6045 Problem

[mr&mrsfish]

Roger,

I have a 6 month old Tunze 6045 that has a problem with the power cord. A segment ~6" from the powerhead appears to be "puckering". The "puckering" portion extends about 6" and then stops. The rest of the power cord is smooth and has a nice glossy surface. The "puckering" portion has a very rough surface and I can clearly see & feel the underlying power supply wires. I'm concerned this portion could fail and expose the live wires. Is there anything that can be done? Thanks.

 

[rvitko]

This will generally be caused by soaking the pump in acid, the portion that was submerged will do this. Contrary to popular belief plastic is not unreactive, strong acids can cause most plastics to swell and deform. The only repair would be a new motor, is this a new style 6045 with flow control or the older "clearance" 6045's without flow control that were discontinued in mid 2009?

 

[mr&mrsfish]

Thanks for the reply.

The pump was soaked in standard 5% "acidity" vinegar. I have always considered vinegar to be safe with the common thermoplastics (PVC, LLDPE, FEP, PFA, PTFE, PVDF, plastomers, etc) used in the wire and cable industry. I think the manual may even recommend vinegar. Experience has also shown vinegar to be safe in most cases. For instance, I've soaked my old Tunze 6000 many times without any issues. I do remove the o-rings first due to potential problems if the o-ring is constructed of polar buna-n. I just never suspected simple vinegar could attack the materials of 6045 power cords so aggressively. I'm just glad I found this out before soaking any of my 6105s . I'll certainly switch to extremely dilue vinegar or possibly citric acid in the future.

The pump is an older style 6045. I picked it up on clearance last year. It provides circulation within my fuge. I'm assuming this "puckering" has led to embrittlement, which compromises the safety of the device? In other words, I shouldn't use this pump any longer? What are my options for this older style pump? Thanks again.