Powerhead maintenance

[paul b]

I think almost all of us use powerheads and they are built very well and last a long time, but sometimes we throw them out before their time. I don't remember how old my powerheads are but I think they are all at least 20 or maybe 25 years old. I have no recolection of buying them, but I'm old.

This one ran my DIY skimmer and it was placed behind the rockwork so I never pay attention to it. I had to shut it off last week to change around some wires and it didn't re start. This is how most powerheads fail.

The steel shaft on older powerheads are chrome plated and they do not last forever. Newer powerheads use ceramic but even those have problems. The hole the shaft sits in in the base of the powerhead is a hole with no special treatment to the plastic in that area so eventually the hole enlarges causing the magnet that revolves to hit the sides of the enclosure. The hole through the center of the magnet also enlarges over time causing the same problem.

These things don't last forever especially in salt water.

Usually they are very easy and almost free to repair.

All of my powerheads have a piece of shrink tubing over the shaft.

It costs about a nickel and takes seconds to install. You can get heat shrink at Radio Shack. I just slip it on the steel or ceramic shaft and it takes up the space that was worn away from the center of the magnet and the "bearing" holes in the housing. This does not look like it will last but the design of powerheads allows water to enter and lubricate the shaft so the plastic shrink tubing lasts for years. And when it wears out, I just install another one.

I have never bought a powerhead since these were first installed and they all have had the shrink tubing repair many years ago.

You can see the white shrink tubing here.

 

[Integral9]

Interesting... I often have wondered what causes the pumps to die a slow death. I was considering replacing my mag7 due to a slowing of the flow. And after cleaning it, I couldn't find anything obviously wrong. I don't have any shrink wrap on hand but I do have plenty of teflon tape. Have you tried using that before? I understand If you wrap it the wrong direction it will probably make a big mess.

 

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[paul b]

I don't think teflon tape will work for this. You can get shrink tubing at any electronic store like Radio Shack or a package of various sizes on line very cheap.

If the shaft is worn you can replace it with a stainless steel radio antenna. You can even use hot melt glue to affix the shaft in the housing. The shaft does not turn so you can glue it in. They fail because the rotor or cylindrical magnet hits the side of the housing because of wear. They are very easy to repair.