Problems with Bubble Kings

[Chin_Lee]

http://www.reefcentral.org/forums/sh....php?t=1897436

Anybody come across this issue on this thread? My Bubble King Mini 200 just died. Had it for two years, paid almost a grand for it, and its now dead. Motor pulses 3-4 times then dies. Worst investment in my life so far if I will need to buy a new skimmer...... thats about $500 per year or a cup of starbucks grande coffee a day I had to pay for this skimmer to skim my tank.
Just want to see if anybody else is coming across the same problem and if any resolutions are known locally.

[Borderjumper]

I don't have time to go thru the whole thread right now, I will tonight when I get home.

I am running 2 bubble king 180's. I've had them both for about 1.5 years and so far they are flawless. Mine are Gen.2... Is it both generations that's experiance pump problems, or just the gen 1?

[hillegom]

Well, you could always buy that pond pump for the motor block

[sphelps]

Had a client with a BK300 SM and the main pump died after about 6 months or so. Talked to someone at Pro-line and they walked me through some diagnostics and eventually ended up replacing the pump. So no complaints from me. My personal BK has worked flawlessly without problems, so far anyway.

You're suppose to maintain the pump regularly by cleaning the shaft and the ceramic bearing at the back of the pump (most don't know about the bearing maintenance). Not doing so can result in premature failure. Also if the shaft and impeller are not perfectly aligned the pump will shut off. In order for the pump to achieve it's high efficiency it has a very low tolerance system. I'd suggest cleaning the rear bearing so it can spin freely on the shaft and seeing if that fixes the problem. To remove it you have to pull it out with a pair of long needle nose pliers. Push it back in place with the appropriate size socket. If this doesn't fix the problem contact Pro-line directly.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by hillegom

Well, you could always buy that pond pump for the motor block

Not really

[ferret]

That's what I've been using for my skimmer purchasing a laguna pump (powerjet) instead of a red dragon

[hillegom]

Originally Posted by sphelps

Not really

And why not?
Did you read the posts on RC?

[fishytime]

I wonder how often if at all the OP of the RC thread cleaned the pump.......I get it at work all the time...."my pump died"...."my vortech died".....you look at it and there is soooo much crud caked on it there is no wondering why it failed.....it doesnt take much build up to throw something that's spinning a million times per second out of balance.....

[globaldesigns]

Originally Posted by fishytime

I wonder how often if at all the OP of the RC thread cleaned the pump.......I get it at work all the time...."my pump died"...."my vortech died".....you look at it and there is soooo much crud caked on it there is no wondering why it failed.....it doesnt take much build up to throw something that's spinning a million times per second out of balance.....

Thanks Doug... Now I feel guilty, and now I have to go clean everything.

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

Thanks Doug... Now I feel guilty, and now I have to go clean everything.

.....as well you should!!!!