Via Aqua mp6500 caught fire

installman

New member
I have been keeping aquariums for over 30 years and have never had anything like this happen. This afternoon the return pump for my 180 just started on fire. Luckily I was home at the time to deal with it, or my whole house could have burned down.
 
Yes it was supposed to be good for internal or external. It also said on the box that it was thermally protected. Here are a few pics
<a href="http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z310/installman1/?action=view&current=P9080176.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z310/installman1/P9080176.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z310/installman1/?action=view&current=P9080175.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z310/installman1/P9080175.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
I am just glad I was home at the time, or it would have been way worse.
 
Yeah I used these pumps allthe time but the shaft always eventually broke. THere pumps are not made very well to cut down on cost
 
Despite the loss of the pump and I am sure a lovely melted platic smell in the house this is simply fabulous news. Thank goodness you were around and awake at the time.

It is good of you to bring this forward too as there may be some other members who are running these and decide to move on to a higher quality product.
30 years is a long time in this or any hobby for that matter, I am sure you have known your share of equipment failure over this time, hopefully you have a backup pump. Perhaps another brand? :twitch:

Did this pump give you any warning signs at all?
Considering the dozens of electrical devices running on my system I will admit news like this always makes me nervous. Time for us all to go look for anything running hot or noisy and make sure the salt creep is in check.

Oh and one more thing. If you don't have a smoke alarm near the tank or equipment room consider installman and buy one.
 
I posted here to let everyone know it can happen. I bought this pump to replace a dart that was getting loud and running hot. It had been working fine for about 6 months and never got anywhere near as hot as the dart until yesterday. Funny I have 2 smoke alarms within 30' of the tank, but both have been disabled due to certain people who shall remain un named burning things on the stove. I will be re-arming the smoke alarms today. And Yes I did have a spare pump laying around so no loss of fish, or corals at least.
 
Very lucky you were a) awake and b) home. Because when you're sleeping, you have no sense of smell, people always think they'll just wake up to the smell of smoke, nope doesn't happen like that unfortunately. Need alarms, for a fish tank either a photo-electric or ionisation alarm would be good, there's no real steam or chemical issues rising up from them. Thanks for reminding me though, I'm a firey and get a bit lazy with my own place at times.
 
the angels were watching you ,Glad you are okay, There is some junk aquarium equipment out there after thirty years in this hobby we all need to be careful with some less than good pumps, just got shocked by my truaqua internal Uv ,I will call them in AM.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. My wife emailed the manufacturer saturday with the above pics attached after she had calmed down a little. Then after searching for a while she found a Phone # for them. She called and got voicemail, so she left a message explaining what happened and asked for a return call monday when they opened. She has not recieved a return call yet.

j tavares I agree with you I should have known better. I will definitely be more careful next time.
 
Just a quick update. My wife has been trying to contact these folks for over a week now. They do not respond to email, and no one ever answers the phone. I feel the least they can do is give me a refund for the purchase price so I can put that money towards a new pump.
 
Another update. We finally got an email back from commodity axis regarding the pump. They said to return the pump to them for warranty evaluation. I will keep you posted as to what happens from here
 
Ok last update. My wife called and spoke with the owner of Corals and fins the store we bought the pump from. He has been helpful throughout this whole ordeal. He told her to bring the pump back for credit on a replacement of our choice, and he will deal with the manufacturer himself regarding the other pump.
 
Good to hear they are taking care of you.

And probably good for the manufacturer too... I'd rather deal with Lee haha.
 
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