High Tide Aquatics

Vortechs really p*ssing me off...

Eight

Eight

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So I've had two MP40W Gen2s for a couple of months now and I have to say, these things are a big PITA. It seems the drive shaft and the ceramic bearing keep fusing which results in the pumps becoming noisy and eventually spinning themselves off the glass. Managed to bust up an idaho grape colony on the way down.

Had the fusing problem with both pumps... ecotech sent a new bearing and the problem occurred again. Now for some reason after I soaked the bearing in vinegar and freed it, the pump won't spin up properly.

Sigh. I never had an ounce of trouble with my Tunzes... I guess I have to call Ecotech again tomorrow morning.

Anyone else struggle with their Vortechs?
 
How often do you clean it? I notice that I had a lot of calcium buildup inside the wetside of the pump. FWIW, I also had a problem with my BK180 getting clogged by buildup... but that was because I had the output from my CA reactor right next to the skimmer.

CA is at 425 and KH is at 11-12, so I would think I shouldn't be having a residue problem...
 
I've had a lot of problems, but still like them, go figure. Most of my problems were due to noise, some were due to the recalibration not working, and the most recent was the motor was digging into the rubber gasket. I've sent them back ~5 times over 2 years. It's frustrating at times, but I know a lot of people haven't had these problems so my example certainly isn't reflective of everyone's experience.
 
I think the key to these guys is relatively frequent cleaning... I actually managed to get the Vortech back up and working perfectly. I soaked not just the bearing, but the magnet and shaft in vinegar and I think that helped. Also, I think I haven't been assembling them exactly right. That white bearing needs to really be set flush with the pump base and the nut on the end needs to be tightened, but not too tight. FWIW though, Ecotech Marine's customer service has been fantastic.

I'm thinking I might actually order two Tunze 6105s and sell these guys off. I miss being able to control the powerheads from my AC3 which the Tunzes allow. The only thing I'm afraid of is the added heat when going back to non-Vortechs...
 
Busted up Idaho Grape? Isn't that a plus? :D

I am terrible at cleaning the vortechs but have never had any problems with them at all. When a ran a Tunze, I had to soak it in vinegar every month after it would seize.
 
You're not the only one Jason, I've had my fair share of issues with them, sometimes they'll go for months without anything, then one day I'll notice one not on the walls anymore, almost always the ceramic bearing is binding with the shaft in someway. Just make sure you unbind it, physically be able to remove the ceramic bearing, before you decide "oh it spins ok", then that'll usually keep me going for a good while longer.
 
No issues yet with my vortechs. I also had to clean my Tunze's about every 2 months or they would seize up and chirp that friggin mindnumbing alarm
 
Good to know but it's too late as I am about to have three to change out my Tunzes. I guess I will keep my Tunzes running, too.
 
So idaho grape DBTC coming? :p

Never had a problem with my MP20, I haven't cleaned mine in a few months, I'm going to check it out tonight and see what it looks like in there.
 
Mine has been perfect. I just clean it after months of putting it off :p and all is well. I just use an old medium frag tub and put the weside in it facint down, then fill it with vinegar to cover.
 
BTW, I have an extra wet end so cleaning is easy. Put the clean one one, put the dirty one in vinegar and forget about it.
 
My Tunze alarm went off last night a 4am. It woke my neighbor up even as while it was going off her door lights went on and her door opened near my window :) Good to know she's alert :) I just cleaned it three weeks ago though and this is becoming a routine now :(
 
FWIW Jake still runs his pre-release gen 1s with no issues either.
 
Hm... don't quite understand why I seem to have problems with mine. Seems like some people have all kinds of problems like me and others have no issues at all. Maybe I got bunk wetsides. They're under warranty still, so I think I am going to get both wetsides exchanged.
 
Well 11-12 DKH is definitely on the high side. The others that have problems, what's their DHK running at? Could be that alone :)

follow me here why I theorize :lol:

At 11 DKH the balanced calcium is 439ppm. I wonder if your imbalance creates a situation where as the extra carbonates precip where there is heat? Since your keeping at that imbalanced level there is always a surplus to be deposited?
 
i run 8 dkh and 420 ppm and i don't have any buildup. my first one's been running about 3 months, my other about a month.

i guess it's time i should clean them
 
I'll check my CA and dkh again tonight. Those numbers were off the top of my head, might be closer to balanced levels...
 
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