Does turning poweheads on/off frequently cause any harm?

[SCreeferGuy]

I am setting up my Tunze 6095/6055's with my Apex and it looks like the pump profile program code makes you cycle pumps on/off frequently (like every few minutes).

My question is which is better for pump life? Is turning them on/off so often not recommended? Or are they built for this?

Thanks in advance!

 

[aleithol]

Roger will respond from his POV, but I also use controllable Tunze pumps with my Apex and researched this before I purchased earlier this year, both here and over on Neptune Community Forums. The caveats are -- in your Apex pump profile, use "0%" intensity if you want the pump off or use "OFF" in your programming which will do the same thing. If you want the pump on, never use anything less than "30%" as the minimum to avoid early wear on the pump as it does not know what to do with that low of a signal (in other words, e.g. don't do 0-100% in the profile, but rather something like 30-100% instead).

 

[SCreeferGuy]

Thanks - have made sure pumps don't drop below 30 %, but it just seems intuitive that if it turns on/off several hundred times a day it may affect pump lifespan..maybe I'm wrong though.

 

[rvitko]

If they are switched at the DIN connector, they are made for that, if the power supply is switched on and off rapidly it could fail prematurely. In general the main drawback to on and off cycling is calcium deposits build up quicker, when the motor is off, heat from when it was on radiates out and no water flow exists to carry it away, the small amount of water in the pump heats up and lime precipitates. Basically, you just have to clean them more often. You can generally add a month or so between service if you cycle between a high and low speed instead. Typically the pumps need to be cleaned every 3-6 months. We generally expect the DC motors to last at least 5 years, AC motors generally exceed 10 years because they lack any electronics that can overheat and fail.

 

[SCreeferGuy]

Great - Thanks! They are being controlled through the connector. Now I won't worry about it (other than cleaning).