Why is the alarm going off- how to clean a Stream.

[rvitko]

I hope this thread will answer the most FAQ. The electronic Streams have a safety feature that sound an audible alarm when the pump is jammed. The pumps vary in the frequency they need cleaning with the habitat they are used in. In my personal opinion I keep my tanks at about 380-400 ppm Calcium, I don't use magnesium or strontium supplements (any supplements except kalk and a calcium reactor for that matter). I keep the KH at 12- I use superbuffer dKH from Kent if necessary for salt I use hW Marinemix (hW Meersalz in Europe). Why do I do it this way and not keep higher Calcium levels? First of, the reefs are about 380ppm Calcium with a KH of 8, they have the advantage of trillions of gallons of this solution passing over them. I have the advantage as a hobbyist of modern technology keeping the levels reasonably constant as well. I run a slightly higher KH because the KH is more critical to the stability of a closed environment and corallin algae responds favorably and many green algaes negatively to this higher KH. A high KH has also increased the availability of the Ca. By doing this my pumps only need cleaning every 6-9 months- 9 months is pushing it and I wouldn't recommend it. Do my corals grow as fast as 500 ppm- no. They do grow fast enough and the idea of the Optimum Aquarium from Dupla applies to all aquaria, you will always have a limiting factor, by raisng the calcium you only changed it to another element be it light, flow, KH etc. Just work on balance and stability, nature has more experience than all of us.

Why do pumps become jammed with Calcium? The answer is simple and it may surprise you to learn the same thing happens in your pumps as happens at the coral polyp when skeleton is laid down for growth. Inside a pump we have both heat and vacuum, by Boyles law we decrease the solubility of CO2 and the pH increase in a local zone this precipitates CaCO3. Pumps vary in this effect, most pump have an internal temp of 4C over ambient, a Stream is about 1C. Vacuum is hard to quantify. AT the coral polyp the xoozanthellae remove CO2 from the water by photosynthetic activity, this does the same thing, the pH increase and CaCO3 precipitates and is added to the skeleton.

Now, lets get down to the pump and cleaning it-

 

[rvitko]

This is a current model 6080.60 or 6100.60 drive unit-

Here is a dissassembly for cleaning purposes- note the brake shoes were removed to detach the shaft and prop.

Please note the upper bearing, the piece at the far left after the o ring. Frequently this part is stuck to the magnet- this is the cause of 90% of alarms. The magnet should spin on this part and not be stuck to it.

If it isn't stuck to the magnet it is likely down in the impeller well, here is how to remove it- use a long 5mm Screw- the SS ones which come with the mounting hardware are ideal

This is also very important- their is a hole in the center of the magnet, this is critical as this is how water enters to cool the motor, if it is partially obstructed the vacuum and temp increase and the pump gets dirtier faster- (very bad picture, sorry) To clean it remove the brakes by tisting the prop in one hand and the magnet in the other, they pop out half way and you feel resistance and turn a bit more and they come out completely. Now you can clean the hole using a small pick and some vinegar- I use a set of brushes and picks sold for paintguns.

 

[rvitko]

This is the future- these new drive units will come with all Wavebox, 6200, 6100 and 6000 from here forward. They are one piece and cannot be dissassembled.

The same basic principles apply. The brake shoes are gone because they are not necessary on the electonic pumps- the computer stops a backwards rotation and a mechanical solution is not needed. We didn't do this earlier because it was not justifiable to have so many different assemblies in production, now we are in a different position and such a unit while increasing the amount of articles to make and store speeds the assembly process. The new unit is slightly quieter and retrofittable to all existing electronic Streams. Don't beat down the door just yet though as this is really brand new, the first pumps with these drive units just arrived and I have yet to get many for spare parts, they sent a handful for testing and that was all.

 

[rvitko]

One last thing- cleaning can also be reduced by never having the pump off. When the pump is off the warmth of the motor coil radiates inward to the impeller well raising the core temp and exaccerbating the problem. If you have a 7095 multicontroller- Interval 2 is your friend. At low speed the internal temp is very low as the pump is using almost 10w of power for a 6100 and almost 5w for a 6000, it is thus very cool and water is kept circulating through the parts.