Top Reason Jebao wavemakers stop working and a super easy FIX for them!!!

DavidinGA

DavidinGA

Active member
Top Reason Jebao wavemakers stop working and a super easy FIX for them!!!


I have been using Jebao WP and RW wavemaker pumps for a few years now and have had a few die on me (who hasn't). During my use with them I have determined the design of the impeller and where it connects to the outer casing and the inner motor mount points to be the BIGGEST FAILURE points bar none.


With that said, I figured I would share my easy and free solution to keep these pumps running longer (way longer as I haven't had a single failure since modding all of my pumps).


This little ceramic piece that slides over the Impeller = huge design flaw.

What happens is that this little cylinder WILL eventually sieze to the impeller shaft and the pump will seemingly be completely ruined and you'll throw it away"¦fear not, it's not ready for the trash just yet"¦

Picture of the little white ceramic cylinder can be seen here inside the clear rubber gasket:


Pop that nasty little white ceramic cylinder out of the clear housing and grab yourself a pair of scissors and some airline tubing"¦


Here is it cut to the length of the white cylinder piece we will be replacing"¦



Slide it over the shaft"¦.



Here it all is ready to be put together (white cylinders shown in pic but are ready for the trash)"¦



And, here it is fully assembled and ready to be put back into the motor where it WILL DEFINITELY run longer and without needing as much maintenance as before!



Enjoy!
-David
 
Wow ! thanks for this DIY David , going in my bookmarks this if one of my rw-8 fail, going on 1 year soon with no issue !

It there less chance of them locking up if you have them on Wave mode starting and stopping all the time ? I also clean and take them apart regularly and i'm sure that helps them a lot.
 
i was under the impression that the prop spins independently from that shaft... what does the shaft rotation have to do with anything?
 
C3hutson said:
i was under the impression that the prop spins independently from that shaft... what does the shaft rotation have to do with anything?
Click to expand...
Thats what I kept telling myself until I had several pumps fail and it was ALWAYS that little cylinder that was fused to the impeller and that caused the pump to fail. I've had them fuse together where even using wrenches I could separate them.
 
JVD BVI said:
A piece of rubber hose is going to perform as well as a ceramic bearing ?
Click to expand...

I'm up in the air as to its impact on performance...I've had two pumps running right next to each other (one stock and one modified) and couldn't see a difference.

My own opinion is that the mod will only very slightly decrease performance (gph) but at the sake of longevity I'll deal with it...
 
Great info David.

chilli_reef said:
Its a bushing....
Click to expand...

Yea, I would refer to it as a bushing as well but the manufacturers often refer to them as bearings. The Askoll motor blocks have a similar bushing in the block a at the base of the impeller which they too refer to as a bearing.

The idea is that this bearing or bushing or what ever you want to call it serves is to center and support the impeller at the base of the shaft below the magnet. The impeller shaft spins within the ceramic bushing. The tolerance is tight but just loose enough to not cause any friction. Calcium and in some cases even slime build up will cause friction between the shaft and the ceramic bushing. Because the magnets on these pumps are on the small/weak side, friction will lead to the pumps impeller stalling or seizing and in some cases premature failure of the motor block due to added load on the block.

The silicone tubing is more slick than the ceramic and allows for the shaft to spin easier. It's also more resistant to calcium buildup. The only real downside is that it's not as durable as ceramic but it's also not as sensitive to and prone to issues as mentioned above. The ceramic bushings are fine if the bearings are cleaned in vinegar regularly. This is why many people clean these pumps monthly and is also the reason why many people often report reduced flow after a month or so with these pumps. A little bit of buildup on the ceramic bushing and the impeller won't rotate as easily. I don't think this is as much due to the bushing being made from ceramic as it is due to both the impeller shaft and the bushing being made of ceramic. The combination of both create two opposing surfaces that are more prone to buildup. This is why higher end pumps include stainless or titanium shafts and use different materials to support the shaft at the base. Askoll uses a ceramic bushing but migrated many years back to stainless shafts. Tunze for example uses a titanium shaft and silicone to support as opposed to ceramic.

That said, this isn't the first time that I heard of using the silicone tubing in place of the ceramic bushing on these pumps. I will have to pass this along to some local people that I know with these in their tank. In fact, I may be taking a trip to a friends house myself to help him with this one so he knows that to do. It makes perfect sense that this could help reduce stalling and other issues.
 
Build up inside the ceramic bushing seizes the shaft.
Every pump on the market I know of that uses or has used ceramic bushings with a ceramic shaft had or has this problem.
 
chilli_reef said:
Build up inside the ceramic bushing seizes the shaft.
Every pump on the market I know of that uses or has used ceramic bushings with a ceramic shaft had or has this problem.
Click to expand...

This is true but some will go much longer before it becomes an issue and it's why many companies that once used ceramic shafts switches to metal shafts. The metal shaft is less prone to seizing to the shaft although it still can happen. It jus takes a lot longer. From a manufacturing perspective, the metal shaft (titanium or marine grade stainless) is much more expensive compared to ceramic. It's also heavier and likely creates more gyroscopic load which could require a stronger magnet and more powerful motor.
 
yeah, it's a bearing, just like main and rod bearings are in an engine or inside some older turbochargers. It doesn't have to look like a bearing to be a bearing.

That aside, great DYI fix!!
 
True, but if they are worried about gyroscopic cases of the wobbles they should be looking at their over all design in general IMHO lol !
Ime if those crappy shafts didn't crack, break, or sieze to the ceramic bearing then the actual bushing/bearing cup on the ends just got mutilated by the ceramic shafts.
Eheim had big problem with them cracking and eating the end bushing/bearing in their earlier models.
Pretty sure some good old non toxic lube would work wonders there too. I used vasoline a few times (miniscule amounts) always had to reapply after a couple weeks. Its hard to find a lube that doesnt break down and contaminate in warm saltwater lol !
 
A bearing supports load, a bushing guides.
I can't help it....its the back yard grease monkey in me lol !
And I guess in this case its both lol !

Not meaning to be argumentative by any means.
Its like and ocd with me and mechanical parts ! Ha !
 
Are you performing this modification on your pumps as preventative maintenance at this point or only when an issue presents itself?
 
SkullV said:
Are you performing this modification on your pumps as preventative maintenance at this point or only when an issue presents itself?
Click to expand...
I've ran through enough of these pumps to know without a shadow of a doubt that the ceramic piece is a huge flaw and it will fail. So I am doing the mod on brand new pumps as I've found no down sides...
 
chilli_reef said:
A bearing supports load, a bushing guides.
I can't help it....its the back yard grease monkey in me lol !
And I guess in this case its both lol !

Not meaning to be argumentative by any means.
Its like and ocd with me and mechanical parts ! Ha !
Click to expand...
I'm glad I just stuck with "white ceramic cylinder thingy" lol
 
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