Skimmer Impeller kinda exploded??

[haleyf1024]

My Reef Octopus Diablo Space Saver has been running on my tank for about 3 years now, with zero issues, it's been amazing. About a week ago we had a power outage that lasted a few seconds, and the skimmer didn't restart (it always had before.) Since it was time to clean it, I took it apart and tried to figure out the problem. Welllllllll, the impeller seems to be it! It smelled weird and has 2 large cracks in it, and is bowed instead of cylindrical. Anyone have anything similar happen? Any idea what went wrong? How long do impellers last, and need replaced? Up until now I didn't have any decrease in performance since the day it was installed.

 

[haleyf1024]

Pics of the offending impeller:

 

[twilliard]

I have seen this many times. Lack of water cooling in most cases

 

[luke33]

^^^Agreed, this has been happening to many different skimmer manufactures for years. Get a new impeller and you'll more than likely be good to go.

 

[twilliard]

Some pumps designs are more demanding on frequent cleaning of the cooling ports especially if it is an external pump

 

[bruleyii]

I just had this happen on a power head. Not really on a skimmer though but I'm sure its the same concept.

 

[mcarroll]

Heat, a sharp piece of debris, or just a cheap impeller. (Or a combo! )

Anything that lets water get in to the actual magnet is a fine excuse, actually.

Once water gets in, rusting starts and the whole thing swells and expands as you see in the pic.

I wager there are no impellers of Chinese origin left in service that were sold in the 1990's or early 2000's.

It seemed especially true of skimmer pumps.

 

[twilliard]

Heat, a sharp piece of debris, or just a cheap impeller. (Or a combo! )

Anything that lets water get in to the actual magnet is a fine excuse, actually.

Once water gets in, rusting starts and the whole thing swells and expands as you see in the pic.

I wager there are no impellers of Chinese origin left in service that were sold in the 1990's or early 2000's.

It seemed especially true of skimmer pumps.

right on!