RSM 250 new Skimmer pump impeller problem

[Danreef]

I will start this posting writing that I was contacted VERY FAST by Red Sea Customer Service (USA). I provided all documentation requested to make valid my tank warranty and get a pump replacement. This happens middle of last week. I am waiting now the answer to know if a new pump was shipped.

But I would like to explain the issue here for all of us to learn. I wrote this to KEV in "ask red sea":

I have a RSM 250.

My skimmer pump is 2 months old (the tank is 2 months old) and latelly, each time I stop the skimmer the pump do not want to start or take a while to start. I have cleaned it 3 times due to this issue.

Example : today I did a WC and stop the skimmer. It did not want to start again after I finished the WC (took me 15 minutes). I took out the skimmer. disassemble the pump, clean it (it was really clean, but I did like it was dirty), assemble it again, tested for 1 second outside (worked) and placed all inside the tank. Guess what, it did not start !!!!. My wife call me to do something else and I left the skimmer ON but not working. Five minutes later, when I was back it was working. So I stop the skimmer and started it again. Not working, but this time I wait a couple of minutes and started to work. I checked the plug and is all OK there.

Can you guys from Red Sea tell me if I need to change the pump ?

Thanks
Daniel

Kev answer immediately and provided me the USA contact info. Again, USA customer service answered my request in 24 hours !!!!! very good. Now I have been waiting for 2 days an answer to know if a new pump was shipped.

In the meantime this happens today. When I enter in the family room this morning, the tank was silent. I posted some weeks ago a thread asking if RSM250 owners have noisy skimmers. Well, in this case it was good that the skimmer was noisy because immediately I though "The Skimmer is Not Working". Correct, I took out the skimmer, the pump was VERY warm and was not working. I disassemble it and this is what I found:



In a 95% SPS tank I can not have the luxury of being without skimmer so I will have to order overnight a replacement part.

Bottom line guys, if you have similar symptoms like the ones I described in my posting to "Ask Red Sea", see if you have cracked that pump impeller.

Cheers
Daniel

 

[goma]

Thanks for posting and hope you get the new one quickly. Keep us in the loop on this.

 

[Danreef]

UPDATE
A new pump was sent last Monday by UPS ground to be delivered last Friday. But UPS had problems and was deliver today. A week later.

To my surprise guess what I found when I opened the pump......see pictures

NEW PUMP DISASSEMBLE


IMPELLER PUMP BROKEN (CRACK)..... SAME PROBLEM I HAD IN MY IMPELLER




The Quality Control at Red Sea have not done a good job with these pumps.

On top of that the pump box was sent inside of another shipping box without any protection. The shipping box was bigger than the pump box and there was anything inside to protect the pump box from crashing all along the week trip.

Kev acted very fast. THANK YOU KEV !!! But Red Sea have to send me another skimmer pump and this time PLEASE USE PRIORITY EMAIL !!!!! is cheaper and in 2 days I will have the pump.

Thanks
Daniel
PS: Please send me with the new pump a mail return slip. I do not want to have a pump collection at home. Moreover, I do not want the replacement part (impeller) because I am afraid that SICCE Quality Control is having a big issue and I am not sure about the quality of the full pump that was produced at the same time of all these faulty impeller.

 

[goma]

That is unfortunate, hopefully they get this sorted.

 

[Danreef]

UPDATE


Good News !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A new skimmer pump has arrived today. Well packaged, with the shipping box full of Styrofoam Pellets. The impeller was PERFECT !!!!

I installed the pump immediately to see it was working very well !!!...YEA and to hear.....SILENCE !!, Yes, silence. This new pump is doing a normal background noise that is just that "normal background noise of any pump" very soft. Now the noise from the tank is very pleasant. The lights fans are nosier than the pump.

You will think why I am so happy with the noise of the pump. Not many of you, will remember that before I wrote this thread about the impeller issue, I wrote this other one :

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...3-noisy-rsm-250-skimmer-pump.html#post1259464

I wrote this in the first post.......The skimmer works very well but the pump noise have been increasing to a point that ruins the beauty and peacefulness of be sitting in front of the tank watching the corals and fish........

I know now that the increase in noise was due to the impeller that was scraping (I hope is the correct word) the inside of the pump until one day just stop turning. due to the expansion of the rusty magnet (see pictures of first posting on this thread the scratchings on the impeller).


I want to write here a SPECIAL THANK YOU to Red Sea Kev (Kevin) and USA customer service that acted very fast and sent me a new pump in record time.

Daniel