7240/2 still alarms after cleaning

[ReefAnon]

I have 3 tunze turbelle electronic 7240/2. They are about a year old. I am based in the UK.

Recently one of them stopped and the alarm sounded. I disassembled it as per pp.30-43 and soaked in acetic acid. There was a little calcium build up which had all gone after the soaking. I could see no obvious signs of wear though have little experience of what to look for. On re-assembling the alarm still sounds. Is there anything else I could try or do I need a new part. If so what part and number?

I have been very pleased with the pumps and after going through several variations of large external pumps found these to be the best solution by far.

 

[rvitko]

Thank you very much for the compliments. I am in Germany at present and staying at Tunze so I apologize for my late response, we are working for the new catalogue. I would double check that their are no cracks present on the drive magnet and that the lower bearing is not connected by calcium to the magnet. I will check in tomorrow morning for this problem, I can recommend you contact Gary at Paraquatics as he is the most trained technician in the UK. I know of no electrical problems which result in an alarm so the only possibilities involve the drive unit. This could be air present, brake shoes broken or improperly engaged, swollen or damaged top bushing, attached lower bushing, or cracked magnet. If a magnet is broken it becomes two magnets so it will not function. All parts should rotate smoothly when turned by hand. Prehaps a local specialist can supply a new drive unit just for testing purposes. Make sure all parts seperate as detailed in the manual.

 

[rvitko]

Axel suggests you send the pumps to the address in Penzberg Germany and within 3 days of receipt they will be returned at no charge with a bore diameter and drive unit of present specifications. The problem is most likely air trapped in the pump and this is do to insufficient cooling system capacity which was remedied in February of 2002. Their will be no charge unless the problem is found to be some severe circumstance. To save on transport please include only the motor block and driver- no transformers. In this way we can be sure we have a permanent solution to your problem.

 

[ReefAnon]

Thanks for your prompt response - outstanding customer service.

I have tried a few things:

I swapped all the removable parts from the faulty pump to a working pump. This pump now worked fine with the parts from the other pump. Therefore there is nothing wrong with the drive unit from the "faulty" pump.

I then swapped the cable from a working pump (with no parts changed) to the control box/driver (the blue box) that was previously connected to the "faulty" pump. The pump immediately fails with an alarm sound. I swapped the cable back to the orginal driver box and the pump works again.

So, it seems the problem is nothing to do with the pumps or drive units but with the control box/driver of the pump I had thought was faulty. Unfortunately this is one of the more expensive parts to replace. Is there anything further I could try?

 

[rvitko]

If it is only one unit, please send it to the factory, I still believe it is the drive unit, if it is the driver it will be taken care of and unless their is water damage it will be warranty. The older units were completely hand made and hand calibrated and only the slightest flaw could cause this alarm. It can be brought up to current specifications by a technician with very little trouble and we factor it would be about 10 pounds for you to send and we will take it from their. The driver may need a recalibration but it is also possible a strong acid has affected the plastic of the motor and a low tolerance was created, this condition needs tools and training which only a few experts have. Germany will be your nearest center for this repair.

 

[ReefAnon]

Sent the pump to Germany - they replaced the driver unit (blue controller) and sent it back no charge. Excellent service - thanks for your help.

 

[rvitko]

Good to know, they generally do good work and own up to any mistakes. Since you already have a file at the company it probably won't be difficult to order Update6100 direct, there computers should already have all your info and they take Visa and MC for parts orders.