motor burnout on AquaClear filters?
Brian Reid
I really like AquaClear power filters because they are so damn convenient and
I'm always in a hurry. But I get real tired of having the motors burn out
every time there is a 1-second power glitch. Has anybody else noticed this?
All of my AquaClears fried their motors again today, so there must have been
some kind of a power transient while I wasn't home.
A replacement motor costs almost as much as a new filter, alas.
Meanwhile I use Magnum canister filters, quickly converted from diatom use to
continuous use, but the fish cower in fear behind the rocks and decorations
because of the huge flow rate of the Magnum pumps. Why are motors so hard?
Why can't Magnum sell motors that run slower and why can't Hagen sell motors
that don't burn out.
A.DEACON
I have used an Aqua Clear for 2 years with no problems with the motor.
Take it back and ask for a replacement, they shouldn't go that quickly.
If that doesn't work, write directly to the importer.
While the Aqua Clears are easy to use, the are not optimal in terms of
filtering. The "cartridge" form of the carbon and foam blocks allow
a significant amount of water to go around the cartridges. If you want
a filter to hang on the tank, SUPREME make the best in my opinion. It is
messier to use because you layer the filter stuff in the box, but it does
a much better job of cleaning the water and the motors are bears.
What size Magnum are you using on what size tank? The flow rate of the filter
should be 3-5 times the volume of the tank per hour.
Art Deacon
homxb!agd
Ashwin Ram
> I really like AquaClear power filters because they are so damn convenient and
> I'm always in a hurry. But I get real tired of having the motors burn out
> every time there is a 1-second power glitch. Has anybody else noticed this?
> All of my AquaClears fried their motors again today, so there must have been
> some kind of a power transient while I wasn't home.
Hmmm... just when I was considering buying an AquaClear. I currently have a
Whisper, but I find that Whisper's aren't really auto-start. I switch them off
before feeding, and about 50% of the time they don't start up again when I turn
the power on -- I have to jiggle the inlet tube to get it to start. Not hard,
but annoying, and also possible to overlook.
It would be nice to have some discussion on good and bad power filters. Could
you take a couple of minutes to say which filters you have used (mention
names!), whether you were happy or unhappy with them, and why? Particular
features you liked or disliked?
I'll post a summary to the net if you e-mail your responses; on the other hand,
this group isn't exactly swamped with articles, so posting is fine too.
-- Ashwin.
ARPA: Ram-A...@cs.yale.edu
UUCP: {decvax,ucbvax,harvard,cmcl2,...}!yale!Ram-Ashwin
BITNET: Ram@yalecs
Ken Dalka
> I'm always in a hurry. But I get real tired of having the motors burn out
> every time there is a 1-second power glitch. Has anybody else noticed this?
I have used 3 Aquaclear filters for 2 years and have never had a problem
with them. I get plenty of power glitches too! Is it possible your power
glitches are more severe than mine? I've never considered putting my
power filters on a power filter (voltage regulator that is).
The size of your tank dictates the size of your canister filter. I had
a magnum 330 on a 55 gal tank for a while and decided it was too small.
This was due to the overcrowded condition of the tank so I replaced
it with a Hagen Fluval 403. Now there's a jet stream for you! Fortunately
the fish are large and don't mind.
--
Ken Dalka (Bell Labs)
ihnp4!ihlpg!dalka
IE 2F-518 (312) 416-7437
Brian Reid
I took one of my AquaClear 1200 filters offline and did some experiments with
it to see about the motor failure problem. Here's the poop.
If you turn the power off for a second or two and then turn it back on again,
the motor might or might not start. It seems random. If you turn the power off
for a minute or two and then turn it back on again, it almost always starts.
I suspect that this has to do with reverse flow of water siphoning backwards
through the input tube: until that reverse flow is finished, the motor has a
little bit more work to do when starting.
If the motor doesn't start turning when it is first powered on, then it will
never start on its own.
The more the filter is in need of cleaning, the more likely it is to fail to
start after a short power interruption.
I am guessing that the motor burnout comes from several days of sitting there
being plugged in but not running. The motors probably depend on the flow of
water for cooling.
Brian
Matthew Farrens
>In article <3...@bacchus.DEC.COM>, reid@decwrl (Brian Reid) writes:
>> I really like AquaClear power filters because they are so damn convenient and
>> I'm always in a hurry. But I get real tired of having the motors burn out
>> every time there is a 1-second power glitch. Has anybody else noticed this?
>
We have two 39 gallon tanks, one with an undergravel filter with a power head
and the other one with two big AquaClear filters. We have never had any
problem with motors burning out, although our oldest filter likes to stop
(sometimes 2-3 times daily, sometimes weeks without stopping). Someone
mentioned them not doing as good a job of filtering, and this might be
possible - Originally we were only using one filter and we had a lot of fish
loss, but once we set up the second one our tank is absolutely crystal clear
and we have not lost a fish since (about 6 months now). I don't know about the
filtering capabilities, but I like the sponge since it seems like it is a good
place for beneficial bacteria to grow. It certainly does get brown and smelly
after a week or so!
We also have some 10 gallon tanks, one with a (what the heck is it?
Not Whisper, nor AquaClear, RATS! Drawn a blank) filter on it that I don't
like as well (there, that's really helpful, isn't it?). This filter has an
insert (Maybe it's a PennPlax?) that is supposed to catch large stuff and a
carbon bag and a zeolite bag. I am not convinced there is anywhere for the
bacteria to grow, and the insert is so porous that almost any and everything
gets through. However, the fish in there have not expired, so something must
be working. Anyway, I would very much like to hear about other setups. I
have only been doing this for about a year and would like to know if there are
better ways to do things. We have our AquaClears in a tank with a sand bottom,
and it has become a fabulous tank since plants grow very well in the sand and
the combination of filters keeps the water so clean and clear. The only
problem right now is with the sand washing due to all the water movement. I
would like to hear more about these cannister filters - perhaps I should filter
both 39 gallon tanks with one filter?
I really enjoy this news group and hope the content stays as friendly
and informative as it has been.
Matthew Farrens
P.S. As for building ideas, we built a rack like at pet stores for our 6
10-gallon tanks. Three tanks on each level with two levels, this allows a long
cheap 4-foot shop-light to be hung above each group of 3 tanks and one can play
with the lighting as one pleases. We currently have one regular bulb and one
grow-light bulb in each of the two shop-lights. Works really nicely - makes a
reasonably attractive wall. (It winds up being about the size of a large
bookcase - about 6' by 6')
Ashwin Ram
> We have two 39 gallon tanks, one with an undergravel filter with a power head
> and the other one with two big AquaClear filters.
We have both an undergravel and a power filter on our 40-gallon. We use a power
head because it's a lot more silent, but keep it turned way down because the
plants don't do so well with too much UG filtering. That's the reason we use
both a UG and an external, since we don't have enough UG flow to do it alone.
Also, the external is good for getting rid of floating crud, such as stuff
kicked up after cleaning.
> this allows a long
> cheap 4-foot shop-light to be hung above each group of 3 tanks and one can play
> with the lighting as one pleases. We currently have one regular bulb and one
> grow-light bulb in each of the two shop-lights.
We've done the same thing, but over a 40-gallon. Yeah, it works well -- I think
it's better (and a lot cheaper) than a ready-made hood. It would be nice,
though, to be able to control the two lights independently. If you turn off the
regular (cool) light, the grow (warm) light is dim enough that you can simulate
a reasonably good dawn and dusk period. The fish are much happier with this
because a sudden transition from bright light to darkness (or v.v.) bothers them
a lot, some more than others. Also, besides being good for the plants, the two
kinds of lights make the tank look a lot nicer.
One question -- how much wattage should one use?
-- Ashwin.
Jason Rosenberg
--jason
Jason Rosenberg Mira Hershey Hall
801 Hilgard Avenue
ja...@cs.ucla.edu Los Angeles, CA 90024
{ihnp4,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!jason (213) 209-1806
SXA0...@bagamcok.bitnet
except if I haven't cleaned it for awhile and the electricity goes off.
Even if it goes off for a split second, it just sits there...so I have
to unplug it and clean it out.
As a result, every time I feed the fish, I take a look at the filter to
make sure that it is running and I always make sure that I clean it
before I go away for a few days.
-------
ACE
2505 RYAN LANE
ELGIN, S.C. 29045
Oleg Kiselev
>The more the filter is in need of cleaning, the more likely it is to fail to
>start after a short power interruption.
Same if the washers are worn out. I had a similar problem, but never had a
burn-out, because I was in a habbit of checking on the tank twice a day.
>I am guessing that the motor burnout comes from several days of sitting there
>being plugged in but not running. The motors probably depend on the flow of
>water for cooling.
I seem to recall the documentation explicitly stating that fact. They warn
not to turn the filter on without water in it.
--
Oleg Kiselev {frodo|bilbo|lcc}.oleg@seas.ucla.edu ...!ihnp4!lcc!oleg
ol...@quad1.quad.com (forward)
DISCLAIMER: I speak for myself only.
Richard Sexton
>
Aww nuts, I used to know this.
The best I can do is point out a TFH press book: _Light in the Aquarium_
Or was it _Light on the aquarium_ ?
i *think* it was about 1 flourescent watt per gallon, roughly; that
pretty close to what i use.
Incandescent lights are a real bad idea, except for some special cases.
The simulation of dawn and dusk is a nice touch, I hadnt heard of
that and that is a very good solution to the problem of: "good
morning fish, time to bash your faces against the glass for 5 minutes".
--
...............................................................................
ric...@gryphon.CTS.COM rutgers!marque!gryphon!richard
Gary Sutcliffe
>
>i *think* it was about 1 flourescent watt per gallon, roughly; that
>pretty close to what i use.
That is about right.
>Incandescent lights are a real bad idea, except for some special cases.
>
Incandescent lights by themselves are not too useful. Used with flourescent
lights, they can really help a lot. Most of the flourescent lamps supplied
with aquarium hoods have too much light in the blue-violet end of the spectrum.
This make the fish look real nice, but plants also need light from the red end.
Incandescent lamps do a better job producing this kind of light.
I used to know a guy who was really an expert on aquatic plants. He used to
win all of the trophies at our annual fish show by having all of his plants
flower on THE DAY the judges where there. The rest of us were just lucky
to keep plants alive.
He used to wire two 60 watt incadescent in series to produce extra red light.
They would then glow a kind of orange-red. He also used time clocks to vary
the length of the day to simulate seasons. In the simulated late fall/ winter
/ early spring, the days would be short, and there would be more red light
(sun lower on the horizon). During the "summer", the days would gradually
get longer, and the light would be more shifted to the blue end. That was
a long time ago, and I don't remember much more of the details.
I now grow plants in only one tank (the rest are for raising fry, or holding
killifish which like it too dark for plants). I have a flourescent lamp
over it, but the plants did not do too well until I put a 15 watt incandescent
lamp also. This produced too much light and I had algae problems, so I now
turn off the flourescent about 1 day out of 3. There is a timer that
leaves the lamps on about 15 hours a day. Oh yes, this is a 20 gallon tank.
--
Gary Sutcliffe W9XT (414) 644-8700
GENROCO, Inc. Slinger, Wis.
{ames, rutgers, harvard} uwvax!uwmcsd1!grc!gary
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