Hydor Koralia 3 Just Broke

[idlefingers]

I was just giving one of my powerheads a clean and when screwing the shield thing which covers the propeller in, the white plastic pipe which goes through the propeller snapped.

At first I thought it was a complete gonner but I managed to make it jam the white pipe in the right position when it's closed and it's working again but I don't know how long it'll last. I'm going to go to the lfs tomorrow and see about getting a replacement so hopefully it'll hold together 'till then.

Has anyone else had this happen with theirs?

 

[AK77]

Nope, but I'll take extra care when doing mine in the future. At the moment its got a bit of chaeto caught in the grills which I'll need to remove. You must have just caught the propeller shaft at a funny angle and cracked it??

 

[idlefingers]

You must have just caught the propeller shaft at a funny angle and cracked it??

I think that's what must've happened. I was handling it very carefully and it broke REALLY easily so was quite surprised. It's still holding together when I left for work this morning.. fingers crossed it stays that way!

I was going to go to the lfs to try to sort it, but I think I might ring Hydor tomorrow and see what they say first. Hopefully I'll just be able to get a replacement shield thing with the pipe attached.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, most driveshafts on newer pumps are carbon fiber. Hold up great to vibrations and static loads, but snap easy with impulse and torque loads. If forced just-so they break easily.

 

[Gazbo72]

I did the same on my Korolia 2 The only thing was the little bit that broke off in the hole on the front cover


I did the same as you but it only worked for a couple of months before it started to vibrate really bad and get noisy. I need to get a new shaft and front cover for mine just haven,t got round to it yet. ( I would also add that it was my own clumsyness that broke it and not a product fault )

On the plas side my corals have seemed to prefer it with a little less flow so I think I had to much flow before B)

 

[AK77]

Well if its happening a lot, then its somewhat of a design flaw. Cleaning the unit is necessary sometimes and directing impeller shafts back into the correct hole without being able to see it can be difficult. I wonder if they will change the design in favour of a stainless steel or a material that is more shock resistant?

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah that's the trouble... Stainless steel really isn't so stainless in saltwater after enough time

 

[Gazbo72]

Well if its happening a lot, then its somewhat of a design flaw. Cleaning the unit is necessary sometimes and directing impeller shafts back into the correct hole without being able to see it can be difficult. I wonder if they will change the design in favour of a stainless steel or a material that is more shock resistant?

Its wasn,t a design flaw when mine broke just pure clumsyness

When I took the front off it still had the ceramic shaft in the hole and I caught the shaft with my hand on the length of the shaft snapping the brittle shaft in two, leaving a small piece of shft in the hole if that makes sense.