Question about longevity

[Bpb]

Two things.

Forgive me for the seemingly stupid question but I am just curious. I understand the tunze stream pumps can only run on a certain range of voltages, and dimming them too low will turn them off rather than run at low power percentages (like 10-20% for example). However, I just got two 6105 units for my 90 gallon. First off I love them. They move water so much better than the vortech and jebao units I was using previously. And they're totally silent as well. But i cannot run either on full power for any amount of time.

I have them max out at 75% on my main daylight apex programming, and run them similar to a dual gyre mode that has become popular. Left pump runs for 2 minutes, then right pump runs for two minutes. Night time, dawn/dusk, and daylight only differ in power percentages.

My first question is this: are these (or any DC powerhead really) like lights in the fact that it shortens their life to run them at anything other than full power? I have never been clear on that. Does running them at lower voltages stress the motor and power supply, or does it have no ill effect?

Secondly...I hear the newer manufactured stream pumps are supposed to dim below 30%. However...my first day owning these, the night profiles did not work. They're set to alternate every two minutes at 30% power. I work nights so I wasn't home to get a visual on them, but when I got home at midnight, both powerheads were off. I had checked the apex on my phone at work and verified that each vdm port was showing 30% at alternating times when I looked, and I had no programming error so I'm good there.

What I did was bump the intensity to 35% on each pump and they instantly resumed my intended programming. I understand previously it has been recommended to not run them below 30% or they may sieze. Is this damaging to them in the long run? And do others find their pumps will not run at 30% at all?

Thanks!

 

[rvitko]

It could be that Apex 30% is different from our 30%, I have encountered this before. If the pumps run they are OK. They main concern is them being on and not running so they could potentially overheat from a lack of water movement.

Are these the new 6105's that have the built in 7090 controller?

I think the main issue with lights is that metal halides/flourscents may not vaporize all the metals/halogens at lower voltages and could affect the chemistry. The pumps are not harmed, they run cooler and use less power.

 

[rvitko]

Also, thank you!

 

[Bpb]

Thanks for the reply. They only were on without actually running for about an hour before I got home and caught it. Otherwise they've run perfect and my apex profiles work great.

They're the brand new models with the built in controller. Bought them from bulk reef supply's Black Friday sale this year.

 

[rvitko]

Their is a calibration for speed on the 7090, I am not sure how it will work with an Apex but assume it would be the same, set the Apex for 30% and do as below, while it is for a 6055, all the new pumps calibrate the same-


You need to calibrate the speed range on the pump. This sometimes comes up due to a difference in the signal on older controllers. The procedure is below, it usually is fairly easy, occasionally a pump is off by more and a few attempts are needed.

1. Connect the 6055 to your 7095 controller
2. Please turn your 7095, to the minimum power of 30% on both speed settings for the channel it is connected to.
3. Turn the 6055 to the external mode (yellow LED lit).
4. Turn the "pulse power" dial on the 7090 to the middle position
5. Hold the Foodtimer button, watch the dial on "pulse power" until you see a short flash of the blue LED continue to hold the button.
6. Turn "pulse power" until the 6055 starts in the minimal range, it may need to be turned in either direction, turn slowly until it starts then let go of the food timer button.

If this does not work, what has worked best for me is to then find the minimum speed on the 7095 that the 6055 will run on, set the speed a little below that, so if it runs at 60% try 50% and repeat the calibration so it runs at 50%, then repeat slowly stepping it down in increments of about 10% until the pump starts at 30%. I have had it take as many as 7 tries but usually it works in 1.