Tunze 9010 turns itself on and off

[maxan]

Today the skimmer started to turn it self on and off by itself.

I removed the skimmer to clean it up, I pulled out the pump from below and put it into a bucket full with water.

It runs for a minute or so, then it stops for some time, starts up, and stops.

I guess the pump is saying "goodbye" to me.

The skimmer is around 5 months old..

 

[rvitko]

Have you dissassembled the drive unit? This generally indicates the pump is overheating, turning off and restarting after it cools off. At 5 months it would definitely be due for a thorough cleaning. Follow the instructions in the manual and be sure the hole in the center of the magnet is free of lime and the upper bearing is not stuck to the magnet. Clean any lime deposits with vinegar and a brush.

 

[maxan]

I've cleaned up the hydrofoamer as good sa I belive I can, removed the impeller housing and cleaned the impeller etc, didn't look that dirty/messy.

Am I supposed to be able to rotate the impeller without using much force? I'm not able to rotate it, it feels "stuck" but that might be normal? When the hydrofoamer is running it pumps alot of water so I don't belive it's stuck?!

How far can I go to disassemble the hydrofoamer?

I bought the unit 2:nd hand so I've only run it myself for a month before it stopped, it was cleaned up when I recived it so it didn't look bad now either.

 

[rvitko]

The impeller should pull out along with a magnet that looks similar to the impellers of most submersible pumps. If it doesn't it is locked in with calcium build up.

 

[maxan]

I will buy a bottle of vinegar tomorrow and give it a new try.

 

[maxan]

Ok, I've had the hydrofoamer for a couple of hours in a bath of vineger but I still get the same result. I tried to run it in the vinegerbath to see if something got cleaned up when the parts started to move..

I've attached a picture since it's hard to explain, but is any of the parts in the circles removable? I don't want to try and find out myself the parts is not removable

Is there anything particular I should look for? You said something about a hole?

 

[maxan]

Ok, managed to remove the center parts now as well, two screwdrivers did the trick since it was a little stuck.

I saw the hole through the white central plastic, it looked clean, i could see "through" , I pushed some air through the hole in case of anything was stuck.

All parts really looks clean, I don't think there is to much more to disassemble..

Please have a look at the pictures of the internal parts, to me it doesn't look like there is much cleaning to do.

pictures

 

[rvitko]

Does it restart now? Is the fit still tight? Can you feel any bulges in the impeller well?

 

[maxan]

It feels smooth inside the impeller well and it's not hard to remove it now, the only force keeping it back is the "magnetic" force. It still only runs for a minute.

Question: I've tried to run it both "free" in water without the "air-connection" and installed in the unit with the air-connection. Is it beeing cooled by the air, or by "sucking" water into the impeller well?

 

[rvitko]

It is cooled by the water, this should make no difference. I suspect the motor has a fault, if you send it to me I will replace it. I only need the actual motor block, keep the base with the venturi on it.

Tunze USA
305 Victor St
Austin, TX 78753

 

[maxan]

The hydrofoamer motorblock is now replaced by Tunze in Germany. Thanks for the help checking possible errors before sending it away.

It's now shooting out alot of microbubbles from the bottom (mounted in the tank). Hoping it's just the "run in phase". Aprox how long before it has gone through the "run in phase"? I guess I could just check the cup, when it starts to skim, it's working and not any longe rin the "run in phase"

 

[rvitko]

The skimmer is built so that it runs normally with the pump a bit dirty swo when new it is a bit overpowered. It may take a couple weeks to settle down.