Vario s-6 suddenly making loud humming noise

Bradley Keck · Sep 14, 2018

My vario s-6 has been running for 6 weeks without a problem and has been dead silent. This morning, I was cleaning some algae off the sides of the return chamber of the sump and around the screen of the pump with a tooth brush. All of sudden the pump started making this loud humming noise. Flow was the same. No change there. I took it out, disassembled it, and inspected everything. I found one strand of chaeto and tiny pits of algae. that was it. Washed it all off for good measure, assembled it, and hooked it back up. Well, no change. Any ideas?

jsker · Sep 15, 2018

Bradley Keck said:
My vario s-6 has been running for 6 weeks without a problem and has been dead silent. This morning, I was cleaning some algae off the sides of the return chamber of the sump and around the screen of the pump with a tooth brush. All of sudden the pump started making this loud humming noise. Flow was the same. No change there. I took it out, disassembled it, and inspected everything. I found one strand of chaeto and tiny pits of algae. that was it. Washed it all off for good measure, assembled it, and hooked it back up. Well, no change. Any ideas?

Wow, it sounds like you have done a thorough inspection of the pump. Have you checked the shaft of the magnet to see it is seated properly? I would suggest contacting Reef Octopus about the issue.

Wrasse-cal · Sep 15, 2018

Bradley Keck said:
My vario s-6 has been running for 6 weeks without a problem and has been dead silent. This morning, I was cleaning some algae off the sides of the return chamber of the sump and around the screen of the pump with a tooth brush. All of sudden the pump started making this loud humming noise. Flow was the same. No change there. I took it out, disassembled it, and inspected everything. I found one strand of chaeto and tiny pits of algae. that was it. Washed it all off for good measure, assembled it, and hooked it back up. Well, no change. Any ideas?

I have 3 varios-6 pumps. I’ve had this happen periodically to two of them. I’ve cleaned and disassembled them and not found anything.

At this point, when the buzz starts, I just turn on the pump, wait a few seconds, then turn it back on and the buzz usually is gone.

I contacted CoralVue about this, no real help there.

Bradley Keck · Sep 15, 2018

jsker said:
Wow, it sounds like you have done a thorough inspection of the pump. Have you checked the shaft of the magnet to see it is seated properly? I would suggest contacting Reef Octopus about the issue.

I'm honestly not sure what i'm looking for to see if it is seated properly. I looked up a picture of the impeller assembly and it looked the same, but this not to great detail. I have contacted coralvue and they want me to submit a ticket. Only problem is I got this last year on black Friday and I cannot find a receipt

We will see. I will take it back out and recheck everything, but how do I know if the shaft is seated properly?

Bradley Keck · Sep 15, 2018

Wrasse-cal said:
I have 3 varios-6 pumps. I’ve had this happen periodically to two of them. I’ve cleaned and disassembled them and not found anything.

At this point, when the buzz starts, I just turn on the pump, wait a few seconds, then turn it back on and the buzz usually is gone.

I contacted CoralVue about this, no real help there.

You know, after I disassembled it, checked it, cleaned it, and put it back, it did not hum for about 30 seconds. I thought it was fixed. I t started up though again and has not stopped since yesterday. Maybe I will try turning it off and on again though. Thanks!

jsker · Sep 15, 2018

Bradley Keck said:
I'm honestly not sure what i'm looking for to see if it is seated properly. I looked up a picture of the impeller assembly and it looked the same, but this not to great detail. I have contacted coralvue and they want me to submit a ticket. Only problem is I got this last year on black Friday and I cannot find a receipt We will see. I will take it back out and recheck everything, but how do I know if the shaft is seated properly?

Coarlvue is pretty good about support tickets.

Bradley Keck · Sep 15, 2018

jsker said:
Coarlvue is pretty good about support tickets.

Well that is good to hear! I had been really happy with the pump thus far and I have no c/o with my RO 165 INT so far.

Victor Guyton · May 18, 2022

Bradley Keck said:
My vario s-6 has been running for 6 weeks without a problem and has been dead silent. This morning, I was cleaning some algae off the sides of the return chamber of the sump and around the screen of the pump with a tooth brush. All of sudden the pump started making this loud humming noise. Flow was the same. No change there. I took it out, disassembled it, and inspected everything. I found one strand of chaeto and tiny pits of algae. that was it. Washed it all off for good measure, assembled it, and hooked it back up. Well, no change. Any ideas?

Have you had any progress?. I'm on my second pump. Variety 6 & various 4. Same issue. Gets load after a few months.

DW66 · Jan 27, 2024

I just replace my year and a half old VarioS-6 with a brand new 8 (trying to up my turnover , and the plumbing and size are the same so it was easy to swap) and it hums. Loudly. I checked and all the silicone feet are there. It's not vibrating the tank or itself so it has a good mate to the floor of the sump.

Did you ever get a resolution from Coralvue?

Quicklynx · Apr 24, 2024

I wanted to bump this thread to see if anyone has found a true fix for this yet.

My tank overflow system has very low profile overflow boxes inside my tank, as opposed to the outside, thus able to create a siphon, and keeps the system completely silent.

That being said, my dual Varios S-8 pumps hum is very loud and I can hear them in my next room as well.

I fully clean and inspect them every couple months and haven't found anything that looks like a smoking gun. I didn't recall if they ever were quieter than this because my old overflow system was very loud so may have never heard them.

I am debating on purchasing one of the Orlushy high flow Amazon return pumps that claim to be silent. Looking up various videos on YouTube the claim seems to hold true.

Any thoughts?

exnisstech · Apr 24, 2024

Quicklynx said:
Any thoughts?

Just throwing this out there. I'm running 3 jebao DCP returns (3 systems) and all 3 are silent. I can not hear the pumps over the sound of the water flow. No wifi but I don't see the need for that on a return pump.

Victor Guyton · Apr 24, 2024

It is the impeller. You will need to replace impeller and the bushing. Coralvue had them sometimes. I found bushing on eBay.

Bradley Keck said:
My vario s-6 has been running for 6 weeks without a problem and has been dead silent. This morning, I was cleaning some algae off the sides of the return chamber of the sump and around the screen of the pump with a tooth brush. All of sudden the pump started making this loud humming noise. Flow was the same. No change there. I took it out, disassembled it, and inspected everything. I found one strand of chaeto and tiny pits of algae. that was it. Washed it all off for good measure, assembled it, and hooked it back up. Well, no change. Any ideas?

exnisstech said:
Just throwing this out there. I'm running 3 jebao DCP returns (3 systems) and all 3 are silent. I can not hear the pumps over the sound of the water flow. No wifi but I don't see the need for that on a return pump.

Bradley Keck said:
My vario s-6 has been running for 6 weeks without a problem and has been dead silent. This morning, I was cleaning some algae off the sides of the return chamber of the sump and around the screen of the pump with a tooth brush. All of sudden the pump started making this loud humming noise. Flow was the same. No change there. I took it out, disassembled it, and inspected everything. I found one strand of chaeto and tiny pits of algae. that was it. Washed it all off for good measure, assembled it, and hooked it back up. Well, no change. Any ideas?

You will need impeller and bushing