GrahamC Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 My tank filter died on me ... impeller makes no movement whatsoever, and so I replaced it temporarily until I can get a warranty repair/replacement from Juwel. In the meantime I am using a somewhat over powered 104F ( 2000L/hr in a 160L tank ), but this filter also seems faulty. When it works, it works, but if i turn it off to give the poor fish some rest from the current, it often refuses to turn on. I've put the powerhead into the sink, and the impeller refuses to budge, and suddenly it comes to life again as though it some type of reset circuit in it. I am presuming apart from the impeller, the sealed unit has no moving parts which makes me wonder why it should be intermittent like this. Cold solder joints? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy-fish Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 When it went was it noisy? I would pull out the impeller and check the shaft doesn't wobble. Often the shaft holes can enlarge causing the problems with the impeller balance. (talking from personal experience!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Not particularly noisy. But I had it in the sink watching the impeller and it didn't budge suggesting an electrical issue. I am going to heat up the tank to see if warming it fixes a cold joint issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy-fish Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Not particularly noisy. But I had it in the sink watching the impeller and it didn't budge suggesting an electrical issue. I am going to heat up the tank to see if warming it fixes a cold joint issue. or you could throw some warm water in a bucket and test the canny that way? Or if you're worried about your bacteria colony, you could siphon some tank water into a bucket. Saves rigging it up to tank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Not particularly noisy. But I had it in the sink watching the impeller and it didn't budge suggesting an electrical issue. I am going to heat up the tank to see if warming it fixes a cold joint issue. Poke the impeller with something while it's doing that. Or give it a tap. It's pretty common that a lot of small powerheads won't start properly after being turned off. The solution is don't turn them off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 That sounds like a bad design. Maybe permanent magnets are too strong or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 That sounds like a bad design. Maybe permanent magnets are too strong or something? Probably something to do with cogging, take it up with designers of hundreds of small electric motors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Yeah, I found the cogging effect quite strong. I hand built a dynamo but mine was wind powered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Poke the impeller with something while it's doing that. Or give it a tap. I poked my finger in while it was off, and adjusted the impeller a few times. On the last time it started again. :slfg: Not ideal but least I know what to do. At least I had my other two biological filters running all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 I have 2 cheep wavemakers, both will start in reverse about 50% of the time. Have to have an RCD on them so that they don't restart themselves on a power outage, otherwise it could (and does) get messy :tears: :sick: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Need to source yourself a cheap UPS ... it's not as though these things draw as much current as they produce. I've seen the odd UPS for sale on Graysonline .... just usually they are so heavy the cost is prohibitive coming from Auckland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Have a 280w UPS with a dead battery and a standalone 600w pure sinewave inverter that I would have to rig to a 12v source and charger. Just need a bigger solar panal than I have and I could take all the flow and filtration off grid, would still need mains for the chiller I would think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 I've got a sine wave inverter as well but my huge gell cell batteries are dead. Might consider getting new batteries if PV panels have come down much in price over the last decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Quick google and it looks like about $600 for PV cells and controller for 190w, plus the cost of gel cell battery array. At a push that could just manage to run the pumps/filter/lights on the 400l tank if we got at least 18h+ of usable light. I wouldn't want to try and figure the cost of running all three tanks/filters/lights/chiller with only 5-6h of good light Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.