Magtool Gyre - How do I take this thing apart?

[george9]

Hi all,
I woke up to an Error on my Magtool gyre today, “E7” which according to the manual means something foreign is lodged in there. I’ve had problems with cerith snails getting inside but it’s always been obvious and once I pull them out, no big deal. This time, I see no obvious blockage, but am unable to take the pump apart to make sure there is nothing stuck deeper inside.

The manual is useless and never even mentions the possibility, does anyone know how to take these apart?

Amazon.com

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I don't have that brand, but it should be similar to my icecap. The 2 caged ends come off, on mine I just pull them off. Next will be the impellers, those can be gently pulled out too. Thats all that comes apart, 2 cages and 2 impellers, its fairly straightforward.

 

[george9]

I don't have that brand, but it should be similar to my icecap. The 2 caged ends come off, on mine I just pull them off. Next will be the impellers, those can be gently pulled out too. Thats all that comes apart, 2 cages and 2 impellers, its fairly straightforward.

I did figure out how to get this one apart, and the cage ends do come off if you pull hard enough. Thanks for the tip

The entire thing is not designed well to take apart/put back together however because it is IMPOSSIBLE to line the impeller back up into the place it sits while simultaneously snapping the cage back in. On one side, you need to put the impeller peg into a round hole, and the other end into a X shape opening while simultaneously getting the cage out back on to hold it all together. I worked on it for hours today and finally got it put back together correctly.

Based on how difficult it was to put back together, and since the manual doesn’t even mention taking it apart for maintenance, it may not be meant to be taken apart. That’s what you get with these cheaper units I suppose. This is a relatively newer product with few reviews, so I don’t see any chatter about it on forums yet.

This is the type of thread that will likely be pretty quiet but many may stumble on it from Google wondering the same question. If you stumble on this thread months down the road, feel free to share your experiences

 

[marspeed]

How do you like it is it quiet well built ??.

 

[george9]

How do you like it is it quiet well built ??.

I was really liking it for the price. It was about $112 bucks for a gyre that pumps 4000gph…and man it really moves water. It is also freakishly quiet. No complaints from me until my snails decided to hide out inside of it, but this is no fault of the gyre or manufacturer.

I recently added cerith snails and I’ve learned they love to get caught in the impeller and cause errors. Usually this wouldn’t bother me too much…just pop the cage off, grab the snail and pop it back on. BUT this unit was not made to be nicely taken apart and easily put back together. The cage easily pops off if you pull right, but it is the only thing that keeps the impeller in place. So when putting it back on, it is a major PITA to line up the impeller on both sides of the cage (one side of the impeller is a round pin, other side is a X shape pin). You almost need two people to do it. When I had one side lined up right, the other side got all out of wack.

If you have a tank without tiny cerith snails, this thing is going to be great. If you have lots of cerith snails, I would maybe spring for a more expensive one that’s going to be less of a headache to take apart. But all in all, I have no complaints at all about this thing mechanically. It has ran like a dream for a few months continuously. Only ran into headaches when it started getting jammed by my snails lol