Cleaning an MP40 wetside. How do you do it?

Daniel@R2R · Jan 17, 2018

Got up this morning and noticed my MP40 QD was a bit noisy. I pulled the wetside for cleaning (it was a bit overdue). It's soaking in vinegar/water now and I'll disassemble and clean it after a good soak. This got me curious about how others handle their MP40 maintenance. How do you guys clean yours?

How often do you clean it?
How long do you soak it?
Do you disassemble yours?

Just curious about how you guys do it.

Jeepguy242 · Jan 17, 2018

I only have korallia’s but that is the way I clean them

AdamNC · Jan 17, 2018

I just take the cage off the wetside, soak it for a few hours and then toothbrush it under running tap water. Shake off the excess water and replace.

GoVols · Jan 17, 2018

I have the ole Gyre 130.
Just been soaking the pump in vinegar (when I feel the need) and go back over it with a Tunze brush.

I've had the Gyre for along time and have never pulled it apart.

Daltrey · Jan 17, 2018

I just throw it in the dishwasher and run it on sanitize.

Daltrey · Jan 17, 2018

J/k soak in vinager/water for an hour and scrub with a toothbrush once every few months.

Disclaimer: I will not be held responsible if you run your powerhead thru the dishwasher.

redfishbluefish · Jan 17, 2018

I use to vinegar soak overnight, but after losing three wet sides because the plastic casing on the magnet leaked and caused the magnets to rust and swell, I now only clean with water using a plastic bristle brush.

mjlash22 · Jan 17, 2018

Vinegar water soak/wash seems to be a fairly common method for all forms of power heads. Just purchased 2 MP40's so I do not personally have experience with them, but I have done the same on my previous power heads.

Reefnewb · Jan 17, 2018

I clean the magnat and impeller with water only. Same for the case, but for the cage i will let that soak on 50/50 water vinegar mix for an hour and then wash off all the coraline algae.

drawman · Jan 17, 2018

I disassemble and let soak in diluted vinegar, scrub with a toothbrush, then rinse. I probably do this every other month. Same with my gyre.

ca1ore · Jan 17, 2018

The frequency with which I clean the wetsides is a function of how easy they are to access LOL. The two MP60 that sit on the ends of my tank get cleaned monthly. I mostly just clean them mechanically (remove detritus and algae build up) but I keep a couple of spare 'cages' on hand so I swap those out and soak the dirty ones in vinegar for a few days which gets them squeaky clean. The two MP40 that sit on the back of the tank are a pain to reach so they get cleaned every three months (I have spare 'cages' for them as well).

Falcon53 · Jan 18, 2018

Typically I just use water. I recently had both of my QDs seize up...not because of the magnet issue some have had. I did a 80/20 water vinegar soak, which didn't help much. They were less seized, but still seized. I won't do 100% vinegar because that has ruined pumps for me in the past. I thought I had bad wet-sides. I called EcoTech yesterday for a warranty claim. Here is what they said to do exactly:

"Soak the assembled wet-side in 50/50 vinegar and HOT water for one hour. Then disassemble and clean with toothbrush. Make sure ceramic sleeve is clean. Re-start in constant mode in the lowest speed and gradually increase."

You want to make sure you push out any debris in the ceramic sleeve using the pin that goes through it. This seems to be where the issue typically is.

I followed their advice and both pumps work great again. Re-starting at the low setting allows the pumps to work out any final debris without breaking the magnetic bond.

MartinWaite · Jan 19, 2018

I never use vinegar on any of my wavemakers running water and strip them down, let them dry off. Once dry I use tooth pick and remove coralline and then rinse in RO water rebuild run for couple of mins in RO water where possible then return to the tank.

Dobermanp · Jan 19, 2018

100% white vinager overnight, then scrub with a toothbrush.

madweazl · Jan 19, 2018

I completely disassemble mine and clean them with a tooth brush at least weekly if not more often because tiny snails crawl into them all the time and bind them up. Every few months I soak them in vinegar to get the coralline off. I have a love hate relationship with my MP40s.

Brian W · Jan 19, 2018

I clean mine weekly with a toothbrush and hot water.
Luckily I have not had coralline grow on my pumps or glass. just my rocks.
I assume I would soak the pumps in vinegar overnight and then brush them clean with a tooth brush.

saltyhog · Jan 19, 2018

I have extra wet sides and rotate them every couple of weeks I disassemble and soak in diluted vinegar for a couple of hours and then clean with a toothbrush for the magnet and base. Clean the cage with a larger brush. Spray several times with RO/DI and set them aside for the next swap. The ceramic covering of the pin is the weak link. The only time I've had a problem with a wet side is when these are worn out.

hybridazn · Jan 19, 2018

I use my tongue, works wonders....

Falcon53 · Jan 19, 2018

saltyhog said:
I have extra wet sides and rotate them every couple of weeks I disassemble and soak in diluted vinegar for a couple of hours and then clean with a toothbrush for the magnet and base. Clean the cage with a larger brush. Spray several times with RO/DI and set them aside for the next swap. The ceramic covering of the pin is the weak link. The only time I've had a problem with a wet side is when these are worn out.

Are the ceramic sleeves supposed to stay on the pin or in the propeller when you disassemble these?