Vinegar soak to increase power head life span.

[BobbyV]

I have been running my Ecotech MP60's for a good three years with no issues.

You would assume after paying $750 a unit, you would get at least 3 years out of them. (This is besides the point.)

I haven't cleaned them for at least a year.

I felt the back of the dry side motors and they were pretty hot.

So I chose to soak the wet sides over night, dissembled them and cleaned them up like new.

To my surprise they run cool to the touch now.

The accumulated crap on the ceramic shaft and blades put additional load on the motors.

I have Jabeos but I am lucky to get 6 months out of them.

This is a simple reminder to take care of your stuff and don't be shy to shell out a few bucks to buy quality equipment.

I have been very much impressed with these power heads.

Are they worth $750 a unit? Not 100% sure but I enjoy them for what they are.

Good luck to all and your efforts to preserve and support this hobby.

 

[CrazyEyes]

Bobby from the woodwork. Good tip btw.

 

[asbauto]

+1 Bobby... Actually I keep my jabeo powerheads cleaned and haven't seen the issues most have. I had one shaft break then that same motor went bad think it was related and due to non cleaning. My old wp40 jabeo bought second hand still works like new but it has always been cleaned frequently

 

[domvert]

I have Vortech and Jaebo- The Jaebo have to be cleaned quarterly to keep up performance while Vortech can do with yearly

 

[Webmanny]

Very good recommendation.

Not trying to highjack this thread, but I have a question though. How do you guys do this disk and for how long?

I only ask because I have two RW-8 powerheads and I feel weird leaving the tank without them while they are cleaned. Should I remove one, clean it and once that one is done, then remove the other?

If you can give me some recommendations on how to do this properly/lessons learned. Thank you all.

 

[BobbyV]

Very good recommendation.

Not trying to highjack this thread, but I have a question though. How do you guys do this disk and for how long?

I only ask because I have two RW-8 powerheads and I feel weird leaving the tank without them while they are cleaned. Should I remove one, clean it and once that one is done, then remove the other?

If you can give me some recommendations on how to do this properly/lessons learned. Thank you all.

No highjack. Great that you want to reach out and ask questions to the group. Unfortunately due to a miss spelling in your second sentence, I fully don't under stand the entire topic of question(s). But if you are simply looking for the procedure of cleaning your power heads, you would always want to have some sort of water movement to encourage oxygen exchange and help corals rid themselves of toxins/waste.

The down side of Jabeos are they are tough to fully clean, so you are better off just running them until they die and buy another. If you are running RW8's there have been some good deals on some MP10/40's that maybe worth your while.

Like I said, Vortechs are expensive and I fully don't agree with their pricing, however enjoy them for what they are and if you can buy a good used one all the better.

The Vortechs are built to be long lasting. If they were 50% cheaper, I wouldn't think many people would buy a Jabeo unless you are looking for directional positioning.

Which then leads to Tunze. They too are long lasting but through personal experience their power module doesn't last longer then 18 months. Never had a problem with the head propeller unit, just the power source burning out which are only about $50 to replace.

 

[CrazyEyes]

He's asking how long you soak them for, and if the downtime will be too long without powerheads. I'd imagine there wouldn't be any issue for a bit aslong as the return pump is running. I only soak mine for about an hour, but it'll depend on how dirty they are. If real dirty and you need to soak overnight, just do one at a time.

 

[Webmanny]

He's asking how long you soak them for, and if the downtime will be too long without powerheads. I'd imagine there wouldn't be any issue for a bit aslong as the return pump is running. I only soak mine for about an hour, but it'll depend on how dirty they are. If real dirty and you need to soak overnight, just do one at a time.

You got it. This is exactly what I was asking. I think mine are really dirty. I will do one at a time and overnight.

Is pure vinegar recommended or should I dilute it with water? I don't know if pure vinegar will be to abrasive.

 

[CrazyEyes]

Pure vinegar isn't too strong, its also not necessary, I usually do 50:50

 

[BobbyV]

Also to keep in mind what type of corals you have in your display. I have 100% SPS which require more attention.

I also soak 50/50.

I remember breaking down my Oceanic 120, which in my opinion was the best tank ever built. Too bad they are no longer in production.

I poured in about two gallons of Vinegar and the rest all water. Ran a power head for about three days. Everything including coralline algae scraped off like nothing.

I suppose the acidity in the Vinger, give it enough time and it will do its job.

I find it interesting that for those whom been around a while, we run out of stuff to talk about. I started a thread about soaking equipment in Vinegar as routine maintenance.

I was just impressed of how a clean Vortech runs vs a "loaded" one that I had to mention it.

 

[Webmanny]

Thanks for the recommendation Bobby. I'm planning on working on this tomorrow.

 

[asbauto]

My powerheads I usually do one at a time and soak them in 100 % vinegar for an hour then clean with a toothbrush if anything is left.... Repeat until all are clean