Cor-15 set too low?

[Sortega]

Hello,

I am running a neptune cor-15 return pump on a Red Sea Reefer 170. I have the return pump plumbed with the soft flex tubing that the reefer comes standard with (I apologize I do not know the size off the top of my head). The pump has been running in the tank for about 6 months now. Over those 6 month I have gradually lowed the the speed on the pump from a constant 46% down to 24%. The past few weeks the pump has been randomly shutting off and throwing overcurrent errors. The pump has always been able to come back up to full speed (24%) by itself but I find it odd that it has been doing this.

I have been searching through the forums and have taken the pump apart, cleaned it with BRS Citric Acid, and I took extra care to ensure that the O-Ring around the propeller module was seated correctly.

My question is, is it possible to run the cor-15 at too low of speed? Do you think running it at 24% speed is too low and it cannot push the water effectively causing these random over-current errors?

Any advice/ past experiences are welcome.

 

[christopher wainright]

Can you speed it back up and see if the problem still persists? It may just be a coincidence and the pump may need repairs. I don't think running it at lower speeds would cause an over current but I'm not an expert. Just a thought hope you can figure it out.

 

[dank reefer]

I had a similar issue with my Cor-20 and reached out to Neptunes about it. They asked if I hasld recently cleaned the pump, which I did and they said that I might of over tighten the screws when I assembled the pump back. So took the pump out and backed off on each screw just a tad, and the pump started to work again with no issue.

 

[Sortega]

I had a similar issue with my Cor-20 and reached out to Neptunes about it. They asked if I hasld recently cleaned the pump, which I did and they said that I might of over tighten the screws when I assembled the pump back. So took the pump out and backed off on each screw just a tad, and the pump started to work again with no issue.

Interesting, I hadn't thought about that. I increased the flow up to 26% but am still getting that error. I am going to try losing the four screws (just a tad) to see what happens. I'll do that tonight when I get back home from work. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Miller535]

following along

 

[Sortega]

Just a quick update for those following. I increased the cor-15 max return speed (I run the pump at a constant speed) to 28% at 10pm last night. It has now been running at this new higher speed (previously 24%) for about 18 ish hours now. All random pump shut downs and over-current warnings have stopped.

At 24% speed, this random shut down with over-current error would occur 2 or 3 times over a 12 hour period.

This still seems suspicious to me. I am going to keep the pump running at 28% speed for now and see what happens. If I get the error again I am going to take a look at the screws as mentioned by Jose above.

I'll update back in a day or two as to how this plays out. Right now it appears that it is possible to run this pump at too low of a speed.

 

[Sortega]

I had a similar issue with my Cor-20 and reached out to Neptunes about it. They asked if I hasld recently cleaned the pump, which I did and they said that I might of over tighten the screws when I assembled the pump back. So took the pump out and backed off on each screw just a tad, and the pump started to work again with no issue.

So first let me say thank you! I am almost positive the four allen screws on my cor-15 were too tight. I am going to document this here in case any other reefer is searching the forums because they are experiencing a similar issue with their cor return pump.

I think by me gradually lowing the speed of the return pump, I found a point where the motor was turning at too low of speed to overcome the friction caused by the head of the pump being secured too tightly around the body. What clued me in to this was that I was still getting over current issues with my speed increased to 28%. However, now the over current issues only appeared during my feed mode operations (it occurred on the ramp up).

To prove this, I took the pump out of the sump and placed it into a separate bucket of water. I then set the pump to 10% and began tightening the allen screws (while submerged). Sure enough, I found a point where the motor would seize up.

I then removed all four allen screws and held the head of the motor to the body with just my hands. The pump worked fine no problem. This leads me to believe that the screws really don't need to be tight at all. In fact, the head does feel a little snug just by slipping it over the O-Ring that surround the propeller assembly.

So to everyone out there with a cor return pump, take care when tightening the allen screws back down after a cleaning. Literally, once you feel the screw stop turning I would stop. Don't give an 8th turn or anything past that.

 

[dank reefer]

So first let me say thank you! I am almost positive the four allen screws on my cor-15 were too tight. I am going to document this here in case any other reefer is searching the forums because they are experiencing a similar issue with their cor return pump.

I think by me gradually lowing the speed of the return pump, I found a point where the motor was turning at too low of speed to overcome the friction caused by the head of the pump being secured too tightly around the body. What clued me in to this was that I was still getting over current issues with my speed increased to 28%. However, now the over current issues only appeared during my feed mode operations (it occurred on the ramp up).

To prove this, I took the pump out of the sump and placed it into a separate bucket of water. I then set the pump to 10% and began tightening the allen screws (while submerged). Sure enough, I found a point where the motor would seize up.

I then removed all four allen screws and held the head of the motor to the body with just my hands. The pump worked fine no problem. This leads me to believe that the screws really don't need to be tight at all. In fact, the head does feel a little snug just by slipping it over the O-Ring that surround the propeller assembly.

So to everyone out there with a cor return pump, take care when tightening the allen screws back down after a cleaning. Literally, once you feel the screw stop turning I would stop. Don't give an 8th turn or anything past that.

Glad you got your pump working.