mag-drive problem

kirkland · #1 09/19/2007, 12:30 AM

We put a mag-drive in our tank to use on our wavysea maker on 6-8. The wavemaker is kept on a 10-minute cycle. The impeller had it's pieces broken off on 8-14, the LFS replaced the impeller free of charge with a little arguing and it was up and running again on 8-24. Today, the impellers have broken again. I don't think mag-drives are bad pumps. I do check that the styrofoam protector over the input is securely fastened to the pump every day, as LFS insinuated that we let it come loose and a snail or something crawled in because otherwise, the impellers never break. Ha! This is a pic of how the mag-drive is set up. There isn't room in the back of our 92g corner tank for the mag-drive to sit properly on its base on a flat surface. Instead, it's angled in like this but it is stable and well supported. Could the angle of the pump be causing the impellers to be breaking? I'm not looking forward to arguing with the LFS again about replacing the impeller and want to be prepared. This is a pic of the back of the tank from above. Hopefully you can see how the pump is positioned well enough to give an educated guess on why this is happening repeatedly.

SCOTT42 · #2 09/19/2007, 12:50 AM

From what I see,It look's like It's picking up some debre from the bottom of the tank,sand, bitt's of rock, and yes possibly even snail's. If you dont have the inlet protected then anything could get sucked in there and break the impeller very, very, quicly.

OmarD · #3 09/19/2007, 06:33 AM

Make sure you do not run it while out of water.

Racing1 · #4 09/19/2007, 07:44 AM

My guess is that it is the way you have it mounted in the tank. Looks like you have the sponge filter on it but the front is facing downward. Possibly allowing the impellar to hit on the front cover housing. Take it out of the tank and pull the impellar cover off. See if there are markings on the inside of the cover where the impellar may be hitting...

rickh · #5 09/19/2007, 06:59 PM

You can purchase replacement parts at Drs Foster and Smith. R

MarkGP · #6 09/19/2007, 07:11 PM

Mags aren't the best pumps to be kicking on and off on a wavemaker!

amike5 · #7 09/19/2007, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MarkGP
Mags aren't the best pumps to be kicking on and off on a wavemaker!

Agreed.

Roger928 · #8 09/19/2007, 09:14 PM

Mags will self-destruct with a frequent on/off cycle. Had that issue myself with a pond pump that only cycled twice daily. Took a while, but the impeller shaft cups wear down and CRUNCH!

kirkland · #9 09/21/2007, 02:55 PM

What kind of pump should I look into? Putting the wavemaker pump into our sump is not possible as our overflow wouldn't keep up now that we have an oceanrunner6500 in there.