got ethical husbandry?

My DC return pump failed ... and fish died ...

@Vhuang168 The skimmer was made in 2011. I am the second owner. The original owner ran it for about 2 years and then it sat dry for about a year. I don't know what his maintenance was like. I've run it for about 20 months. My normal routine has been to disassemble and clean the pump thoroughly with vinegar about once a quarter when I clean my return pumps. I haven't had any issues with the pump until the complete failure over the weekend.

Does anyone know of a diagnostic guide for DC pumps?
 
bondolo said:
Does anyone know of a diagnostic guide for DC pumps?
Click to expand...

My suggestion:
1) Clean it.
If that does not work.
2) Check voltage at power supply.
If that is bad, get a new power supply.
If that is good, get a new pump.

From reading up, it seems it is often the controller. But you can't easily debug that or
even replace just the controller if you want to.

It seems that NONE of the new realistically priced DC pumps are that reliable.
Even the fancy new Vectra is getting a lot of failures reported.
So, I simply see them as disposable.
I have dual returns, so not a big deal if one fails. And yes, one has.
 
My suggestion:
1) Clean it.
If that does not work.
2) Check voltage at power supply.
If that is bad, get a new power supply.
If that is good, get a new pump.

From reading up, it seems it is often the controller. But you can't easily debug that or
even replace just the controller if you want to.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions Mark.

Cleaning it was the first thing I tried even though it had a full cleaning about 3 weeks ago. I checked the supply voltage and tried another 24V powersupply I happened to have. That didn't make a difference. I took apart the controller and it appear that it is the Jebao unit relabelled. Looking online it is definitely the same as Jebao sold for their DC-3000 model. I found that there are replacement Jebao controllers available and for $8 I ordered one off eBay. We shall see.
 
Last edited:
bondolo said:
Thanks for the suggestions Mark.

Cleaning it was the first thing I tried even though it had a full cleaning about 3 weeks ago. I checked the supply voltage and tried another 24V powersupply I happened to have. That didn't make a difference. I took apart the controller and it appear that it is the Jebao unit relabelled. Looking online it is definitely the same as Jebao sold for their DC-3000 model. I found that there are replacement Jebao controllers available and for $8 I ordered one off eBay. We shall see.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it would probably be OK.
The concern is, Jaebo changed the pump/controller electronics between the DC and DCT series.
If it is relabeled, I tend to agree it is DC series. But if DCT type, it will not work.
 
The replacement controller performed no better. Buying a replacement pump. :-( With all of the early black friday sales it is almost the same price to buy a replacement skimmer.
 
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