Varios S8 power supply fried

[Benoit Martin]

Tonight the power supply for my 2 year old Varios S8 pump fried. It smelled like burnt plastic and electronics and was burning hot to the touch.

Beside the fact that I now need to urgently find a replacement locally, is that common? I find it scary as a for hazard, lucky I was home when it happened so I could unplug asap.

I am hoping only the power supply is burnt by the way, not sure if the pump and controller still work.

 

[Montiman]

Power supply failures are the most common failure on DC pumps. Usually the power supply is either over heated or over drawn. If your power supply is not well ventilated or in a hot area it can fail early. More common is the power supply is over drawn. With DC pumps the pump will spin at the same speed no matter what but as the pump gets dirtier it draws more power. If the pump is not cleaned regularly then the power supply will start to supply more power than it was designed to and this can result in failure.

This is part of the reason why expensive DC pumps like Abyzz have huge power supplies with aluminum radiators. They are overkill but that is the point. Pumps don't always run in ideal conditions.

You might notice that the Various warranty is 2 years on the pump only which means it likely excludes the controller and power supply. These are the most common failure points.

 

[Benoit Martin]

Thank you for the explanation Montiman, it does make sense.
I have cleaned the pump recently but maybe not good enough (I did not fully take it apart to clean the inside).
I have suspected that cooling inside my stand may be an issue for a while and I guess I am paying the price now. I'll have to install at least 1 and maybe 2 cooling fans to pull the hot/humid air out.
I'll also do a full cleaning of the pump again, just to make sure.

 

[vangvace]

The black power bricks that are common for DC applications assume air movement and the ability to radiate heat. It can happen just as easily on your laptop or video game system

 

[Benoit Martin]

I finally found a replacement power supply but it's going to take a few days before I get it.
I have 2 Koralia pumps and a Gyre 3K pump running so there is plenty of flow and water surface break but how long do you think before I have to consider this an emergency (no corals, only fish and they do not look distressed at the moment).

I can remove the pump from my water station to set it up as a temporary replacement but that won't be fun (I know, I should have had a replacement pump ready to go, it's on my purchase list)

 

[Benoit Martin]

Well, I bit the bullet and pulled my pump out of my water mixing station. I'm back in business with only about 1/3 of the return I used to have but that should be enough to hold over until the end of the week when I can plug the old pump back.