Quick update here - the COR 20 has been running for about 4 months. I have a Beananimal setup and about a month ago, I noticed the water level dropping in the overflow. The two things that can cause that are either increased flow in the siphon standpipe (really unlikely unless you adjust the gate valve,) or decreased flow from the return pump. I figured it was probalby some buildup on the inside of the pipe, so I logged into Fusion and increased the pump flow from 70% to 72%. That fixed it for a few days, then it got worse again, so I increased it again to 75%.
After the flow dropped again, I took the pump out and cleaned it by running it in a 50% vinegar solution for several hours. That improved the flow, but whithin a week it had dropped again so that I had to increase the power to 80% (14% over baseline.) I removed the pump again and completely disassembled it. There was some pretty minor buildup on the impeller blades as well as on the shaft/magnet of the impeller and in the housing. I cleaned it with a toothbrush, rinsed it off and replaced the pump. The flow is back to what it originally was and I have the power setting back down to 70%. I didn’t write down all the readings before, but the pump is currently running at 70%, 61W, 2310 RPM, 60% temp. I’ll keep an eye on it over time and see how it changes.
It’s normal for pumps to reqauire periodic cleaning, but seeing a 15% drop in flow in less than 4 months seems a bit excessive. It’s certainly more than I saw with my Varios6 or Fluval SP4. Has anyone else had issues like this?
