Suck and blow-Jebao wavemaker

[saltburns]

Had this for about a year, worked fine, then suddenly one of the powerheads started "sucking" instead of "blowing". If I unplug it and plug it back in, it "blows" for a while, maybe an hour or maybe for a day but next thing you know, its "sucking" again. Have tried not using the wireless between the 2 pumps but still the same thing. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[jd371]

That happens to my cheap power head (ebay) that I use in the brute to mix salt. When I plug it in sometimes it will run backwards and I have to try a couple of times for it to work right. If your ph's are programmed to start and stop it will happen on the restart, you can let them run all the time to get around this. My ph's are programmed to ramp up and down without shutting off unless it's feeding time.

 

[saltburns]

Thanks, will try that

 

[mcgyvr]

Which Jebao powerhead? CP style? WP? RW? PP? other?
Some have a "backward" mode..

With a normal (AC powered/synchronous motor) powerhead that happens when the "bumper" inside the cage is broken.. The impeller is designed to float forward and hit the bumper if it starts backwards and force it the correct way..
Starting backwards can essentially happen 50% of the time you start them as the direction is based on where in the AC waveform the pump kicks on at.. This is why I don't ever recommend running regular powerheads on those "wave controllers" they sell.. Its just causing unnecessary mechanical abuse.

 

[joejvj]

All the Jebao wavemaker pumps are DC. Even if you hacked the cable and reversed the polarity, they still would not run backwards.

 

[mcgyvr]

All the Jebao wavemaker pumps are DC. Even if you hacked the cable and reversed the polarity, they still would not run backwards.

I'm not sure if they have the "non-dc" style they make a crap load of different pumps.. but the gyre clones (cp series) do have a reverse mode..