MP40 wetside magnet failures

R

rckrzy1

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Ok, my second MP40QD had had the magnet covering fail and then rust and split open. I never had an issue with the original MP40's. I only use vinegar to clean.?The first sign this happens is the wetside stops turning and then you obviously see the rust. My first failure was about a year after buying and my second failed about a year and a couple of months.?Could be coincidence but I had some SPS dieing so I am running carbon in a reactor.?So far echotech has not given me any grief over replacing even though out of warranty so I wonder if they know there is an issue ? And is it a bad batch or bad design ? I would have thought by encasing the magnet in plastic it would have been completely safe but I assume the plastic is opening up at a seam.
 
Wow that doesn't sound good, have you done any research yet to see if others have had an issue?Anyone else on here with this experience?I was thinking about switching to these in the future....
 
Mine are not QD, but I have MP40's that are many years old, some with scraped up magnet housings and none have split open.I will say that I have had a magnet split open (a cheap Aqueon algae scraper) and once you get water in there it's just a matter of time before it's going to turn into a giant ball of rust. ?I left the giant ball of rusted magnet inside my reef (biocube) for a couple months until it finally fell apart and never saw any issues, so I'm guessing it's not the cause of your issues. ?I had some limited SPS at the time (encrusting and monti caps, might have had a birdsnest and cyphastrea as well, it's been a while) and didn't have any issues.The old MP40 design was very sensitive (long term wear) to good alignment, but I don't think the new design has this issue. ?The MP10/MP60 wet side design is a much better design than the original MP40 design, and my understanding of the QD design (haven't taken one apart yet) is that it is now the same as well.I wander the Ecotech subforum on ReefCentral and don't remember hearing of this issue there.Edit: I got curious and did a search for rusty MP40 magnets on their board. ?I only found 4 cases going back to the beginning of 2014 (out of 2021 total threads in that subforum). ?One of them the guy was complaining about SPS dieoff, none of the others mentioned anything. ?It did sound like this would be covered under warranty no matter the age of the unit.
 
Another thread about this popped up on Reef Central recently and included a couple people with SPS issues that did seem to be tied to exposed Vortech magnets. ?Not so much the iron, but tin and barium was showing up. ?Now, this was still in the low PPB (not PPM) range, but it does put some validity to the concern. ?Has removing the magnet in question and a large water change helped?
 
I'm having the same problem with my mp40 quite drive. When I emailed ecotech I was shocked to what they said.  JR Toth  [(EcoTech Marine)]Aug 31, 3:55 PM EDT Hello Brian,What you are seeing there is a little bit of discoloration to the adhesive used to connect the ceramic shaft to the ceramic bearing.  That said, it will not harm anything in your aquarium.Thanks,JR TothCustomer Service Agent Im waiting on the Triton test results to come in to see the root cause of my sps to slowly die.
 
^It might be, but it's likely from the shaft, and they all develop that at some point.  This is the sort of failure I think is causing issues:View attachment 2708Picture from here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2628623The makeup of the shaft is much different than the makeup of the magnet.
 
Something I should add, and this is just opinion on my part:I haven't seen evidence that iron is an issue in a reef (GFO, lost razor blades, etc.).  The rust on the shaft implies iron loss.  The rust on the magnet wouldn't be an issue directly, except that it brings with it all the other elements in the magnet, which may be an issue (and the device generally stops functioning as well).
 
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