Tunze, Whats up with the magnets??

[Scuba Dan]

I have always enjoyed the quality and design of Tunze products, I was a bit surprised with what I found when doing some maintenance on my aquarium. Im not sure if this was just a fluke or what. Never had issues before when I owned the 9002 and the 9004. skimmers. This magnet is off my Tunze 3162 filter. As you can see one magnet looks fine, the other is in bad shape. Looked a lot worse before I wiped it down and cleaned it up a bit. The filter is out of warranty. Can I order a new one?
Thanks....

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[rvitko]

Yes, it is part 6025.515. You may be able to just clean the magnet, the flaky rust suggests that this stain is just iron it picked up, even GFO dust. The magnets themselves are ceramic and cannot rust, the problem above all with this design is the 3D surface leaves a lot of area to pick up filings, dust, etc which is iron based and then rusts staining the magnet holder. Their is an iron plate under the magnets and it is coated with polyurethane, usually if this coating is breached their is a pinhole with a bullseye like stain emanating from it between the magnets. In any case, the only product is ferric oxide, the same material we use as GFO and it is relatively non toxic outside of feeding algaes. The newer model uses rare earth magnets and they are smooth and fully coated. I might try just soaking it overnight in phosphoric acid or vinegar and giving it a brush with a toothbrush, especially if you have reason to believe it is just GFO dust.