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Sure flow question
- Thread starter Behrmon
- Start date
I use one. The high flow prop (the white one) works on my maxi-jet 1200, but doesn't work right on a maxi-jet 900.
Is your 1200 old? I've read that older 1200s might not have enough power to run the larger prop. I don't know if that's true or not since I don't know if the these motors get weaker as they wear, or if they just go from working 100% to dead.
Is your 1200 old? I've read that older 1200s might not have enough power to run the larger prop. I don't know if that's true or not since I don't know if the these motors get weaker as they wear, or if they just go from working 100% to dead.
Btw do you guys know if this upgrade prohhibts the use of wavemakers/times. Every time mine switches on it makes a lot of noise....
I use mine on a wavemaker with no problems. The noise I had on one was being caused by the propeller hitting the front of the shroud. So I cut a small piece of a plastic bag and placed it between the seat in the shroud and the plastic bushing of the propeller. This seemed to set the propellor back enough so it didn't hit.
Cardiak
Non-member
My white impellered sureflow mods did not like my wavemaker at all. At one time I replaced black impellers for the powerful ones and kept them running with the wavemaker. In less then 1 week 4 of the ball mounts had snaped and Id either wake up or come home to a powerhead in the sand blowing mountains everwhere. I kept trying to run the white impellers but they always had some type of error so I eventually went back to using only blacks.
These mods hated my wavemaker but they do fine on my new system with each on individual timers now. One thing about these mods is they can take a long time to wear in to where they are not making noises anymore. Mine took about 2-3 months to fully wear in and stop making noise when stopping/starting/running. Well the only reason they dont make noise anymore is because they wore down the stopper to nothing, and now they even sometimes start in reverse with nothing to stop them.
BTwhat is your sureflow doing that isnt letting it start? Is it making a stuttering sound and not spinning? If so it is a bad one and needs to have air to kick start it. Blowing air into its shroud with a air hose or slightly lifting it half out to the surface will start it. If thats the case I would just stick with the black impeller.
IMO its hit or miss with this mod. I bought 6 of them with 12 black impellers and 6 white ones
- 4 swivel mounts snapped, about 6 impellers are toast with the edges all chewed up from hitting the stopper a few billion times when they were wearing in. The stoppers on 3 of the mods are worn to nothing so they start in reverse about 20% of the time when turning on. One of the mods always had to be jump started by adding air (Finaly gave up on that one)
As of now after maby 4 months or so they are all silent and working perfectly, but the first few months was nothing but a headache with these things.
These mods hated my wavemaker but they do fine on my new system with each on individual timers now. One thing about these mods is they can take a long time to wear in to where they are not making noises anymore. Mine took about 2-3 months to fully wear in and stop making noise when stopping/starting/running. Well the only reason they dont make noise anymore is because they wore down the stopper to nothing, and now they even sometimes start in reverse with nothing to stop them.
BTwhat is your sureflow doing that isnt letting it start? Is it making a stuttering sound and not spinning? If so it is a bad one and needs to have air to kick start it. Blowing air into its shroud with a air hose or slightly lifting it half out to the surface will start it. If thats the case I would just stick with the black impeller.
IMO its hit or miss with this mod. I bought 6 of them with 12 black impellers and 6 white ones
- 4 swivel mounts snapped, about 6 impellers are toast with the edges all chewed up from hitting the stopper a few billion times when they were wearing in. The stoppers on 3 of the mods are worn to nothing so they start in reverse about 20% of the time when turning on. One of the mods always had to be jump started by adding air (Finaly gave up on that one)
As of now after maby 4 months or so they are all silent and working perfectly, but the first few months was nothing but a headache with these things.
Behrmon, take that pos back to where ever you got it. The white impellar is sooooo noisy. I had one that I played with for two-three weeks before I got a sea-flow. I also have two eco-tech mods that are bullet-proof, and dead quiet. The sure flow with the white impellar is supposed to be 2100 gph, but dies out at 12-18", and the sea-flow 600 that i have moves the full length of my 4' tank. Overall the only thing cool about the sure flow is the swing arm mount that it comes with, also the algea free mag mount (made by the same company I think) is great, but not the mod kit. The sea-flow is the exact same price, give or take a buck or two! My advice is stick with the sure flow if you want your reef to sound like the drill the dentist uses, but if you want awesome power and quiet opperation get a Sea-Flow, Pat stands behind his product, and I recomend it to any reefer! Plus its smaller and the same color as the MJ
I've had no problem with my AlgaeFree 1600 except the white prop was way too strong on the MJ1200.I ended up with the white black prop on a MJ900.Pushing water 4 ft is no problem it hits the opposite wall in the tank and comes back just as powerful.I will definitely purchase another.Glad to hear customer service is A+.
Not too offend anyone, but are these mod kits all the same?
I got the mod for the maxi jet mod that turns the mj1200 into 1900 or 2500 gph. Mine worked for aournd 8 hours before hitting the shroud
I got the mod for the maxi jet mod that turns the mj1200 into 1900 or 2500 gph. Mine worked for aournd 8 hours before hitting the shroud
jrmx635
Non-member
sureflow
the noise is usually caused by buildup in the pump assembly.
Where the rubber endcap to the prop shaft goes into the motor,stuff in there will cause too tight a fit and the prop will hit the shroud stopper.
The best fix (if it is clean)is to slightly grind down the stopper in the shroud.
I am talking like .5mm,not 5mm,point .5 mm
just enough for the prop to clear it properly.
These kits work great and will be silent if you do that.
the noise is usually caused by buildup in the pump assembly.
Where the rubber endcap to the prop shaft goes into the motor,stuff in there will cause too tight a fit and the prop will hit the shroud stopper.
The best fix (if it is clean)is to slightly grind down the stopper in the shroud.
I am talking like .5mm,not 5mm,point .5 mm
just enough for the prop to clear it properly.
These kits work great and will be silent if you do that.
thanks, sorry but what do you mean by stopper in the shroud? The red/black cap or the place where this fits?
jrmx635
Non-member
stopper
there is a small flap inside the shroud to prevent the prop from spinning backwards.
if the prop spins backwards it moves forward and hits this stopper.
Then it corrects itself and moves back into the motor housing.
All this is done with like 1mm if that so it is pretty close.
Just take a dremmel or something small to grind a little bit off the flap/stopper so the prop doesn't hit it while spinning in the right direction.It should only hit it when it tries to spin backwards so don't grind too much.
there is a small flap inside the shroud to prevent the prop from spinning backwards.
if the prop spins backwards it moves forward and hits this stopper.
Then it corrects itself and moves back into the motor housing.
All this is done with like 1mm if that so it is pretty close.
Just take a dremmel or something small to grind a little bit off the flap/stopper so the prop doesn't hit it while spinning in the right direction.It should only hit it when it tries to spin backwards so don't grind too much.
Cardiak
Non-member
The stopper is the black rectangular piece of plastic inside the shroud it is positioned so that if the impeller starts in reverse it will hit the prop and hopefuly start it in the correct direction. These pumps are great when they work, but they have so many little things that can go wrong that it can be a real headache working with them.
I own 6 of these and around 20 impeller heads and I have run into problems with almost all of them.
the problems i've encountered so far.
1. Bad impellers slightly bent will always make noise when run or when they get to banged up from constantly hitting stoppers they will not run smoothly anymore.
2. Bad impeller tip they either come curved or squared not sure which is right but a few of them will have to be removed and retightened almost weekly as they will slip off and the impeller will just be spinning loose in the shroud making all sorts of crazy noise.
3. A few dont start correctly and have to be lifted to the surface of the tank or have an air hose blow air into the shroud for them to start
4. Impellers that for some reason always want to hit the stopper every minute or so.
5. Stoppers that get abused to much by bad impellers get worn to nothing and let the PH start in reverse (rip clown goby)
6. The white impellers will snap the ball mount
7. The powerhead can studder for 5-10 seconds before starting as it smacks into the stopper for what ever reason making a really loud noise.
8. The powerhead will make a loud buzzing sound like someone is using barber sheers in your fish tank. It wont pump water but it will vibrate that area of the tank like mad and wont stop till you unplug it and restart. Can really piss off your fish/corals when your not home and they are abused by that for ten to twelve hours.
The good part about them is they have great customer service and will replace the parts with out even asking questions but their product can certainly use some refining.
I own 6 of these and around 20 impeller heads and I have run into problems with almost all of them.
the problems i've encountered so far.
1. Bad impellers slightly bent will always make noise when run or when they get to banged up from constantly hitting stoppers they will not run smoothly anymore.
2. Bad impeller tip they either come curved or squared not sure which is right but a few of them will have to be removed and retightened almost weekly as they will slip off and the impeller will just be spinning loose in the shroud making all sorts of crazy noise.
3. A few dont start correctly and have to be lifted to the surface of the tank or have an air hose blow air into the shroud for them to start
4. Impellers that for some reason always want to hit the stopper every minute or so.
5. Stoppers that get abused to much by bad impellers get worn to nothing and let the PH start in reverse (rip clown goby)
6. The white impellers will snap the ball mount
7. The powerhead can studder for 5-10 seconds before starting as it smacks into the stopper for what ever reason making a really loud noise.
8. The powerhead will make a loud buzzing sound like someone is using barber sheers in your fish tank. It wont pump water but it will vibrate that area of the tank like mad and wont stop till you unplug it and restart. Can really piss off your fish/corals when your not home and they are abused by that for ten to twelve hours.
The good part about them is they have great customer service and will replace the parts with out even asking questions but their product can certainly use some refining.
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thanks , both of the impellers I had started to hit the shroud after around 8 hours of operation. They do move a LOT of water when they work. The manufactor is sending me impellers.
Seems to me the impeller is free to fload along the metal rod as there is .250 inches or so slack. What is suppose to keep it away from the shroud?
Seems to me the impeller is free to fload along the metal rod as there is .250 inches or so slack. What is suppose to keep it away from the shroud?
