Eclipse System 3 Issue

[Martin]

I just bought an Eclipse System 3 Aquarium. I am having trouble with it
~overheating. Thinking it was the lighting (6W NO haha), I left the
lighting off for a day (I don't have fish yet). The temperature did not
decline. In fact, it went up - from 81F to 83F. I am now quite certain
that the motor in the filter (35GPH) is heating it to this temperature. It
doesn't seem to me that such a small motor could do such a thing. Is this
normal? Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks,
Martin

[Larry]

On Tue, 17 May 2005 00:22:58 GMT, "Martin"
> wrote:

>I just bought an Eclipse System 3 Aquarium. I am having trouble with it
>~overheating. Thinking it was the lighting (6W NO haha), I left the
>lighting off for a day (I don't have fish yet). The temperature did not
>decline. In fact, it went up - from 81F to 83F. I am now quite certain
>that the motor in the filter (35GPH) is heating it to this temperature. It
>doesn't seem to me that such a small motor could do such a thing. Is this
>normal? Has anyone else experienced this?
>
>Thanks,
>Martin

System 3 meaning a 3g tank? I have a 3 and 5 g Eclipse. The way the
water flows up the tube and over the filter to the wheel would lead
one to wonder if the little motor could actually warm up the tube that
much. Think you could feel the motor compartment and would know if
it's hot.

Are you located in a warm climate right now?( ie room temp) Is it
located near a window with bright light? Do you think your
thermometer is functioning ok?

System is quite basic so it shouldn't be hard to troubleshoot.

Good luck

Larry

>

[George Pontis]

In article >,
says...
> I just bought an Eclipse System 3 Aquarium. I am having trouble with it
> ~overheating. Thinking it was the lighting (6W NO haha), I left the
> lighting off for a day (I don't have fish yet). The temperature did not
> decline. In fact, it went up - from 81F to 83F. I am now quite certain
> that the motor in the filter (35GPH) is heating it to this temperature. It
> doesn't seem to me that such a small motor could do such a thing. Is this
> normal? Has anyone else experienced this?
>

A defect in the motor windings could cause the power dissipation to go way up. It
is not an unusual fault, in general. Excessive friction in the rotor could also
cause excessive heating but to a lesser degree. You might take it apart to make
sure that it is assembled properly and that you don't see anything suspicious.

The best test would be to use a wattmeter and see how the power consumption
compares with the Marineland specs. Since you probably don't have a wattmeter,
perhaps you could try only running the pump for a minute or two every half hour. I
think that would be sufficient to keep the biowheel vital, but the motor heating
would be chopped way down. Since the tank still has a lot of thermal capacity, it
will not lose heat that fast so you would have to keep up the experiment for
several hours, maybe half a day.

If you haven't called Marineland, that would be a good idea. Their technical
support is pretty good and they may know of some specific problems. You will
surely get it resolved between your experiments and their help.

[NetMax]

"Martin" > wrote in message
.. .
>I just bought an Eclipse System 3 Aquarium. I am having trouble with it
>~overheating. Thinking it was the lighting (6W NO haha), I left the
>lighting off for a day (I don't have fish yet). The temperature did not
>decline. In fact, it went up - from 81F to 83F. I am now quite certain
>that the motor in the filter (35GPH) is heating it to this temperature.
>It doesn't seem to me that such a small motor could do such a thing. Is
>this normal? Has anyone else experienced this?
>
> Thanks,
> Martin


A 2F increment in a 3g plastic tank from the powerhead sounds fairly
typical. I actually recommend these 3 and 5g Eclipse or Waterhomes for
Bettas, just for that reason. Built in 24/7 heating, but up here in
Canada, it's a bit easier to control our room temperatures from getting
too high. Nothing much you can do about it, short of changing to an
external filter or leaving the cover open.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[steve]

Martin wrote:
> I just bought an Eclipse System 3 Aquarium. I am having trouble with
it
> ~overheating. Thinking it was the lighting (6W NO haha), I left the
> lighting off for a day (I don't have fish yet). The temperature did
not
> decline. In fact, it went up - from 81F to 83F. I am now quite
certain
> that the motor in the filter (35GPH) is heating it to this
temperature. It
> doesn't seem to me that such a small motor could do such a thing. Is
this
> normal? Has anyone else experienced this?
>
> Thanks,
> Martin


Hi Martin, I've had my S3 running about 3 months now. I put a heater
in it from the git go because my office area can get down to about 50
deg in the winter. Now, I don't think the heater is ever on at all.
The temp stays at 80F no matter what the heater is set to. I have the
light on a timer, and the water temp is 80 at 0600AM before the lights
come on. The pump housing is warm to the touch.

steve

[steve]

so, I left the lid open all day yesterday and today the temp has
stabilized 2 deg lower to 78. I think I'll leave the lid open.

steve

[IDzine01]

Yes Martin, I have a Eclipse 6 with a betta in it and even though it
has a heater it has never turned on because the temp is always between
80=B0 - 83=B0. If it's warm in my office it can go even higher then that.
Like you, I keep the lid open on the warm days. Fortunately, once it
really warms up here, the AC should keep the tank fairly cool (78=B0).