Reefmat 1200…get it or not?.

[Flame2hawk]

I have a RedSea 525 G2. Can’t say I love the sock changes so have been looking at getting Reefmat. The reviews have been mixed with lots citing motor failures. Don’t know whether RS has addressed with better quality motors in more recent model upgrade.

So should I take the dive or not. Would love to hear from those that have had them a while. Thx!

 

[exnisstech]

Love mine. Here's a quote from a post with my theory on the motor failures.

I had to replace mine once. I think i know what is the likely cause of the reported failures. When the roll has ended the motor still tries to advance the fleece but obviously can't and just burns up after being over worked one time too many. The sensor that tells the controller the fleece isn't advancing is in the motor so it doesn't send a signal it isn't advancing until after the motor attempts to do so and it can not
It would be like chaining your car to a building once a month then mashing the accelerator and expecting the car to move. Eventually the transmission is going to fail as a result. To prevent this it's best to replace the fleece while there is still a little left so the motor isn't over worked.
I figured this out after the motor failed on my reefmat 500. One good thing is the motors are only about $25 and are easy to change. I love mine in spite of this flaw.

EDIT: Mine was installed 10/2022 and I replaced the motor once.

 

[petcellar]

Mine has been great. I certainly would recommend.

 

[LavenderTi]

I love mine. I’ve had 1 motor failure so far. I just keep 1-2 motors on hand for when it fails next. I do also use aftermarket fleece.

I’d purchase again. So far it seems the reefmat is the best working filter roller for its size.

 

[Luisn17]

Best thing ever. It works perfectly with no issues, I use the rolls people linked here in the forum which are about 10 bucks each. All you need is the adapter which is about 15 bucks.

 

[slingfox]

I just hit my 2 year anniversary with my RedSea 525 G2. I have been using a Reefmat 1200 from the start without any issues. I have the Reefmat advance 1.0”-1.2” each time. I may set it higher since I do believe having the mat advance less often should help with motor longevity.

 

[exnisstech]

I just hit my 2 year anniversary with my RedSea 525 G2. I have been using a Reefmat 1200 from the start without any issues. I have the Reefmat advance 1.0”-1.2” each time. I may set it higher since I do believe having the mat advance less often should help with motor longevity.

I thought the same thing but then wondered if it was so. I know AC electric motors use extra juice on start up but I have no idea about these low voltage motors. I will say my fleece use has been much less going to a shorter advance. Im using 1.0 -1.2 setting now. I was around 3" before, can't remember exactly. I was using 20+ inches a day before and now it's much less.

 

[slingfox]

I thought the same thing but then wondered if it was so. I know AC electric motors use extra juice on start up but I have no idea about these low voltage motors. I will say my fleece use has been much less going to a shorter advance. Im using 1.0 -1.2 setting now. I was around 3" before, can't remember exactly. I was using 20+ inches a day before and now it's much less.

I went the opposite direction. For the first 15 months I used the smallest advance length possible (0.2-0.4”) which meant the motor was starting up very often throughout the day. When I increased the advance length to 1.0-1-.2” my mat usage gradually went down. Was previously at 30” a day whereas now I am around 11”. I assume this mostly has to do with my tank maturing but hard to say. For now I will leave the settings as is since it is sometimes better not to tweak things since the uglies are lurking around the corner

 

[DarkReefer]

Not sure how long I've had mine... might be coming upto a year ?
But I love it, absolute beast of a unit and works well. So easy to use and change out the filter roll too when compared to the likes of a clarisea sk5000 for example (that thing was balls).