Red Dragon Gen 2 pump

[snowmansnow]

anyone ever have one JUST STOP?
my bubble king has been unplugged for 2 days due to some "reasons" and when I just plugged it in... the pump won't start up ....

any ideas?

b

 

[fidofence]

Take it apart and clean it

 

[jef4y]

Fidofence;847169 wrote: Take it apart and clean it

Would be my first step... Salt creep or calcium build up.

 

[snowmansnow]

It's in the sink as I speak . The ease of maintenance is something I love about this thing .

Oddly. It will start up if laying on its side so the intake is pointing up, but doesn't start sitting up right.?

 

[acroholic]

Man, hope it is not the block. Them boys is expensive.

But, if you do not have it already, here is a link for the Royal-Exclusiv spare parts website in case you need it. Might be cheaper than trying to get it from their NA Rep that has the worst customer service in the world, Proline Aquatics. They have a semi annual newsletter you can subscribe to as well.

 

[snowmansnow]

Acroholic;847202 wrote: Man, hope it is not the block. Them boys is expensive.

But, if you do not have it already, here is a link for the Royal-Exclusiv spare parts website in case you need it. Might be cheaper than trying to get it from their NA Rep that has the worst customer service in the world, Proline Aquatics. They have a semi annual newsletter you can subscribe to as well.

http://royalexclusiv.net/newsletter.php?action=process&MODsid=1db110d993a1de455510d732e6d30693">http://royalexclusiv.net/newsletter.php?action=process&MODsid=1db110d993a1de455510d732e6d30693</a>[/QUOTE]

i can run it without the cowel .. but it slows down and eventually stops... not sure whats going on ... nothing is broken or cracked that I can see

Edit: that being said I suppose it could be working its way loose without the cowel on there...

more testing tonight.

problem is now I'm spoiled by BK haha

Edit: I found several places that had the pump blocks... around $212 from what I saw.. if thats I, I can handle it to have a basically new BK mini200

 

[acroholic]

SnowManSnow;847210 wrote: i can run it without the cowel .. but it slows down and eventually stops... not sure whats going on ... nothing is broken or cracked that I can see

Edit: that being said I suppose it could be working its way loose without the cowel on there...

more testing tonight.

problem is now I'm spoiled by BK haha

Edit: I found several places that had the pump blocks... around $212 from what I saw.. if thats I, I can handle it to have a basically new BK mini200

Knock on wood all mine are woking right now. I have three RD 1500s between my two Vertex Cone skimmers, so I could easily be in the same situation any time.

 

[ralph atl]

SnowManSnow;847179 wrote: It's in the sink as I speak . The ease of maintenance is something I love about this thing .

Oddly. It will start up if laying on its side so the intake is pointing up, but doesn't start sitting up right.?

muriatic acid & water will clean in minutes or vinegar in a few hours, btw....

 

[snowmansnow]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to replace the motor. I have the motor in a bucket of water to observe, and when i plug it in it will just BEGIN to spin but not go around... sometimes it will start and spin slow, but never act like the power house that it is.

These red dragons are amazing, and I've come to depend on them as a pump.

Honestly, I attribute a LOT of my tanks success to this skimmer / pump.

looks like I'll be trying my luck with proline later today.. .I heard they have abysmal CS

b

Edit:

mysterybox;847302 wrote: muriatic acid & water will clean in minutes or vinegar in a few hours, btw....

There isn't really any kind of deposit on the thing, and as far as the motor goes... well.. just just incased ... so there isn't much going on there that I can help.

b

Edit: WOW... according to RA site... the pump is 720$? I've GOT to be converting euros wrong ...

 

[snowmansnow]

Talked with Riley from proline this afternoon, I'm suppose to get an email with prices and repair options but I haven't heard from him.

im a little concerned that this process could drag out and I'll be without a skimmer for months on end. To add to it I'm here in the middle of no where, so folks that have one to borrow are out of the question. Gotta love high cotton alabama eh...

 

[markl]

Maybe buy a cheap skimmer used on at his or another site and pay shipping until you can get yours fixed. Probably could sale it for what you pay and just lose out on shipping.

 

[acroholic]

SnowManSnow;847578 wrote: Talked with Riley from proline this afternoon, I'm suppose to get an email with prices and repair options but I haven't heard from him.

im a little concerned that this process could drag out and I'll be without a skimmer for months on end. To add to it I'm here in the middle of no where, so folks that have one to borrow are out of the question. Gotta love high cotton alabama eh...

Ryley is the Proline CS Department, and I don't have enough energy to type out all the BS I had to go through with Proline. I don't know if the issue is him or the Proline guidelines he has to work around.

Are you looking for warranty work, or just to replace the pump? If you are sure you have to replace the motor, I would buy it from one of Proline's distributors like Aquarium Specialty or Premium Aquatics if at all possible, even if it costs more. You will most likely get it faster.

Just an example of the Proline BS. I bought a Vertex Vectra Engine skimmer neck cleaner for my Alpha 300. The Vectra motor has a clear acrylic cover that showcases the innards, and mine came factory sealed with the inside of the acrylic top smeared and disfigured with acrylic cement (I confirmed that). I contacted Proline, and they told me it was evaporated silicone lubricant used to lube to seal the o-ring top seal, which was the biggest load of BS I had ever heard. They re-contacted me and told me they would replace the engine as a "favor", but I had to ship it back to them at my expense, which was BS as well. I shipped it back and they got it on a wednesday. I contacted them the following Monday, and Ryley told me they "only look at returned stuff on Tuesdays," so my stupid Vectra Engine sat at their place for an entire week (Wednesday-Tuesday) before they even opened it up!

It is things like that, and a generally infuriating, condescending attitude from Proline towards their Customers that makes me so mad.

I have other examples, but that is a good illustration of the quality of Proline CS.

 

[glxtrix]

I just went through all this. Order it from RE and be done. No company in the US has the blocks anymore. I'm not getting into it but you wont find one and proline told me to source it from RE. The good side, mine shipped on the 12th and it arrived today If your block has the calcium bypass tube from the rear of the block to the volute, it will cost more. Mine did not and it was $326 converted to US and the bank will charge you $45 for the foreign transaction. Lame, but as I said before, after talking with may companies, these pumps are not being imported anymore....unless some more happened to come in after I talked with everyone. While there were a few days of no communication with RE, overall, I was very impressed, transaction was easy and shipping was down right FAST!

 

[snowmansnow]

Michelle at Premium Aquatics has handled it for me. $200.

No real trouble at all.

Grateful I haven't had any issues yet.

B

 

[glxtrix]

Good for you man....seems like the whole US was dried up when I was trying to track mine down. Too bad those places that magically got them again didn't contact me. Oh well.

 

[markl]

Glad to hear you got it handled man.

 

[KrisDeitz]

If you need a Skimmer I am not using my ATB skimmer. Rates for 250gs You can borrow it