tunze 6025 magnets beware

[NanoReefWanabe]

that should get some attention and hopefully direct this post in the right direction...not sure where to post but since this is equipment related i figured this was a good place..

today i decided to make some more SW for a WC, looked in my pail to see a bunch of what looked like rust residue...didnt think too much of it since i have heard that reef crystals tends to leave a brown film in the buckets...

anyway, while cleaning and drying out my SW bucket i pulled the magnet mounts of my tunze out to find this...anyone ever see this before?

not sure what to do with my pump now since i cant use either magnet in the pail anymore..

 

[maroun.c]

I'm guessing water went into the magnet and caused it to swell and brake the outer cover. Did you drop it?

 

[shawnz28]

Looks like it either got damaged at some point allowing water in or was simply defective and had a weak point in the epoxy. I don't think there is anything to beware of with these magnets any more than any other high quality magnet mount or submersible pump for that matter. How old is the pump? The warranty is two years and as long was not caused by damage it should be covered.

In the mean time you could simply swap the good magnet to be used in the tank as long as it is in working order. Is that a crack in the epoxy in the first pic of the second magnet?

 

[Mindflux]

I've had a magnet rust on me (there was a hole in the epoxy) but it never swelled like that. Roger did replace it for me but also he assured me that the metal in the neodymium magnets contain nothing that would harm your tank even if exposed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium_magnet#Properties

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

I'm guessing water went into the magnet and caused it to swell and brake the outer cover. Did you drop it?

i have never dropped it...but i did buy it used, however i have had it for four years, never noticed any damage to it prior to this...

Looks like it either got damaged at some point allowing water in or was simply defective and had a weak point in the epoxy. I don't think there is anything to beware of with these magnets any more than any other high quality magnet mount or submersible pump for that matter. How old is the pump? The warranty is two years and as long was not caused by damage it should be covered.

In the mean time you could simply swap the good magnet to be used in the tank as long as it is in working order. Is that a crack in the epoxy in the first pic of the second magnet?

yeah both magnets are damaged/rusted/broken open...i did not mean for this to be a buyer beware, as i love tunze pumps and products...just a heads up, as when ever i cleaned the pump i left the magnets attached to the bucket and only removed the pump itself, never glancing twice at the magnets..i am not worried about warranty or anything, as the pumps are considerably out of it...and for a mixing pump it works fine rolling around in the bottom of the pail anyway..

I've had a magnet rust on me (there was a hole in the epoxy) but it never swelled like that. Roger did replace it for me but also he assured me that the metal in the neodymium magnets contain nothing that would harm your tank even if exposed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium_magnet#Properties

that is good news, though i trust very little of what i read on wikipedia...i always thought neodymium magnets had nickle in them or some other harmful metal which is why they needed to be epoxied or rubberized


thanks all

 

[shawnz28]

Well if out of warranty the up side is you can buy just the magnet set for considerably less than a whole new pump. In the US they are about 22 dollars.

 

[Mindflux]

I wonder if this failure had to do with the magnets trying to adhere to a curved surface (bucket) versus a flat pane of glass? Perhaps it allowed the magnets to bow slightly which eventually lead to cracking and subsequently resulting in complete failure once the saltwater corroded the magnets enough.

 

[Mindflux]

that is good news, though i trust very little of what i read on wikipedia...i always thought neodymium magnets had nickle in them or some other harmful metal which is why they needed to be epoxied or rubberized


thanks all

Wikipedia is checked pretty regularly between edits for accuracy. Presumably by other contributors, but I'd say articles like this are probably as a whole considerably more accurate than say an article about someone with their name in the news a lot and wiki 'trolls' editing the page for laughs.

There ARE Nickel Plated neodymium magnets, but there'd be no use in plating them in an application like this anyway.

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

I wonder if this failure had to do with the magnets trying to adhere to a curved surface (bucket) versus a flat pane of glass? Perhaps it allowed the magnets to bow slightly which eventually lead to cracking and subsequently resulting in complete failure once the saltwater corroded the magnets enough.

could be...buckets are pretty pliable though, and the contact surface area is so small, i cant imagine much of a curve...

that is reassuring about the magnets too...i have never seen nickel rust either so i would assume there isnt any in them...

 

[rvitko]

What rusts is the iron plates inside, the magnets are sandwiched between iron plates, they are not nickel plated, just raw neodymium magnets. The two possible causes are some pinhole in the resin or being dropped and a crack forming in the resin, high heat could be another possible cause but I usually only see this with cleaning magnets and maintenance companies where they are left in a hot car for an extended time and this really takes an extreme, like a summer in Arizona. Once water reaches the iron it starts to rust, I would just replace the magnets.

 

[Freelancer]

I have similar issue with the magnet http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25162114#post25162114

Can't send message to Roger since I didn't post 10 messages