Stray Current and Brand NEW External Pump

[oldedb]

I am in the middle of a build and I fired up a brand new Reeflo Hammerhead pump tonight... I was letting it run just to make sure I didn't have any plumbing leaks and I reached in to the tank and I could feel a slight current on a finger with a slight cut... I started the process of elimination and the reeflo was the last thing I expected. Any idea what can cause this on a brand new pump?

Are there steps I can take to try to eliminate the stray current or would this be considered a defective pump?

Was hoping to transfer all of my livestock from my 60 to my 120 this weekend!

 

[j65love14]

I had a stray current and it wasnt fun.

 

[acroholic]

Holy smokes, you are running a Hammerhead on a 120? That pump moves about 6000 gph. Got a lot of peripherals?

 

[oldedb]

Acroholic;975811 wrote: Holy smokes, you are running a Hammerhead on a 120? That pump moves about 6000 gph. Got a lot of peripherals?

Sump room in the basement w/ tank upstairs in the office. Also have a 30G frag tank and planned for reactors.

 

[acroholic]

oldedb;975821 wrote: Sump room in the basement w/ tank upstairs in the office. Also have a 30G frag tank and planned for reactors.

You should have plenty of flow, then!!:shades:

 

[joseayes]

Did you plug the pump in another outlet/circuit in the house? (With equal guage extencion cord) Wondering if there's any problem with the ground on that receptacle, and ( if you opt for return) before you send it back (I would do, best option) just make a little mark on pump that you should only know about and you shouldn't see it when your new replacement arrives.

 

[oldedb]

Acroholic;975923 wrote: You should have plenty of flow, then!!:shades:

Acro - you are right about that... I might have to add some more tanks.

In the process of trying to fix the stray current, I decided I might as well try the baracuda impeller.. I don't know what the trick is but I couldn't come close to budging the hammerhead impeller! In the process I noticed a little rubber washer on the impeller shaft (right before the shaft go's in to the main body of the pump) wasn't seated right. I seated it and just decided to put the pump back in w/ the hammer head impeller.... Low and behold, there was no longer any stray current.

 

[acroholic]

oldedb;976031 wrote: Acro - you are right about that... I might have to add some more tanks.

In the process of trying to fix the stray current, I decided I might as well try the baracuda impeller.. I don't know what the trick is but I couldn't come close to budging the hammerhead impeller! In the process I noticed a little rubber washer on the impeller shaft (right before the shaft go's in to the main body of the pump) wasn't seated right. I seated it and just decided to put the pump back in w/ the hammer head impeller.... Low and behold, there was no longer any stray current.

Congratulations on eliminating the stray current. You should preemptively order a replacement seal for the pump, as many of them fail regularly. The pump is good, but the seals seem a regular wear item on them.

 

[oldedb]

Truthfully - I have a bit of buyers remorse as I think I have too much pump and I know it's not if but when the seal go's. In the process of researching the stray current, I read numerous people suggest the same thing... Looks like I will need to get that back up seal.

 

[acroholic]

oldedb;976044 wrote: Truthfully - I have a bit of buyers remorse as I think I have too much pump and I know it's not if but when the seal go's. In the process of researching the stray current, I read numerous people suggest the same thing... Looks like I will need to get that back up seal.

The good thing about the HH is that the more you valve it down on the output, the less electricity it will consume, so it is not like you are stuck with an energy hog using the full wattage draw put only using 1/2 of the output. The HH is an energy efficient pump to start with as well.

Downside is I don't think it helps the pump seal lifespan when you throttle it down. However, that is just a guess on my part. I could be wrong. I have a HH Hybrid for a backup on my 465, but I use an Iwaki 70 as my primary return. The 70 allows me to run full throttle and power my peripherals (2 MRC reactors), vs when I was using the HH and had to ballvalve the output down about 50%.

You have a decent head height to pump to, so you might be surprised.