Tunze 6040 will not start

[Clownfishy]

My 6040 intermittent would not start so I kept having to take the impeller out and cleaning the inside of the pump. It got worse and worse and now only starts very occasionally. The lights on the controller are showing that the pump is normal and should be working normally. I have taken the center blue rubber thing out of the pump and cleaned that but nothing.

Any ideas?

 

[Clownfishy]

Also, I have swapped power supply and impeller from another known working 6040 and that did not resolve it. Every time you put it in feed mode, it does not start up. Hardly starts now when removing the power to it and powering it back up. Occasionally it will try to start but then then immediately stop

 

[Clownfishy]

Ok, I left it plugged in and after about 15mins it kicked on. Turned the power off on and then it came back on again. Hit the feed timer off and back on again and unlike my other pump, it did not come back on for about 15mins. For some reason, this pump seems to know when the food timer was selected and will not come back on until 15 mins even after the I disconnect the power and plug it back in again. Does it have a EPROM in circuit board that stores how long the food timer is selected?

 

[Clownfishy]

So a day later and it was all working but while cleaning my aquarium, I just happen to accidentally put finger on the impeller and it stopped. Does not matter what I do, it will no longer turn on

 

[X-37B]

So a day later and it was all working but while cleaning my aquarium, I just happen to accidentally put finger on the impeller and it stopped. Does not matter what I do, it will no longer turn on

Contact t Roger at Tunze.
@rvitko

 

[rtparty]

[email protected]

Roger will get you taken care of

 

[DeeBee]

Mine does the exact same thing. Please post if there is a fix.

 

[rvitko Verified Sponsor]

This is not so easy to answer, especially 2 cases, these could be completely different causes.

This video shows disassembly and cleaning, it is critical that the metal shaft remains in the pump, it should never come out. While the video shows a 6020, the 6040 is mechanically basically the same.



The foodtimer is roughly 10 minutes, when you hit the button, a capacitor is charged, it discharges, and it switches back on, it can happen that the button sticks, the button you push is actuating a momentary switch underneath, if you use it very often over a longer time, the membrane pad can deflect, this is simple to solve, back off the screws a half turn or so so the button has room to return. Ideally I would open the controller and inspect.

The pump has numerous safeties, something in the pump, running dry, running at a speed which is not the set speed, it will shut down in any of these cases. These are all designed to protect the motor from being destroyed, a damaged propeller assembly or any calcium deposits or debris can trigger these shut downs as can air in the pump.

 

[Clownfishy]

This is not so easy to answer, especially 2 cases, these could be completely different causes.

This video shows disassembly and cleaning, it is critical that the metal shaft remains in the pump, it should never come out. While the video shows a 6020, the 6040 is mechanically basically the same.



The foodtimer is roughly 10 minutes, when you hit the button, a capacitor is charged, it discharges, and it switches back on, it can happen that the button sticks, the button you push is actuating a momentary switch underneath, if you use it very often over a longer time, the membrane pad can deflect, this is simple to solve, back off the screws a half turn or so so the button has room to return. Ideally I would open the controller and inspect.

The pump has numerous safeties, something in the pump, running dry, running at a speed which is not the set speed, it will shut down in any of these cases. These are all designed to protect the motor from being destroyed, a damaged propeller assembly or any calcium deposits or debris can trigger these shut downs as can air in the pump.

Many thanks for the response. I assume that the blue lights on the dials are changing colour, would mean the food timer issue is not the problem in my case?

Can you expand a bit more on what you mean with "running at a speed which is not the set speed, it will shut down"

 

[rvitko Verified Sponsor]

If the controller is set to 100% and the driver knows it should pick up a frequency from the magnet indicating that, but it is slower because the pump is dirty or partially jammed, it will stop, the reverse will also happen, say it is set to 100% but is going way to fast as it has zero resistance in open air it will also stop.

Yes, if it is pulsing on the dials, we can rule out the foodtimer, one last thing is if any other controller is connected, remove the cable and set it to a built in mode (pulse tends to be best for testing) to rule out cable and connection issues.

 

[Clownfishy]

So I have had the pump in the aquarium all week with no power. Today was cleaning aquarium day so I took out the impeller, cleaned that and the inside of the pump. Nothing in the pump so there should be nothing it was detecting that should stop the impeller. I powered it up and although the pulsing dials were on, the impeller did not spin straight away. However, after about 10mins it started again. I am now afraid to turn it off or hit the feed button as I do not know if it will start again. The only other thing I "think" I am noticing is that its throughput does not seem to be as powerful as the other Tunze 6040 I have in the same tank. I have swapped out the power supplies and impellers and that made no difference. Could it be that the pump itself is faulty?

Apart from cleaning it with Citric acid again this weekend, I am out of ideas

 

[rvitko Verified Sponsor]

Yes, the motor would actually be the most likely part, controllers almost never fail outside of water damage or the stuck foodtimer button. The power supplies can fail but then you have no lights. The motor has a driver circuit inside and this can fail, they usually last 8+ years but of all the parts, thsi would be the main culprit, I will say the 10 minutes is suspicious, so I would check the foodtimer, I would at least open the controller, check for any corrosion or water damage and see if with the cover off, it does not have this problem.

 

[Clownfishy]

So I just checked the controller and all looks fine with no damage. However, I have been observing the pump and I think it is running much slower than the other and is certainly not pushing anywhere near the amount of water as the other one. What I noticed for the first time today was how much the cable to the pump is vibrating. You can visable see the cable move up and down when it pulses. Could it be that the shaft is slightly misaligned? Maybe I have slightly bent it out of shape. It all looks fine but maybe it is enough to cause these issues?

 

[steveschuerger]

Yeah the 6040 needs regular cleaning. I had similar issues with mine until I cleaned it ever month thoroughly

 

[Clownfishy]

Yeah the 6040 needs regular cleaning. I had similar issues with mine until I cleaned it ever month thoroughly

Yeah the 6040 needs regular cleaning. I had similar issues with mine until I cleaned it ever month thoroughly

Hi,
Its not that it is not clean as I have soaked it in citric acid recently. I am suggested that during the cleaning, could I have bent the shaft of the pump or moved it slightly where it is no longer in the correct alignment and this is why I am seeing the cable vibrate so much and possible why sometimes, it does not spin at all?

 

[steveschuerger]

Hi,
Its not that it is not clean as I have soaked it in citric acid recently. I am suggested that during the cleaning, could I have bent the shaft of the pump or moved it slightly where it is no longer in the correct alignment and this is why I am seeing the cable vibrate so much and possible why sometimes, it does not spin at all?

That’s a problem I’ve had with my Nero 3s . Though admittedly the Tunze were good for flow but yeah in retrospect they were fidgety as the got more use

 

[rvitko Verified Sponsor]

Did the shaft come out of the pump? The shaft on all Stream models should never come out, they are designed to be permanently in the motor, if they come out this indicates that calcium seized the drive unit to the shaft. I don't see any way it would be bent unless it came out, a loose shaft definitely causes start up and operational issues, if the drive unit has contact with the walls it basically sticks magnetically and will no longer spin correctly.

 

[Clownfishy]

Did the shaft come out of the pump? The shaft on all Stream models should never come out, they are designed to be permanently in the motor, if they come out this indicates that calcium seized the drive unit to the shaft. I don't see any way it would be bent unless it came out, a loose shaft definitely causes start up and operational issues, if the drive unit has contact with the walls it basically sticks magnetically and will no longer spin correctly.

No, it did not come out so I guess that rules that out. I wonder if it is the motor failing then. What are the warranty on the pumps?

 

[rvitko Verified Sponsor]

5 years as long as it is one made after Oct 2019 with the serial number tag. If the shaft did not come out, the symptoms sound like a motor coil failure. Tunze UK should be able to help.

 

[Clownfishy]

Just to say THANK YOU and that Tunze support is AWESOME. As @rvitko advised, I contacted Tunze UK via email and explained the problem. They confirmed it would be the motor and asked me to send them a copy of the invoice and the serial number of the pump. Although this pump was just over 4 years old, they sent a new one to me within a week. Absolutely brilliant support and warranty. This is why I never look at any other manufacturer when it comes to pumps and skimmers and will continue to buy Tunze products.

Many thanks