Fun with power outage (dead return pump)
 

I got off work around 5pm, and a fellow reefer who happened to drive by my place told me that our area was out of power. Panicking, I asked my wife to check Apex on her phone while I drove, and sure enough, no power. I prayed that everything was fine, that no livestock was lost and no water damage.

Rushing home, we found that nothing was out of the ordinary, phew, so the waiting game began. I'd just kept stirring the tank and blowing it with the baster, and about an hour or so, the power came back on. "YES!" I thought to myself.

But to my chagrin, the return pump, a Jebao DCT12000, was not working. I tried unplugging and plugging it in the same/different outlets on the EB8 and normal power bar, but the controller would just blink its first 3 lights and the last, water was not being pumped.

I fired off an angry email to Fish Street where I had bought it a few months ago.

At the moment, I am running everything (both Gyres stir up water with surface aeration in the DT, so I guess it's not too concerning?). The skimmer is just running and overflowing in the sump to provide aeration.

Will it be safe for a few days until I find a solution (new pump locally, fix the Jebao, get a replacement, etc.) to run the tank as it is? Or should I rush off to buy a pump at JL or something?

Just out of curiosity, did you try flicking the impeller with something while it was plugged in?

yo, call me


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And after you call Tyler take your return pump out and clean it :) . Or you can bang on it with something, the impeller shaft is could be a little gummed up

I tried it, no activity at all.

I'll take it out for a bath tomorrow.

Swing by tomorrow and pick up one of my spare return pumps. You are welcome to use it until you can get yours up and running or replaced.

Anthony

Ha, well at least you have power. My twilight zone area is only due to have power by the 19th if we're lucky. 18 hours and counting so far.

I had my return pump died for 4 days before I found a replacement and plumb it together again, 40 sps was fine except 1 Sps died, no skimmers in tank, I just had the mp40 and a mp10 aeration the surface of tank water

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Ouch... this one has hit pretty hard, eh? Hopefully everything will be fine for you.

Thanks for the pointer. I guess it's now a moot point since Anthony has stepped up to lend me his backup today, and I'll probably have to pick up Tyler's Speedwave later this week. Fish Street is unwilling to step up to pay for the damaged pump/shipping. Not really that surprised.

When I build my dream tank down the line, it'll be all top of the line equipment, no expenses spared, so no more Jebao stuff haha.

I have an inverter running a circulation pump, bigger problem is the temp as a heater drains too much power.

But the last power out was 60 hours for our twilight zone area, who knows maybe hydro will do better this go around-we can only hope.

Hope it comes back soon for you. We escaped this time here in Langley (because of course I was prepared this time). But am heading off tomorrow on a cruise for a couple weeks, so that is when it will go off again...:frown:

Not using that pump at all so no rush. If you can't pick up a proper replacement this week, keep it longer. If it works for you and you want to keep it, then let me know and we can work out a deal. Good luck.

Anthony

Thanks for lending the pump to me, Anthony. Alas, I "fixed" the Jebao, don't know what exactly happened but when I took it out and readied the spare pump, this one started working, so...

Only a matter of time till it fails though, so I will be on the lookout eventually for a new return pump.

Bonus, I found my long missing/assumed dead antenna goby in the return chamber and tossed it back into the DT! :lol:

It may be a faulty (slightly shorted) power source. I think this was an issue I had with one of my DC pumps earlier. Try not to ever unplug or turn off the pump if possible (aside from uncontrollable power outages). I only had issues when I did this. I replaced the power source and it works fine now.

Ok I have to ask because I do not understand why you would expect a manufacturer to replace an item or why would any manufacturer replace anything plugged in that failed after a power bump, surge, brown out or failure? If you want to protect your stuff put a surge protector on your main power distribution panel. If your TV or Fridge had stopped were you expecting them to replace it or do anything for you?

Because they specifically said on their website that they will RMA any defective/damaged products, providing that I didn't take a gun and shoot it through the pump. Neptune, as much as I bitch about my sucky Apex, has always provided customer service and walked me through fixing my Apex when power outages caused it to go crazy (which it has, once again...), and they do it for free.

Fish Street emailed me back eventually and said they would send me a new pump but I have to pay for the shipping which is $65 USD... When a brand new one (with controller/power supply) costs less than twice that, I just left it alone.

Defective/damaged parts isn't and never will be an open invitation to replacing a piece of equipment that was damaged from something outside of normal use. A power outage/surge is not a manufacturers defect. If something other then shipping happens that damages it, you will not get anyone to cover it.....if it fails for no apparent reason then you will have a case as a warranty issue based on a defective part. Other than that....take care of your stuff. Like I said before, if you want to protect your household items....for about $150 you can get a surge protector. But to come online and bash a manufacturer or a store that wont honor an unrealistic request is ridiculous.

I will admit that your point is fair and I won't pursue this current pump issue further. But I just want to make a comparison in regards to product/customer service in general.

Case in point: Logitech. Over the years I have had many Logitech products, like gaming headsets, high quality headphones, mice, keyboards, harmony remotes, etc. Every single time there was a problem (and with electrical products, there's always bound to be failures), whether it was my own fault or the item's defectiveness, whether I just bought it or it's been years since I have owned it, Logitech has ALWAYS stepped up with amazing customer service. I was never charged a single cent for shipping replacement items to me or me shipping the defective item back to them for repairs. Several times they even sent me a brand new replacement without me sending back anything, and that's when it was long out of warranty (3+ years). Now that's the kind of customer service/faith in product that I can relate to, and that's why I will always support them.

Maybe I've been spoilt by this and expect the same from other companies. :wink:

Hmmm, I don't know that anyone was bashing products or stores. Maybe mild annoyance and general irritation :)

Power is back on for me-everything seems fine but for 1 anemone, its now vanished into the rock work either to die or split, we shall see I guess.

That's what I took from this thread also. Let's keep it civil people.

So writing an angry email to Fish Street and then stating that they are not willing to pay and that was not a surprise? Then to say build a dream tank, spare no expense so not using Jebao stuff? This is not Fish Streets issue.....and its not a Jebao quality issue. Its a power outage that wrecked something and the blame is being put in the wrong place. Call your power company.

Everyone has dropped this issue. The pump is now working. A mod has asked nicely to keep it civil (ie. let it go). So, let's move on.

Perhaps a mod could just close this thread. Problem solved. OP's pump is working again and has my spare pump just in case. No longer any need to keep this open and have more drama. JMO.

Anthony

Thank you Anthony.... and in regards to closing the thread... no. We need something to do when the Coral Illuminati isn't causing chaos!