Anyone have problems with a MAG 7?????

[Colonel]

I just barely escaped a complete meltdown in my tank due to a MAG 7. On a hunch I rechecked the temperature of my tank last night 11.00pm before bed and it was 92F. It was 78 at 8:00 when the light went out. Checked the heaters, and they were both off. Then checked all the powerheads for circulation they were OK. Only thing left was the Mag. It was pumping normal, but I pulled it out anyhow. After it was out of the water, it was so hot I could hardly touch it. I always keep a back-up pump, so I installed it.

Needless to say the Mag is in the trash. This pump was only 6 months old.
The temp is now back down to 78F. If I had gone to bed I would have had a DEAD tank in the morning.

Anyone else have this problem with a MAG 7? What would you recommend I relace this with, as the back-up is a RIO and I'm not comfortable with that choice either.

 

[Tcook]

I have two Mag7s, a Mag12, and a Mag5. They all fail to restart after a power failure. I haven't had any of them overheat. Many people have run them 24/7 without any problems. I won't buy another Mag pump again. Will most likely plumb my tank with an Ampmaster next year when I set it up again. They are more expensive but seem to be reliable.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a Mag 7 that I had been using as a return pump. Changed it out for a different pump that worked with my fittings better and dropped it in-tank as a circulation pump (put a PVC spray-bar type thing on it to get a more randomized and scattered flow). I didn't initially run a prefilter on it because it was on a PVC stand several inches above the sandbed. Within a week or so I got a prefilter. Maybe 3 or 4 weeks after that, I noticed it was rattling quite a bit. I tore out the impeller and sure enough, the magnet was scored pretty badly. I replace it, but it still rattles. I give up. I've got over $75 in that pump now (after the prefilter and impeller) and it's worthless. *shrug* Live and learn, I guess. I don't see how they can use those in ponds though, that have so much detritus and slime and stuff.


-John

 

[DEADFISH1]

I've had a Mag 9 for about a year now, cleaned it about 3 or 4 times, no problems, runs great, the last cleaning, I completely disassembled it and found that the porcelain shaft had something that appeared to be burned on it, it came of with vinegar, it seemed to work like new after that.

 

[Sea Serpent]

There have been numerous reports of Mag 7 failures. I have had 2, count em, 2, Mag 7s die on me in the middle of the night - neither of them over 2 months old. Both were returned to the store where I bought them for refund (very reputable LFS). I have since changed my return to a Mag 9 and stepped it down with a gate valve. No problems since.
The Mag 9s are great, but the Mag 7s are notorious for overheating/failure. But, I have never heard that the failures caused a tank meltdown - like the RIOs . . . Mags just overheat/stop. They don't oooze black, oily, junk/poison into the water.

 

[scooterr]

I 've got a mag 24 that has worked flawlessly without much maitenece for about 5 years now...

and a mag 9.5 that all the fins broke off the impeller for some reson (had the foam preefilter on ) after only 4 months. I've heard of one other report of this happening on an aug 01- march 02 made mag 9.5. Might want to check with the company to see if its fixed.
hth

 

[Anonymous]

I've read numerous complaints about Mag 7's not restarting, but never overheating like that. Not good. Mine is kind of a pain to restart - I plug it in and it rattles, I pull it out and let it suck air and then put it back under water and it's fine.

For some reason all the complaints seem to involve the Mag 7's but not any of the other pumps.

 

[Colonel]

When I said meltdown, I meant that I would have had killed everything with heat. The MAG 7 did not appear to be leaking anything, just very, very hot. I have had a Queen Angel for Two year, and I would have been heartbroken, if it had died because of that pump.

I also had problems with this pump not restarting. I had to close the gate valve all the way and then open slowly to get it to resart. It has been that way after the first month. I would use caution with the MAG 7.

Anyone have suggestions on what to use in its place? I don't need anything big, about 700gph at 4 feet head. I will be stopping at the LFS on Friday on my way back from an out of town trip this week and would like to have suggestions.

 

[pcmankey]

Use an Aquacontroller. I thought it was a luxury until I paid $300 for detritovores and snails and such, and I don't even have any corals yet. The thing is awesome. You can contain run-away heaters/chillers etc.

 

[SPC]

Posted by Colonel:
I also had problems with this pump not restarting. I had to close the gate valve all the way and then open slowly to get it to resart. It has been that way after the first month. I would use caution with the MAG 7.

-Yes it is cavitating. I had the same problem with the Mag 7, contacted the manufacturer, and was told that this is normal :roll: .

Anyone have suggestions on what to use in its place? I don't need anything big, about 700gph at 4 feet head. I will be stopping at the LFS on Friday on my way back from an out of town trip this week and would like to have suggestions.

-I use Sen now and have had no problems.
Steve