Wavebox issue

[broncofish]

I have a wavebox in my high school classroom that is around a year old, purchased new. It will run for about 5 minutes and stop working. The power supply gets almost hot to the touch. Nothing has changed, and I have always done proper maintenance on the pump. If I unplug and plug it back in, it will run for another 5 and shut off. Any suggestions?

 

[rvitko]

Is this a 6215 or 6206? The most likely culprit would be a drive unit that is stuck to the metal shaft it is supposed to spin on due to calcium build up. This can only be removed by removing the drive unit from the shaft and soaking the motor with shaft and drive unit separately.

 

[broncofish]

Its the 6215. I'll try soaking it and see what happens. When I noticed the issue, I completely dismantled everything. Is there something I should pay particular attention to?

 

[rvitko]

About a year ago the 6215 pump changed so the version you have is important, until November 2011 all Stream pumps had a removable shaft with a blue bushing on either end, the drive unit should spin freely on the shaft which does not move during normal operation. Current Stream pumps have a fixed shaft, it is permanently imbedded in the motor, the operation is the same but you cannot remove it without damaging the pump, again it should be free to spin on the shaft.

 

[broncofish]

Mine has the removable shaft. I took it apart again and see no issues with it moving freely. There is a metal bushing with a silicone cover at the bottom(between impellar and cap) that has a groove in it. I assume this is meant to be pointed up toward the impellar, however I see no functioning purpose for this part other than a spacer. The pump is perfectly clean. It runs on the 7092 controller. After putting it back in the tank today it ran for about 35 mins and shut off. I was in the middle of a lesson so I ignored it. Then it turned back on 10 minutes later for about another 20 mins. Then it ran full blast(no pulse) for a few mins and shut back off. Now it wont do anything unless I unplug it and plug it back in. Thanks for your help. Suggestions?

 

[rvitko]

Their are no metal parts except the titanium shaft, the disk is plastic and it has a silicon cup that sits under it, the rubber should not touch the prop magnet base, the grooved side of the plastic disk is what should contact the magnet base.

I would send in the pump for repair, please include the power supply and a note with return address and phone number-

Tunze USA
305 Victor St
Austin, TX 78753

 

[broncofish]

Thanks. Do you want me to send the controller too?

 

[rvitko]

It would be rare, but you might as well so we can check everything.

 

[rvitko]

I have had the pump running for 2 hours now without any issues, i am not detecting any stray voltage and the wattage draw is 17W, so far so good but I will keep it running.

On initial inspection I found one small issue with the power connection being very loose, I adjusted this and it is tight now, this may have been the only issue.

 

[broncofish]

Im trying to decide if thats good or bad news. Thanks for looking at it. I dont know what could be causing the issue in our tank.

 

[rvitko]

We will see, there are pump issues that can take a few days to show. If the power connection is loose it can arc and trigger a safety shut down. It has a spring that can be adjusted to increase the tension for a tighter connection.

 

[rvitko]

Earlier today the pump quit responding to the controller and just runs full power. I am replacing the motor and shipping back today.

 

[broncofish]

Thank you very much. This is why Tunze is worth every penny. I have a bucket full of "other" brands that have died to remind me of this.

Thanks again

 

[rvitko]

Meant to PM