will soak, rinse and then use steradent or white vinegar to clear any calcium then soak in some Prime and then I will connect it to the co2 and "blow it through" for a while before placing back in the tank!


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## harryH (17 Dec 2013)

Hi, hope it all settles, I had mine stop a couple of days after installation, checked everywhere for leaks and then took it out for a soak in liquid carbon (thought this might remove slime) I then replaced it and blew CO2 through before resetting the bc. It's worked perfectly now for 3 days, fingers crossed.
I imagine setting up two would take a while to equalise pressure. As has been said the CO2 will favour the easiest route.


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