Let's Talk About ~Equipment Maintenance~

[NaH2O]

Time for a new topic! Let's talk about equipment maintenance. I'm not sure if there is a whole bunch to discuss, but I am clueless when it comes to taking care of equipment......so I'm hoping you all can help me with this. What do we need to do and how often to various pieces of equipment, inorder to ensure a longer life and maintain some efficiency?

Let's start with pump and powerhead maintenance. How often do pumps need to be taken off line and cleaned up? What is the best method of cleaning out a pump?

 

[johnehr]

I heard that running them in a bucket of white vinegar is a pretty good way to clear up deposits...

 

[MtnDewMan]

Make sure you cycle your valves often that surround your external pumps. You may find out the hard way that the valve won't close when you need it to when replacing a pump and therefore may have a nice little flood on your hands

 

[jlehigh]

I clean my pumps every three months (DP3600 and Mag12) but have yet to have much grime at all in them. Pre-filtered pumps on the other hand require cleaning of the pre-filter every two weeks..

I had never cleaned a powerhead in my 46 gal which ran for 1 year.

 

[NaH2O]

Make sure you cycle your valves often that surround your external pumps. You may find out the hard way that the valve won't close when you need it to when replacing a pump and therefore may have a nice little flood on your hands

Yikes! Chuck, I forgot about that. I think that's a good one - I wouldn't have thought of it, thats for sure.

jlehigh - what do you use to clean your pumps? Take them apart or run them in a vinegar/water solution?

 

[jlehigh]

As mentioned the pump essentially didn't even need cleaning so I simply wiped the grim off the impeller and anywhere else visibly dirty upon dissasembly with a rag.

When I sale my used pumps/powerheads I soak them in Vinegar and they come out like new with a swipe of a rag.

 

[tony]

I take the impeller of ad wash all the dirty stuff on it with fresh water.

 

[szidls]

How often should you clean and or lube a MBV?

Scott

 

[NaH2O]

Scott - I don't know about the cleaning, but the ball valve should last a good while. I was an unfortunate receiver of a MBV that left the factory without receiving its lube. It made a horrendous noise when switching. After talking with Hayward, we could have either sent the BV to them to apply the lube or we could apply the lube ourselves. We chose the latter, and were told to purchase, if I remember correctly, "Aladdin's Magic Lube". Once applied the MBV has worked like a charm.

Another question, and this one might seem silly...do we need to be cleaning all the build-up on the heaters, too? I wondered if it would effect their efficiency at all.

How about maintenance on Calcium Reactors?

 

[reedman]

I use a mix of muriatic acid and water (6:1 water to acid) to clean my pumps and skimmer. This has worked excellent for me and brings things back to almost new condition very quickly. Haven't had any troubles with this, just flush it really good before reintroducing the equipment.

I agree with Chuck 110%. Cycle those valves occasionally to prevent calcium deposits from building to the point of not allowing the valve to operate.

I clean my light bulbs and reflectors every couple of months to keep them putting out as much light as possible.

Think that's about it for equipment maintenance on my end. I don't have that much equipment to maintain...and I like it that way.

 

[Curtswearing]

Another question, and this one might seem silly...do we need to be cleaning all the build-up on the heaters, too? I wondered if it would effect their efficiency at all.

I don't know the answer to this but I'll tell you what I've done in the past. My tank heaters in my nano tank really don't have a lot of abiotic precipitation on them so I probably only wipe them down once per year. On the other hand, the two heaters in my reef tank did have substantial amounts of abiotic precipitation so I'm cleaning those every 3 or 4 months. I truly don't know if this is necessary but it makes me feel safer.

 

[Scooterman]

Make sure you cycle your valves often that surround your external pumps. You may find out the hard way that the valve won't close when you need it to when replacing a pump and therefore may have a nice little flood on your hands

Now that is sooo true, these valves get sticky if not used. I do soak my heaters in vinegar, also my pumps, actually anything mechanical, cleaner equipment is easier to inspect for trouble, less noise, & more efficient, even a heater that relies on the thermal properties of the structural housing to transfer the difference in temperature to the sensor inside the heater itself. Otherwise the accuracy goes down with crud build-up. make sense?

 

[NaH2O]

I'll toss in another one....pH monitors. Obviously, recalibrating these is very important. I believe the directions indicate recalibration every few months. Anyone found you need to do this more often? I recalibrated mine after 3 months, and it made a big difference, however, I noticed for several weeks that it needed recalibration....I had a big suspicion it was reading too high. Is there anything else that needs to be done to the probe itself?

Anyone want to touch on calcium reactor maintenance? Do the units need any thing done to them?

 

[Maxx]

Nikki,
I would assume that the maintenance on the reactor is pretty similar...
ought to flush clean the pump, might want to rinse out the reactor chamber every time media gets changed....periodically check lines for calcium build up, (effluent and feed lines) ...
but I havent had to do any maintenence on mine yet since its still off line....for now.
Nick

 

[Scooterman]

How about your TDS meter, how often should we recalibrate them?

 

[NaH2O]

Yikes - good question. I use one that is inline, so I figure that will need to be recalibrated at some point, too. Same thing with refractometers.....how often should they be recalibrated?

 

[jks1]

Nikki, I had the same thing happen with my pinpoint PH probe. It ran great for a year or so, I checked it every few months. then it seemed to be redaing high, so I cal'd it and now it needs to be cal'd every 3-4 weeks. Good thing cal solution is cheap! I did have coralline algae build up on the shaft of the probe, I cleaned it with water because I was afriad to use vinegar, as I wasnt sure what it would do to the electrode.

 

[LvFishguy]

I'm sure that it goes without saying but, don't forget about tearing down those protien skimmers and cleaning them out good too! I do my every couple of monthes.
As far as my pumps go I found that they really only need to be opened up every 6-8 months depending on how much grime you let get by into your pump. I have found that submersible pumps need to be cleaned more often than external pumps do...

 

[Scooterman]

Cleaning equipment for skimmers, does anyone have a long cleaning swab or tool used to scrub those tight areas deep inside, it can be difficult sometimes

 

[NaH2O]

Scooterman, I wonder if those long test tube scrubbers/bottle brushes/pipe brushes would work.

LvFishguy - good point on the protein skimmer. I think by keeping the inside of the skimmer clean, you will provide a better surface for the bubbles.