Power heads--what am I doing wrong?

[digcolnagos]

My third Koralia power head since setting up the tank in June has died. The first two, I figured out, were the victim of the play sand I had as substrate. Replaced that with pool filter sand, and that has solved that problem (at least, judging by the complete lack of sand in the Fluval canister filter--before, there was quite a bit). Now, the new one that came with the pool filter sand is dead. I'm thinking it may be due to a large plastic plant that I had near the power head in an attempt to hide the head. If the plant were too close, could it impede intake to the point of killing the power head? Any input welcome--this is getting more than a little expensive. Thanks.

[Marcos Mataratzis]

No chance of plastic plant beeing guilt, unless pieces of it got stck inside the Koralia. Sand is still the main suspect imo. I would use the Koralia far away from the sand, near the surface.

Another possibility is to check your local electrical frequency. Some equipaments comes either 50 or 60 Hz and if it doesn´t match your local frequency they will have a shorter life time.

[chefkeith]

My Koralia quit working after a few months too. Not sure why, but sand shouldn't make it quit permanently since it has a magnetic impeller. I probably should of wrote a complaint to the manufacturer to get a replacement, but I tossed it instead. Most companies will replace their broken products for free if you send them a complaint e-mail .

[digcolnagos]

Thanks. I'll go back through my records and try to figure out who sold me the unit--I've lost track. I sincerely doubt it is sand--I positioned the head near the surface to keep it away from the substrate. I thought these units were state of the art, but I am beginning to wonder.