How's the failure rate on your Koralia powerheads

[IslandCrow]

I've always recommended these powerheads, but I think I'm having a change of heart. I know I've heard other people having stray voltage problems with them, so I don't think I'm alone here. I came home yesterday to find my tank dark and the circuit breaker on my GFI popped. I quickly narrowed the problem to my Koralia Nano. Not plugged in, everything's fine, but the moment it gets plugged in, the circuit breaker pops. I had the exact same problem with my Koralia 1 about a year ago. I also lost a K4, but that was another story involving an urchin thinking rubber tastes like algae.

Who else has had issues, especially with stray voltage and/or grounding issues? Also, I'd like to hear the other side of the story. . .i.e., "I've owned 5 Koralias for 3 years and never had a problem."

This may belong more in the equipment review section, but these are pretty popular pumps and recommended quite a bit, and the whole electricity and water thing should always be a concern to us.

[philneuss]

I have 5 Koralias(some of them 2+ years) and have had no problem with them yet.

[Logzor]

I have found the 3's to be very durable. The 4's tend to break down after a year and a half or so.

[rking77573]

I have 2 4's and a 3 that I've been using for a few years now with no issues.

[SecGenGSX]

I have 2 nano's that have been going strong for about a year and a half now and I also have 2 k1's that have been good for roughly 5-6 months.

[dailydime]

What happen the the 4's just stop working?

[betoballer1]

I had my 4's for a year already

[psteeleb]

considering all power heads will eventually fail the answer is 100%

that said I ran 4 #4's for over 2 years on a wave maker with no issues. After 2 yeas one of the #4's developed a short and leaked voltage into the tank tripping a GFCI they were on, the other three ran another year without issue.

Given they are not intended to be run on a wavemaker I feel I got my monies worth out of them as I suspect higher cost pumps will all eventualy fail.

Granted the #4's are not controllable but if your looking for lots of water movement for low amps, even you you have to replace them every 2-3 years they are still a very good value.

[agreeive?fish]

I have a K4 for at least 3 years and a K1 for at least 2 years with absolutly no problem except if the power flickers just right they wont restart unless i manually spin the prop or unplug for a few second then replug, the LAST rental house i was in for just over 2 years had a very week electrical system and power flickered often depending on the duration of the flicker wether or not the powerheads restarted or not..but my return pumps did the same exact thing so i would say i havent had any issues with my K powerheads

[nature boy]

I have a K1 in my refugium and once about every week the propellor stops spinning and I have to manually turn it to get it going again. Anyone else have a problem with this?? None of my other modded maxijets or other pumps do this. Not related to power interupptions.

[tcinaustin]

I just had a K-nano shock the bajeezus out of me when I stuck my hand and leaned into the light in the frag tank a couple of weeks ago. After much cussing and a little voltage dance, it went right in the trash. It was probably 1 year old. I have another nano and a couple of K4s that are working fine though I am considering trashing the other nano. I have the propeller stop issue also.

[jubjub]

i've had my koralia's for quite a while...almost 2years i think..no issues

[tankdude]

I've had a coralia 3 &4 in my tank for almost a year now with no issues. However I did get stray voltage from a 3 when I got water in the power bar it was plugged into, shorted both the bar and the 3.

[ludnix]

I've had a K4 die after about 2 years, it just stopped working, but that was shortly after a large earthquake so I don't think it was it's own fault. My other K4s and K1 have been working fine for the 2 years.

[lostintheocean]

2 k3's and 1 k2 going strong 1.5 years

[IslandCrow]

considering all power heads will eventually fail the answer is 100%

Very true. Failure timeline probably would have been a more appropriate question. Every Maxijet I've ever bought still works. Granted, it's not a pump I use in my tank, so they don't get as much use, but they're still workhorses, doing everything from mixing saltwater to pumping water for water changes to feeding my skimmer (back when I had one). Losing two Koralias in as many years was just looking like a trend item. So far, though, it sounds like there are more success stories then not, but it may come down to a "you get what you pay for" sort of thing. Of course, I'd much rather the powerhead simply stopped running rather than developing grounding/stray voltage issues, which seems to be more the trend.

I have a K1 in my refugium and once about every week the propellor stops spinning and I have to manually turn it to get it going again. Anyone else have a problem with this?? None of my other modded maxijets or other pumps do this. Not related to power interupptions.

I had the same problem with my Nano before it went defunct on me. At first it did this only occasionally when I start it back up, and then it was 100% of the time. My solution was to take the turkey baster I always have by my tank and blow some water in towards the propellar. That always fixed it.

[edwing206]

I have 2 K4s that started leaking electricity and then stopped working not too long after that. They are both about 1.5 years old. I still have to send them in for repair/replacement.

[JLAURIA751]

I had one nano quit on me but it was a simple problem to fix the metal shaft came lose from the propeller. I used a little super glue and it has been working fine.

[JLAURIA751]

Originally Posted by IslandCrow

Very true. Failure timeline probably would have been a more appropriate question. Every Maxijet I've ever bought still works. Granted, it's not a pump I use in my tank, so they don't get as much use, but they're still workhorses, doing everything from mixing saltwater to pumping water for water changes to feeding my skimmer (back when I had one). Losing two Koralias in as many years was just looking like a trend item. So far, though, it sounds like there are more success stories then not, but it may come down to a "you get what you pay for" sort of thing. Of course, I'd much rather the powerhead simply stopped running rather than developing grounding/stray voltage issues, which seems to be more the trend.



I had the same problem with my Nano before it went defunct on me. At first it did this only occasionally when I start it back up, and then it was 100% of the time. My solution was to take the turkey baster I always have by my tank and blow some water in towards the propellar. That always fixed it.

I had that problem just take the pump out and glue the blue propeller to the metal shaft.

[100%hydrophylic]

my nano just recently stopped working, JLAURIA751 can you describe what you glued together? my impeller just looks like alot of little loose parts now and idk what i should glue to make it work again.

[SoulFish]

only problems I have is the stupid end cap screen always unscrew and fall off in the tank.. happens on all 3 of mine

[laverda]

I have had several fail in less then 2 years time, 2 with in a few months. I have had much better results with my Tunzes.