Current wave pump running backwards

[jasonrusso]

I have a current USA wave pump setup. Pumps 1 and 2 are on pulse mode and work fine, pump 3 is on stream.

I have always been disappointed with the flow from pump 3, now I know why. It is running backwards!

This is a DC pump, I flipped the power supply (no change), and the connector for the pump is indexed so that can't be screwed up.

Anyone heard of this?

 

[Crabs McJones]

I have a current USA wave pump setup. Pumps 1 and 2 are on pulse mode and work fine, pump 3 is on stream.

I have always been disappointed with the flow from pump 3, now I know why. It is running backwards!

This is a DC pump, I flipped the power supply (no change), and the connector for the pump is indexed so that can't be screwed up.

Anyone heard of this?

Did you look at the pump housing? Alot of times there is a little peg in the pump so that the pump can only spin one way. I've had it before were the peg broke off on my hydor pumps and it started spinning backwards.

 

[jasonrusso]

Did you look at the pump housing? Alot of times there is a little peg in the pump so that the pump can only spin one way. I've had it before were the peg broke off on my hydor pumps and it started spinning backwards.

I've cleaned them several times, I never saw a peg.

I had hydors, they are total junk. Never again. Ran backwards, rattled, and eventually cracked open and kept tripping my GFCI.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I've cleaned them several times, I never saw a peg.

I had hydors, they are total junk. Never again. Ran backwards, rattled, and eventually cracked open and kept tripping my GFCI.

There should be a device of some sort or something at the end of the prop shaft that stops the propeller from running backwards. It's possible that unit is broken. I've not seen a current pump in person so I cannot say for sure.

 

[WVNed]

If it is a DC pump it would have to be made wrong. My guess is the polarity is wrong in one of the connectors to the pump because the wire were transposed during assembly.

 

[jasonrusso]

If it is a DC pump it would have to be made wrong. My guess is the polarity is wrong in one of the connectors to the pump because the wire were transposed during assembly.

That's what I am thinking. I have a spare so I'll plug it into the manifold tomorrow and see what happens. It's either the manifold or the pump. I have both.

 

[WVNed]

AC pumps can start in either direction and have some way to force them to run in a particular direction. DC pumps only change direction when the polarity of the power is reversed.

 

[jasonrusso]

AC pumps can start in either direction and have some way to force them to run in a particular direction. DC pumps only change direction when the polarity of the power is reversed.

Right, it's a brushless motor like on my RC stuff. I was just wondering if anyone else had heard of this.

 

[jasonrusso]

Yup, I plugged in another pump and put it in a bucket. It was flowing correctly. I swapped the pump in the tank and then tested the other on in the bucket and it is definitely spinning backwards!! Nice QC on this one, and shame on me. It has been months! I have other powerheads, I figured this was just a poor design.

 

[WVNed]

I would think they would replace that since it is a manufacturing defect and not a failure.

 

[eag]

Nice QC on this one, and shame on me. It has been months! I have other powerheads, I figured this was just a poor design.

This same exact thing happened to me, and I am about 99.9% sure that this powerhead worked correctly when I first installed it. It was the only powerhead in a 7.4 gallon tank.

What ever happened with yours?

 

[jasonrusso]

This same exact thing happened to me, and I am about 99.9% sure that this powerhead worked correctly when I first installed it. It was the only powerhead in a 7.4 gallon tank.

What ever happened with yours?

It's been a while, but I think that they shipped me a new one. It's had to keep track of which ones get warrantied and rebought.

 

[eag]

I received the replacement relatively quickly, and it has been working since then. My other powerhead of the same kind, however, has recently failed in the same way. Again, they're sending me a new one... :-/

 

[jasonrusso]

I received the replacement relatively quickly, and it has been working since then. My other powerhead of the same kind, however, has recently failed in the same way. Again, they're sending me a new one... :-/

Are these 660s?

 

[eag]

Are these 660s?

Yep

 

[jasonrusso]

Yep

I only had problems on the 660s. I swapped them out for 1050s and they work much better.