Pump cleaning and maintenance

[Kinetic]

I'm getting ready to do a thorough cleaning of my pumps. I wanted to know what everyone here does for a big cleans?

Here's what I'm planning on. Feedback welcome!

Pumps:

• Reef Octopus VarioS-4 return pump
• Reef Octopus VarioS-2 reactor pump
• Maxspect Gyre XF-130

Cleaning:

1. Run pump in vinegar bath for 30 minutes
2. Wipe away any surface debris
3. Disassemble and scrub pump and impellers with toothbrush
4. Rinse in RO/DI water
5. Run pump for 15 minutes in RO/DI water bucket

Anything else?

[slief]

Don’t run the pumps in vinegar that long. Vinegar is used in the marine boating industry to clean up cured epoxy and most oif these pumps use epoxy in the potting process so the prolonged exposure to vinegar could end up damaging them or compromising the seal where the wires go into the block. Also, vinegar can damage rubber o-rings. 10 minutes is more than enough in vinegar to soften any calcium deposits.

My suggestion and what I do is the following.
Break the pumps down completely. Remove any o-rings and set those aside. Soak the motor, impeller and volute in vinegar for 10 minutes. Scrub with a soft dish brush inside and out. I use a tooth brush for the magnet cavity. The pump should look like new inside and out when you are done. Rinse, reassemble and put it back together.

[billdogg]

Originally Posted by slief

Don’t run the pumps in vinegar that long. Vinegar is used in the marine boating industry to clean up cured epoxy and most oif these pumps use epoxy in the potting process so the prolonged exposure to vinegar could end up damaging them or compromising the seal where the wires go into the block. Also, vinegar can damage rubber o-rings. 10 minutes is more than enough in vinegar to soften any calcium deposits.

My suggestion and what I do is the following.
Break the pumps down completely. Remove any o-rings and set those aside. Soak the motor, impeller and volute in vinegar for 10 minutes. Scrub with a soft dish brush inside and out. I use a tooth brush for the magnet cavity. The pump should look like new inside and out when you are done. Rinse, reassemble and put it back together.

^^^This^^^

That's exactly how I do it as well.

[Kinetic]

Originally Posted by slief

Don’t run the pumps in vinegar that long. Vinegar is used in the marine boating industry to clean up cured epoxy and most oif these pumps use epoxy in the potting process so the prolonged exposure to vinegar could end up damaging them or compromising the seal where the wires go into the block. Also, vinegar can damage rubber o-rings. 10 minutes is more than enough in vinegar to soften any calcium deposits.

My suggestion and what I do is the following.
Break the pumps down completely. Remove any o-rings and set those aside. Soak the motor, impeller and volute in vinegar for 10 minutes. Scrub with a soft dish brush inside and out. I use a tooth brush for the magnet cavity. The pump should look like new inside and out when you are done. Rinse, reassemble and put it back together.

Thank you! This is perfect info.

[jda]

I run mine in a low dilution of Muratic Acid overnight and then clean them out with a brush. When I am cleaning them, it is usually because of excessive coralline that would laugh at vinegar. I clean my pumps about every 4-5 years, but I have purchased pumps that don't really need cleaned all that often (Ehiem, Laguna, Tunze).

If you brush and wipe them down really well, they don't usually need a vinegar bath unless you notice some calcification.

This is when I clean them:

[outy]

Originally Posted by jda

I clean my pumps about every 4-5 years, but I have purchased pumps that don't really need cleaned all that often (Ehiem, Laguna, Tunze).

Same with Iwaki.

The build up was so thick an hour in vinegar did nothing at all.

Now with my DC pumps, it will be vinegar every 6 months. They are way to fragile in comparison

[jda]

Just freshwater can break down organics and slime some. You can run them in freshwater overnight to make the gunk easier to clean. This will do nothing for coralline or any hard deposits.

[ca1ore]

Curious, I get very little buildup inside my external pumps. Just some slime and schmutz that is easily removed with a pipe brush and scouring pad. Internal powerheads are a different story, but I just keep a few strainers on hand that can be swapped in while the encrusted one soaks in vinegar for a week or so.

[outy]

Originally Posted by jda

any hard deposits.

I had a thick enough layer, it took a hammer and chisel. On the impeller I literally used my wire wheel on my bench grinder with extreme caution .

[ecam]

Originally Posted by slief

Don’t run the pumps in vinegar that long. Vinegar is used in the marine boating industry to clean up cured epoxy and most oif these pumps use epoxy in the potting process so the prolonged exposure to vinegar could end up damaging them or compromising the seal where the wires go into the block. Also, vinegar can damage rubber o-rings. 10 minutes is more than enough in vinegar to soften any calcium deposits.

My suggestion and what I do is the following.
Break the pumps down completely. Remove any o-rings and set those aside. Soak the motor, impeller and volute in vinegar for 10 minutes. Scrub with a soft dish brush inside and out. I use a tooth brush for the magnet cavity. The pump should look like new inside and out when you are done. Rinse, reassemble and put it back together.

Wow I didn’t know about the vinegar messing up the pumps. Will definite do only 10 mins going forward. Thanks

[Kinetic]

My pumps are only 4 months old. I also have no coralline (by design, I never introduced anything with coralline, even scrubbed my snails individually before introducing them). Mostly I think they just get some film algae at most. Think I can hold off doing a big clean until later?

[outy]

Originally Posted by Kinetic

. Think I can hold off doing a big clean until later?

Yes. Yours wont even need vinegar

[DesertReefT4r]

I also take my pumps part and soak them in water vinegar solition for 10-15 minutes, scrub clean with a brush, rinse and reassemble for use.

[Fishy27]

I clean mine the same as deserreef