sudden decrease in flow, jebao dc3000

[picoreefguy]

as the title states i've noticed that my jebao dc3000 has gone through a sudden and substantial decrease in flow. i was feeding my tank yesterday and every thing was normal, the pump pushed enough water to keep my main 1/2" drain pipe at a full siphon and have just a trickle of water into my secondary drain so that its near dead silent. went in to feed today and noticed the drain gurgling and sucking a lot of air, i thought maybe i had turned the flow up and forgot about it so i turned the pump down to what i thought was normal running speed of 4 notches but after that it still was making a lot of noise. so i checked the controller and it was on the lowest setting (the controller is behind the tank and i can hit the buttons without looking at it so i didnt see what it was at). i tried bumping it up to normal and still nothing, i turned it up full blast and it was struggling to get a full siphon and now it was sucking in more air due to the vortex created by the downward flow into the drain pipe and the noise was awefull. before this i could turn the pump all the way up to max flow and my secondary drain would be close to a full siphon.

im going out in a bit so i didnt really have time to check the pump for any obstructions or clogs, ill have to check into that tomorrow. but i was wondering if any of you had a similar experience or know why this happened.

 

[danh]

Check the connections. I think that happened with one of my 12000s. The power into the controller started backing out. I'm pretty sure I had that symptom.

If not I'd power cycle it a few times to see if it cranks back up right then pull it and check the impeller.

 

[picoreefguy]

got to it this morning, i checked (unplugged and replugged) the power connection to the controller to pump connection to the controller and i also took the pump out and broke it down and cleaned it. power cycling it didnt help and cleaning it only barely improved the results. at full blast it now pushes about as much water as it did at 3 notches before the decrease started. its still not maintaining a full siphon and will suck air a few times a minute. im gonna put a sponge on the drain to prevent the noises because its loud enough to hear in my bedroom and thats unacceptable.

ill probably end up getting a vectra if i cant get this figured out since ive been wanting one for a while and the rest of my tank is pretty much ecotech anyway

 

[myreefclub0070]

the magnetic coil might be burnt, if you opened it up and cleaned the pump itself and didn't see any damage / broken parts, 3 things left power, control, motor coil.
i'm guessing you don't have access to another pump to test all parts?

 

[axio]

Picoreefguy;1091519 wrote: ill probably end up getting a vectra if i cant get this figured out since ive been wanting one for a while and the rest of my tank is pretty much ecotech anyway

Vectra pumps has stepped the pump game up so much that if it is in your budget there really isn't any other option. That thing is a pump sent from God himself. We have been replacing countless external pumps with them. The head pressure rating those little things is insane!

Even though Abyzz pumps eventually did come out in the USA the other year. The Ecotech Vectra are MUCH more affordable to an end consumer in that style of pump. If you haven't ever heard of Abyzz before I recommend checking them out... in my opinion they are hands down THE BEST pumps on the market, period. So when you compare an Ecotech pump at $350-450 to an Abyzz that I believe starts at $1,200... it starts looking like an amazing deal =)

 

[myreefclub0070]

i looked into that Abyzz at one point, totally sick, i didn't even know that pump existed then i saw the price...ouch.

 

[picoreefguy]

no marlon unfortunately i dont have another one to compare and test. and jakub the abyzz does look awesome but i dont think ill be spending that much on a single item for my tank any time soon lol. i will most likely end up getting a vectra. its not cheap but it wont break the bank either and im glad to pay that price for the quality and support that ecotech brings to the table

 

[myreefclub0070]

not sure how you can get it but i'm sure i have a control pad and a power supply.

 

[Adam]

I would tend to think the power supply and or controller would go bad before the coil started to go. A simple test would be to connect a voltage meter up to the output lead from the controller. At the highest setting you should be seeing something very close to 24V. If it's not you just narrowed it down to one of those components. Then take the controller apart and look for bulging capacitors or other signs of damage like scorch makes on the PCB. My gut is leaning towards the power supply.

If by chance it's the capacitors I can replace them on the PCB for you.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Talk to cnbridge. He's a Jebao distributor. He might have seen this issue and know what causes it or have some other insight.

 

[picoreefguy]

well i woke up at 230 this morning and couldnt get back to sleep, while i was laying in bed i noticed my tank sounded louder than normal so i grabbed my phone and started turning things off and on to see what it was and it turns out that my return was part of the problem, my skimmer pump was touching the acrylic and making a tiny bit of noise but when i turned off the return it was 70% quieter so maybe there was some small damage that i missed durring my cleaning. im gonna take it apart again tonight to double check.

thanks for the tips Adam, i dont have a voltage meter so i cant check that but ill check for bulging capacitors or any other signs of ware and tear tonight when i get off work. thanks Jeff ill send him a pm and see if he knows the cause and or solution. i think that even if i do find a solution to this im gonna order a vectra and use it as my return and if i can get the dc3000 fixed ill use it on my reactors since its easier to control than a maxi jet

 

[picoreefguy]

i contacted cnbridge and he sent out a power supply. i hooked it up and still the same results. so my only other guess would be that its the controller. i went ahead and ordered a vectra m1 because i have wanted one for a while and what better time than when you have a return malfunction, and on top of that i dont feel like looking for another controller. it came in today so ill get that plumbed up within a day or two, gotta run to the hardware store to get a pvc coupling and a barbed fitting. and gotta redo a couple things in my overflow because i want to take advantage of the extra flow thats available to me now.

 

[Adam]

My offer to look at the controller stands. If it is the caps I can replace them and you'll have a backup pump.
I've repaired 3 Samsung tv's that had bad caps...

 

[picoreefguy]

anit77;1092053 wrote: My offer to look at the controller stands. If it is the caps I can replace them and you'll have a backup pump.
I've repaired 3 Samsung tv's that had bad caps...

that would be awesome. once i get the vectra plumbed in ill open up the controller to check if its a bulging cap and if it is ill send it to you.