Wave timer functions and Stream wear questions

[K. Lee]

Hello,

Does either different time or power of the waves bear any difference on the wear of the "Stream"? IOW, will going from say 30% to 100% power every 2 seconds on a "Stream" cause more wear on the devices then going from 80% to 100% every 5 seconds, or does it not make any difference?

Thanks,

Lee

 

[rvitko]

On the electronic pumps it makes no noticable difference. When the drive units fail from wear it is the break shoes which are destroyed- this is a rare condition unless you use an aftermarket wavemaker that suddenly starts and stops the pump- in which case this can be almost guaranteed to occur within 30days. It is my experience that on electronic pumps the only failure is sudden catastrophic failure like a ruptured drive magnet. This sort of failure happens as a result of insufficient cooling through deposits of calcium or from prexisting stress within the magnet as a result of the manufacturing process. It is important to note that while the Stream is new it is only a slight modification of our electronic pumps which have been made with the present drive unit for 3 years and with an older drive unit for 10+ years prior, we know what to expect. This catastrophic failure occurs for about 1 out of 50 pumps within a couple years and it is as simple as replacing a $25 drive unit if the pump is out of it's two year warranty. This condition would have occured regardless of switching frequency as a certain portion of magnets will just have the right stresses or conditions to lead to such a failure and the only preventitive practice would be to keep them clean.

 

[K. Lee]

Thank you for the informative answer. I suppose then using the feed button will not do any harm either?

Thanks again,

Lee

 

[rvitko]

Nope- the electronic pump has a true soft start as we have full control of the motor and the rotational speed. In general soft start is BS as a coil is either energized sufficiently to drive the motor or it is not. But in the case of the electronic pumps we have a unique coil configuraton and we have control of the hz pattern and are not dependent on the 60hz of line voltage so it is possible to energize the coils and still have a slow rotation. On a standard powerhead whether ours or another brand, once the electromagnetic field is strong enough- boom 3600rpms so soft start is a myth in all other applications.