Rising temps may mean jamming pumps

Matt Rogers · 01-14-2005, 08:18 PM

Well this is the second time this is happened to me, and now I am well aware of all the clues... so I hope the following helps some people:

I've been pretty busy the last couple weeks with work, the new server etc.. however I did pause for a moment a week or so ago and noted that my tank was a couple degrees hotter than it usually is.

I didn't have much time to think about it, but I was starting to notice other things in the last few days... my chromis was acting funny.. the return of this dental floss algae that I thought was receding and a couple spots on my angel.

Now I don't know if I can attribute it all to just one thing.. but it all added up to something is askew. [smiley=stop.gif]

So I had a look under the hood.
(One drawback to having an auto top off system is you are not looking at the sump everyday.)

Sure enough I noticed that my Remora skimmer wasn't running. Since I recently started dosing kalk again I wasn't all that surprised but I was kicking myself for not adding all this up sooner. I am not sure how long it has been out of commission.

So I unplugged the maxi-jet and pulled it out. It was hot to the touch. JAMMED. >

That settled the temp mystery right away.

I pulled it out and brought it to the sink. When I pulled it apart a big cake of kalk came out. I cleaned it and of course, being a blockhead, put it back on the skimmer without testing it first in a bucket. Of course it wouldn't start.

So back into the sink and in a bucket it went where I finagled it to life.

Now all is well and I can relax for a while.. tomorrow I will do a water change for good measure.

HOPE THIS HELPS... Check your pumps!

matt

Birdlady · 01-14-2005, 08:50 PM

Bummer Dude!

Call me neurotic...I check under the hood every single day! Paranoid! I am

Just a peek mind you but....

Matt Rogers · 01-14-2005, 09:07 PM

Yeah I try too.. doesn't always happen though. My whole house is turned upside down at the moment.. I need to get a grip... someday.

Gresham · 01-15-2005, 02:08 AM

Hah, something similiar happenned to me (well, I found it, but not my tank) just the other day. Sump water level was low enough that the skimmer pump was sucking in air. At some point, it ran dry causing it to heat up the tank. For some reason, it was not making any noticable noise. The return pump is plumbed lower, so it never sucked any air. The reason I even found it, was I was installing a new two stage controller and it read 84 degrees!

You should attend the next BAR meeting Matt, it's a DIY automaton with fail safes and paging I believe

Matt Rogers · 01-15-2005, 08:55 AM

(SOunds cool G send me a PM.)

One thing I noticed with this maxijet impeller is that you have to completely remove the axel and remove the kalk from it too.

JK901 · 05-04-2008, 06:13 PM

I know this was an old thread, but I just went down to feed and noticed my BTA all shrivelled up. A quick look at the temp and I was 6 degrees hot at 85 degrees. A quick jump on 3reef, scan to find the post and the suspect hot pump was found.

Thanks.

omard · 05-04-2008, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JK901

I know this was an old thread, but I just went down to feed and noticed my BTA all shrivelled up. A quick look at the temp and I was 6 degrees hot at 85 degrees. A quick jump on 3reef, scan to find the post and the suspect hot pump was found.

Thanks.

Probably has happened at one time or another to most of us.

Pumps need regular maintenance also and often overlooked.

If you have an intake screen on any of them, make sure to check frequently to ensure not plugged up.

I don't bother to use, but have to change impellers every other year.

Also keep spares on hand. (re: tangster)