MP20 vortech, won't reach full speed without flashing red?

[beeker]

I bought an MP20 vortech for my 29g biocube but for some reason when i go to align the pump and get it up to full speed it just shuts off at about 50% power and the driver flashes red (it's done this on every setting i've tryed)

 

what am i doing wrong?

 

i've tryed every pin spacer setting there is, with and without the gasket, and still it won't get up to full speed without shutting off and then restarting, the glass on the biocube is 6mm, so where should my pin spacer be set?

 

i'm at a loss as to why it won't work...even though it will run perfectly fine on the lower settings, just not 50%power or 100% power....

 

the drive and the propeller are snug and tight, no movement or anything that i could see that would be causing this problem

 

please help

kyle

[Wawawang]

Only thing i could think of is the pin spacer. Maybe return it for one that works.

[MiddReef]

Call Ecotech, they have really great customer service and they'll walk you through the fix or probably set you up with a new pump. Sorry to hear about your problems, well worth the efforts though, once you get it going it's a great product. Is it making any loud noises when you start to power it up? If so, you might want to check the alignment, but you've probably already messed with that...it's weird the driver is shutting you down....does the thing get really hot and overheat? Did you set it up to automatically power down if it senses a disconnect? Just a few troubleshoots off the top of my head, I would really call them and see what Ecotech has to say. Good luck!

[beeker]

Well i already called ecotech and from what the guy said it was most likely the dry side driver that had an issue, i ran the dry side with my finger on it to keep it spinning trying to get it up to full speed, but it would still shut down before it reached full speed, funny thing is that it didn't sound bad or wobble or anything it did make a card in bike spoke sound...but i assumed this was normal sounding at such high RPM...he said he was going to send me out a new driver and hopefully that will fix my issue seeing as it doesen't even run long enough to overheat

 

too bad i have to wait on the shipping back and fourth, this is not a good first experience with a piece of 300+ dollar equipment

 

 

i didn't set it up for the quick disconnect, i never even got it to run at full speed that was the problem

 

hopefully all will be fixed when my new driver gets here

 

i'll update ASAP

[cparka23]

It doesn't hurt to try running the dry side w/o the wet side nearby. it shouldn't make any sound other than a very quiet whirring when up at full speed.

 

I don't get what you mean by running the dry side w/ your finger on it. The magnets should be more than enough to keep the wet and dry sides from slipping or rotating. Your dry side isn't supposed to spin at all.

[beeker]

the dry side magnet spins and transfers that through the glass to the wet side magnet

 

steve at ecotech told me to put pressure on the dry side magnet with my finger and try to get it up to full speed because it needs a little pressure to get it to spin it has a presure sensor in it that senses wether or not the force is there, the dry side won't rotate unless you apply a small pressure to it (hince why i used my finger, didn't want to clamp the wet and dry side together outside of the tank and run them without water/glass barrier i figured that would break something)

 

i did what he told me to do, and after trying to get it to full speed that way it would still stop and flash red before it even got up to full speed even with my finger on it applying pressure, so it had to be the driver, since i've already disasembled and reasembled the wet side and can't find anything wrong with it

[Rocket]

Sorry to hear your having problems with the Vortechs. I have a MP40W and I just love the damn thing. It replaced all my pumps and is one amazing piece of hardware.

[cparka23]

hmm.. I would have not suspected that it had a pressure sensor in there. Thanks for the thorough explanation!

 

Best of luck and let us know how it turns out.

[beeker]

even though i was only able to get to about 20% power with my Mp20 i am already in love with with it, it blew out so much detris just on the low setting, i just wish mine would have worked properly right out of the box

 

i should get the new driver monday at the latest, there's a slim chance i might get it today since PA isn't too far from cinci, but then again i have to deal with how slow UPS is, so monday is probably when it will show up

[SPS20]

I just got an MP20 a few days ago, and I am absolutely in love with the thing.

 

I'm sorry you got a dud, but trust me, when you get it working properly you will be amazed at what an incredible piece of hardware this is.

 

I can turn it all the way up to 2k GPH in my tiny 20L, and none of the corals look unduly stressed from the flow, as it is so wide and diffuse. Short pulse mode is where its at, IMO, I have a little 1" standing wave going in my tank, all the detritus has been pushed into suspension, and my SPS are loving it.

 

I have used controllable Tunzes in the past, but the vortech wins, hands down. Best pump I have ever used.

[beeker]

yeah i really hope the new driver i get isn't a dud, actually i'm going to call tech today and find out the tracking # and if the new driver i'm getting was tested before they sent it out to make sure it works

 

Hopefully monday i'll have it up and running

 

ill update again then *crosses fingers*

[FateX9]

this acutally happened to me but it was all a programming error

i know there was nothing wrong with the pump because i got it "used" at macna but when i brought it home i started messing with it and it started flashing red for a few seconds and then start up and then red and start up and it would do this for a little while and then stop and just flash red

is this what happened to yours?

if it is, i had to reset the memory and do everything over and it took a while to set it but it finally ran 100%

lol i dont remember exactly what i did but i do remember pushing buttons

[beeker]

Well i finally got my MP20 to work right, thank god

 

it turned out that i had to run through the quick disconnect sequence in the manual to get the pump to reset itself

 

so far i haven't seen flashing red since i've reset it and i'm happy as hell

 

it's sad though because tech support wasn't able to tell me this over the phone and so i spent nearly a week dealing with tech and shipping my old driver out for a new driver, and that wasn't even the issue

 

So if your MP20 ever flashes red just reprogram the quick discconnect and it should fix the issue

 

i had to figured this out on my own which i shouldn't have had to do, and i just hope that the quality of the pump will show itself now, and i hope that i'll never have another problem with my MP20 ever again, this certainly has been one hell of a headache for me

[beeker]

My MP20 is fixed now

 

read above post for info