Grrrrrrrrr!!!

Lance · #1 12-07-2008, 11:44 PM

I just bought two Sure Grip 50 Powerhead Holders for my Maxi-Jet 1200's w/ the 1600 Upgrade kit. The ad on J/L says works on glass up to 1/2" thick. The box says: "For up to and including 1/2" aquarium walls. My tank has 1/2" glass: I'm all set, right?
So I place the PH's where I want them and plug them in. First they start to slide on the glass and then the magnet on the inside of the glass lets go and the PH tips away from the magnet. "WTF" If I push them back on while the pump is running, they seem to stay put. However, I want to run these on a controller for a little wave action. I'm sure as hell not going to stand there and manually replace the magnet everytime the power goes on.
Anybody else have this problem with these PH holders?

Skimmerking · #2 12-07-2008, 11:57 PM

lance i used mine on the mag floats and tilted it upwards towards the top of the water

Delphinus · #3 12-08-2008, 04:17 AM

Something's wrong, they shouldn't be sliding. I hang Seio's off these things (way heavier than a maxijet) on 1/2" glass and there is zero slippage.

And .. sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you DON'T want the upgraded maxijets on a wavemaker. The powerheads have a slight shudder when they start up. This vibration passes onto the little swing arm which eventually distresses and breaks at the ball joint. You can't get replacement swing arms so you have to buy a whole new upgrade kit. I've had the swing arm break in as little as 7 or 8 weeks on a wavemaker, and last as long as 18 months (and counting) when on 24/7. The wave action is awesome but the little holder thingies just can't handle the constant start/stop action.

Lance · #4 12-08-2008, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Something's wrong, they shouldn't be sliding. I hang Seio's off these things (way heavier than a maxijet) on 1/2" glass and there is zero slippage.

And .. sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you DON'T want the upgraded maxijets on a wavemaker. The powerheads have a slight shudder when they start up. This vibration passes onto the little swing arm which eventually distresses and breaks at the ball joint. You can't get replacement swing arms so you have to buy a whole new upgrade kit. I've had the swing arm break in as little as 7 or 8 weeks on a wavemaker, and last as long as 18 months (and counting) when on 24/7. The wave action is awesome but the little holder thingies just can't handle the constant start/stop action.

Thanks for the info Tony.
The PH's work fine without the upgrade kit or when mounted on the overflow. Since I started this thread I've found that they don't slide if I adjust the tilt to the PH; they do however, still sometimes tip. As for the wavemaker I know that PH's don't last very long with the starting and stopping so I talked to a well-known sponsor as to which PH he recommended for this application. He recommended the Maxi-Jets, so I ordered them. In hind site though, he may not have realized I ordered the upgrade kit as well. That's what probably does in the swing arm. What do you think?

marie · #5 12-08-2008, 04:58 AM

I have maxijets with the upgrade kit and the sure grip magnets on my 175g tank which I'm pretty sure is 1/2" glass and I have to tug pretty hard to get them off to clean (although the coraline algae may have something to do with it)

Lance · #6 12-08-2008, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marie

I have maxijets with the upgrade kit and the sure grip magnets on my 175g tank which I'm pretty sure is 1/2" glass and I have to tug pretty hard to get them off to clean (although the coraline algae may have something to do with it)

Yeah they seem to stick well enough. Like you say, it takes a good tug to remove them. It's just when the power is turned on they tip backwards.

Delphinus · #7 12-08-2008, 05:14 AM

It's definitely just the "1600 upgrade kits" that don't do well on wavemakers. I have >7 year old unmodified Maxijets running on a wavemaker that are still going like the Energizer bunny, apart from maybe having replaced the impellers (since they only last a few years before cracking or breaking off the little plastic bits).

And for what it's worth the water movement effect was wicked. If you're OK with replacing the upgrade kit on a regular basis (it's not like they are super expensive) you may have the last laugh. I tried all manners of glues, epoxies, acrylic weldon, titanium shims inside the shaft, etc. - to repair the busted holder arm but nothing I did lasted longer than a couple weeks. I gave up on the idea after a while but maybe you can have better luck than I did.

Lance · #8 12-08-2008, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

It's definitely just the "1600 upgrade kits" that don't do well on wavemakers. I have >7 year old unmodified Maxijets running on a wavemaker that are still going like the Energizer bunny, apart from maybe having replaced the impellers (since they only last a few years before cracking or breaking off the little plastic bits).

And for what it's worth the water movement effect was wicked. If you're OK with replacing the upgrade kit on a regular basis (it's not like they are super expensive) you may have the last laugh. I tried all manners of glues, epoxies, acrylic weldon, titanium shims inside the shaft, etc. - to repair the busted holder arm but nothing I did lasted longer than a couple weeks. I gave up on the idea after a while but maybe you can have better luck than I did.

Yeah, the lower part of the arm is pretty flimsy all right. I can see it breaking easily. I'll try them out and when they break I won't replace them.