You’re absolutely right but if you think barnacles was the reason that the skimmer caught fire then I think you need to do research..... once you screw the neck into the pump you can’t even see the hole I literally had to unscrew the neck to find a hole.... I knew it was the pump because of the smell coming from it
Don’t buy eshopps skimmers
- Thread starter Selk Oner
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You’re absolutely right but if you think barnacles was the reason that the skimmer caught fire then I think you need to do research..... once you screw the neck into the pump you can’t even see the hole I literally had to unscrew the neck to find a hole.... I knew it was the pump because of the smell coming from it
That’s exactly what I’m stating the barnacles have nothing to do with the reason for the pump to catch on fire ....I don’t care what anyone says and the same thing Sandy said that was not the cause it fought on fire .....
Actup85
Community Member
What's on the outside also builds up on the Inside that makes the pump work harder in turn drives up the amps and causes more heat and more ware the motor windings can and will over heat and potentially catch fire..that can cause electrical malfunctions to happen i do HVAC work and can't tell you how many pumps or motors I've found burned up due to no maintenance. I'm sorry for you're loss but taking everything g apart and cleaning prevents disasters from happening.
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For that skimmer to turn black and burn on the inside of the skimmer means to me you had multiple issues. For it to burn inside the skimmer like that it had to be free of water, and free for some time. Without more knowledge of your tank and setup its hard to say but just about any skimmer pump that runs without water in the skimmer will overheat over time, the water is its cooling mechanism. I would look into why this skimmer ended up with no water in it, how and why. Any skimmer you put on this system will give you problems and likely be destroyed if its run for any length of time with no water in it.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
First, let me say that I'm sorry you had this happen. It is an awful situation.
I can also tell you that using a GFCI with a ground probe would likely have tripped this motor off much earlier and saved your aquarium. I would encourage you to at least consider using them on your systems in the future.
Believe it or not, the impeller jamming isn't much of an issue. Almost all aquarium pumps are synchronous motors specifically so that if the rotor jams it won't damage the pump. The biggest issue with a stalled rotor is if it is a pump that relies on an internal cooling channel for heat removal. Some have them, some only release heat through cooling fins.
This is not the type of fault a surge protect will protect against. A surge arrestor will protect the equipment from a high voltage spike such as from lightening. They aren't designed to trip on a fault on the load. Odds are it also had an overcurrent trip which eventually kicked in when the damage got bad enough which is a lucky break.
Without doing a thorough examination of the motor I can't tell you if the barnacles did or did not cause the motor to catch on fire. I can confidently state that it "could" have been the cause. If this motor used internal cooling channels around the rotor that is at least partially blocked by the barnacles, I would consider it likely. The calcification also acts like an insulator on the outside of the motor which will make it run hotter. That said, it is possible that it was a manufacturing defect with the motor. Without dissecting the motor, I couldn't say.
I can also tell you that using a GFCI with a ground probe would likely have tripped this motor off much earlier and saved your aquarium. I would encourage you to at least consider using them on your systems in the future.
TessGlo
Active Member
Good (I guess) to hear its not just me with their products (skimmer and sump). Both products demonstrated a lack attention to detail and showed that they don't value customer service, at all. I purchased their latest Axium skimmer and it arrived with two problems (missing neck gasket and leaking collection cup). At least with the skimmer I was able to get a response from customer service and the issues were resolved. However, when I contacted them about issues with my Gen 3 R300 sump, I received no response at all, despite several calls and emails. The lid on the filter sock compartment does not fit properly, it falls into the sump, and due to it's poor fit just becomes a place for salt creep to accumulate, creating a mess you have to confront every time you change the filter sock. I wouldn't care so much if the lid wasn't important for reducing the noise from water entering the sump. This is something that would be hard to miss if the sump design was tested for real world use before going on sale. It was also missing the float valve it was supposed to include (fortunately I did not need it).
If you go on the Internet you see horror stories about them and their products honestly the customer service is worse than their products I’m sad you found out the hard way the reason for this post is not only and to tell my story but prevent this to happen to someone else....... good luck to you as for me I will not be using or promoting any other products ever again ..
Forsaken77
Valuable Member
They are certainly not one of the best of anything. In the US they are more of an economy brand. Their latest skimmer line (S-series) is really the first piece of higher end equipment.
But most everybody has heard of them here. I guess people in different countries don't have access to their products.
Having said that, I'm very sorry to hear about your situation. Having invested all the time and money and to see it taken away by such a small piece of equipment that shouldn't even do that is heart breaking. Did you have GFCI outlets connecting everything? They will usually pop the circuit if something is out of whack.
Looking at it from their point, they can't be certain that your electrical situation was up to par, water didn't fry something else, or neglect on the user end. There's a ton of variables they can't account for. No company will replace your entire setup. The best you can hope for is your insurance covering it.
This just reenforces my belief in not using cheaper equipment. There's little, to no, quality assurance and they cut corners on critical components to save a few cents. While any piece of equipment can fail, it's less likely to happen on better quality stuff. I try to only use "made in the US" equipment, or European equipment because of the stricter standards.
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Forsaken77
Valuable Member
I didn't say Sicce, I said Eshopps in general. Sicce will make a pump to the specs the manufacturer wants as well. They could design a bad product around a good pump. Who knows if they used the Sicce power cord or used their own to save money (just an example). Yes, some Eshopps products will work better than others. Also some of these manufacturers modify the Sicce pumps as well. Like I said, they just started a higher-end attempt with the newer purple and blue colored skimmers. Which some people have been having issues with as well.
I'm not saying everything they make is complete garbage. I'm just saying that they are a piece of economic equipment, which is not a bad thing, and to have your expectations in check, and definitely make sure your up on the safety backups (which should be with all equipment anyway). The failure rate is higher on certain brands that cost less.
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oldbob50
Active Member
Very sorry for your lost and nothing can really fix that.
However, every one needs to consider this.
Not trying to be picky but you keep saying a surge protector. For the record, a surge protector does not protect you from electrical wiring failures or short circuits. It protects you from electrical company power surges such as voltage spikes and lightening strikes (to a point). If your pump had an electrical failure that electrocuted your fish, your circuit breaker should have tripped long before the meltdown. A GFCI type breaker would have sensed the current flow through the water and tripped before there was any chance of meltdown. If you have these proper protection devices in place then your animals probably died from the toxic chemicals produced.
But we need to consider something else.
Since most pumps use an electro magnet and a magnetic impeller it is possible for a local fault in the wiring of the pump to build up heat but not electrify the water. Over time, the hot spot could get bigger until catastrophic failure. This would be caused by the breakdown of the coating on the wires of the electro-magnetic coil. Salt water corrosion could be responsible for or add to this breakdown. Or it could have been a defect in the coating on the origin wire used and would be a manufacturing defect. This is not a fault that is able to be protected for.
The question is how often do these pumps fail and for what reason. Since this is a good place to gather information, it might be good to have pump failure forum. We could list the type of pump, manufacturer, model number and a description of the failure and were there any signs of electrical fault. This information could be be gathered to see if certain manufacturers or models are more prone to failure.
I just had a flow pump go bad. It caused no damage but it was not starting all of the time (I would turn it off to feed) and it would occasionally just stop and start on its own. I replaced it when I determined it was the pump and not my low water level sensor.
If we shared this information, we could over time, identify brands or models that have quality issues. I applaud your effort to share your experience and certainly it sounds like Eshopps has a major customer service issue. But the real question is, is their equipment dangerous? I would like to have real data to determine if a potential new purchase has design flaws or manufacturing defect issues before I buy it. We use the equipment and we are best to gather this data.
However, every one needs to consider this.
Not trying to be picky but you keep saying a surge protector. For the record, a surge protector does not protect you from electrical wiring failures or short circuits. It protects you from electrical company power surges such as voltage spikes and lightening strikes (to a point). If your pump had an electrical failure that electrocuted your fish, your circuit breaker should have tripped long before the meltdown. A GFCI type breaker would have sensed the current flow through the water and tripped before there was any chance of meltdown. If you have these proper protection devices in place then your animals probably died from the toxic chemicals produced.
But we need to consider something else.
Since most pumps use an electro magnet and a magnetic impeller it is possible for a local fault in the wiring of the pump to build up heat but not electrify the water. Over time, the hot spot could get bigger until catastrophic failure. This would be caused by the breakdown of the coating on the wires of the electro-magnetic coil. Salt water corrosion could be responsible for or add to this breakdown. Or it could have been a defect in the coating on the origin wire used and would be a manufacturing defect. This is not a fault that is able to be protected for.
The question is how often do these pumps fail and for what reason. Since this is a good place to gather information, it might be good to have pump failure forum. We could list the type of pump, manufacturer, model number and a description of the failure and were there any signs of electrical fault. This information could be be gathered to see if certain manufacturers or models are more prone to failure.
I just had a flow pump go bad. It caused no damage but it was not starting all of the time (I would turn it off to feed) and it would occasionally just stop and start on its own. I replaced it when I determined it was the pump and not my low water level sensor.
If we shared this information, we could over time, identify brands or models that have quality issues. I applaud your effort to share your experience and certainly it sounds like Eshopps has a major customer service issue. But the real question is, is their equipment dangerous? I would like to have real data to determine if a potential new purchase has design flaws or manufacturing defect issues before I buy it. We use the equipment and we are best to gather this data.
If sicce made the pump and it faulted then why is it all on eshopps? I get your frustrated and maybe there customer service isn't great but have you reached out to sicce? Unfortunately things happen when you combine electricity and saltwater and it's good your letting everyone know as to prevent other accidents from happening but this can happen to any pump that isn't maintained or is faulty. Why the hate specifically for eshoppes?
Whats the excuse for ecotech and there vectra pumps, dont they have a high failure rate?? I dont consider eshoppes "cheaper brand" and just because an item is cheaper doesnt mean the company cuts corners? I ran a SCA 303 with an atman pump that ran flawless for years and there supposed to be cheap.
It’s not hate .... it’s never been hate I own almost everything they sell .. the fact that a lot of the products fail and there customers service was the way it was is the reason for this post to worn and preventing this to happen to more people....
I would be dam if some lady is going to yell at me and tell me “what do you want me to do!!” We not reliable for anything!!!!!
What type of BS is that !!
I understand that I called them to tell them what happened before I got half way done she cut me off with her rudeness...
Then offer me a new pump after I have no tank left !! That was pain old disrespectful!!
Then after I threatened to tell everyone she offer a new skimmer but she also said “not the new model”!! Smfh
I try to look at it from both sides. I couldn't imagine going through what you did and on top of that someone being rude to me, I'd be upset too. I also understand there side too, all they can really do is offer to replace the pump. It's a no win I'm afraid. Hopefully your planning a comeback.
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