6206 Problems

[Hucklebery]

I just bought a Tunze 6206 Nano Wavebox at the Marine Depot parking lot sale. On the box there is a label that reads, "Item is defective. Customer states that it does not create wave but only ripples on the top of the aquarium. TESTED - Wave box does not have the right push and pull to it, very weak, might be pump that is defective." It also has the word "Defective" listed as the condition. The word Defective is crossed out, and then "Refurbished - Tunze" is hand written below it. It appears the items was sent to Tunze and refurbished.

I just finished hooking up the system, and I am having the exact same issue. The pump starts out real strong, and then after about .5 seconds dies. The water level in the box only drops about 1-1.5 inches no matter what I set the interval swith to. It does not create a wave at all.

Any suggestions on what to do???

 

[shawnz28]

If you unplug the controller does the pump work properly?

 

[Hucklebery]

Just tried your test, and the pump barely pushes out any water from the hole.

 

[shawnz28]

what voltage is the power supply set to?

 

[Hucklebery]

12v

 

[shawnz28]

If you change the voltage to 24V does it get alot better as far as flow or does it stay the same?

Also what size tank are you putting this on?

 

[Hucklebery]

I tried 24V also and it did not change anything. I have it on a 135. I know it is a tad small for this tank, but I don't want a huge wave either. This box is rated for up to 165 gallon tsnk. The tank size should not affect whether or not the pump is pulling water out of the box though.

 

[shawnz28]

Correct the size would not effect the pump flow but it would effect the wave height if changing the voltage selector happened to fix the problem.

I will leave this for Roger as he might remember the backstory to the wavebox and might know the problem right off the bat. I was just hoping to eliminate some of the possiblities for him

 

[Hucklebery]

Thanks. I appreciate your help.

 

[rvitko]

I looked at that Nano wavebox, it was never even used, the customer had devised an excuse to return it as best I could determine, the cables were never unwound, the power supply was never unpacked and that would mean actually having tried it was out of the question. Please correct me if I am wrong on that being the condition it was in, I have only checked my Marine Depot repair logs for this year and I showed two returned Nano Waveboxes, the other was really defective and replaced with a brand new unit so I have to assume that is not it.

It will not be ideal in a 135 which is a 6ft tank, it would honestly perform better on a 140 that is 4ft long. The nano wavebox is intended for shorter tanks, generally best on tanks less than 5ft long. The Nano wavebox should be used at 24V with the top half inch or so sticking out of the tank, the flow will not be forceful, at 24V the pump would only produce 1450gph and it is run for a very short pulse, it is primarily the displacement that creates the wave and the longer the pulse the greater the displacement, the pump should turn off and on as timed by the controller. There is only one frequency that will produce a wave in a given tank, on a 6ft tank, that frequency will be somewhere between the 11 and 2 o clock positions on the controller and it has to be carefully tuned, a hair width can make a big difference.

 

[Hucklebery]

Roger,

Check your PM's.

Jim