Re: [APD] Vortex HELP! -- or - Don't get hot -- get another

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

This is a the way it's supposed to work. Although the motor
will get hot to the touch when it's runnng, It should be
able to run nonstop day after day without generating enough
heat to trip the thermal overload n the motor.


This is a centrifugal pump so even if you totally blocked
the output, it shouldn't cause the motor to trip.

And it's not a matter of oiling the motor -- at a couple of
drops every few months, you can guess that it doesn't use
much.

The way a vortex is designed, you can plug up the intake
too and the machine will kepp on going -- it just won't
produce much outflow.  That's one way to tell that it's
time to change the diatoms.

I'd go back to the vendor for a quick replacement or
contact the factory: they have a website at
www.diatomfilter.com


Vortex's are like farm horses -- Not necessarily
attractive, but strong and reliable and built to take it.
But even the best have failures -- and this sounds like
one.

It's brand new -- it's not right -- take it back. If you
exchange, your next one should last about a decade or 2 or
so.

Scott H.
--- David Terrell <dave at terrellclan_com> wrote:
> Tonight my wife and I decided to do Xmas, I knew what I
> was getting, and so did she.  Pretty boring, but we knew
> what we wanted and got it for each other.  So, Xmas
> Saturday night so I could play with my new toy over the
> weekend, a new Vorted Diatom filter.  I got everything
> put together, diatom charged and everything...first run
> was, well, scary.  Despite reading the instructions quite
> carefully after charging the bag and letting the clamp on
> the exhaust pipe go a whole cloud of diatom powder went
> into the aquarium.  Fine, I read the book, it said that
> was no harm to the fish and eventually would just get
> charged back in the filter.  Cool!  It's working! 
> 
> Uh, lots of air going down the intake, there's a
> leak...alright, they didn't glue it enough?  So I sqeeze
> the intake a bit to check that and the air stops, tubes
> aren't really snug, not a big deal I get a nylon tie and
> clamp that on there, problem solved.
> 
> Uh, it's starting to smell?  WHOA, the pump is too hot to
> touch!  :-(  I look into the jar and it's perfectly
> clear, water is coming out the exhaust pipe pretty well,
> and the thing is humming along...so I guess the motor
> might get a little hot...
> 
> Uh, it shut off!  DOH, what happened to my new toy?  I
> figured maybe the WHOLE bag of diatom powder that ships
> with the unit (despite the instructions) isn't supposed
> to go in there, so I take the whole setup into the
> kitchen where I proceed to make a large mess trying to
> get it to flush, which I did eventually.  Now I've got it
> running with no diatom powder, thinking there was so much
> in there it cloged it up.  Motor is still getting hot,
> warmish, but I can touch it without burning myself...back
> to the book, it says 3 cups for the XL model (which I
> have) so I put in 3 cups into the bucket I'm working in. 
> The water clears quickly and it's humming away, I'm
> happy.  So I grab the whole setup, put the tubes into a
> pitcher and bring it over to my tank.  Set everything up
> and run it in the pitcher again like the instructions say
> so for recharging, this takes care of the cloud...now the
> pitcher is clear, cool.  I take the pitcher out and watch
> as my tank REALLY begins to clear before my eyes, I can
> see deeper and deeper in by millimeters..centimeters...
> 
> Uh, it shut off again!  Wow, the motor is REALLY hot
> again, I can't touch it.  So, here it stands, the Vortex
> is on my tank right now, cooling off.  I'm glad it has
> this auto shut-down feature probably to avoid fire, but
> why is it getting so hot?  I read the book again for the
> fifth time or so.  Yea, oil the pump every 3 months or
> so, on the pump it says anually but whatever you do, "DO
> NOT OVER OIL!"
> 
> SO!  After my long story, what the hell should I do?  Are
> the motors supposed to get _that_ hot (no way!)?  Are
> they shipped without oil?  What if it has oil and I over
> oil?  It seems to me there's just no oil in there, but
> I'm not about to oil the thing after about 10 minutes use
> and have something go wrong...perhaps over oiling by 3
> drops isn't a big deal?
> 
> I hope someone has an answer, my wife gets all upset when
> she buys me something I'm all excited about and it
> doesn't work as I expected.  I'm a little upset, but I
> figure it's something that can be solved with just _3_
> drops of oil.
> 
> Thanks guys,
> 
> -Dave
> _______________________________________________
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> Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
> http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/aquatic-plants


=====
S. Hieber

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