Oase Addressing Some Issues?

[JayP]

The Biomaster Thermo 600 on my farm tank had been screaming at me lately that it was time for some TLC. It was doing the typical air sucking, hard to prime, small leaks, etc. all the indications it needed to be fully torn down and have all the gaskets/o-rings lubricated. This is the nice thing about having extra complete filters so I can have a pump head, heater, priming assembly, and inlet/outlet connection unit all cleaned, lubed and ready to go on an active filter. This is especially true for the Inlet/Outlet Connection Unit which seems to be the most common cause of leaks and air intrusion. For this reason, I also keep a couple new spares on hand because I've had a couple break in different ways. Today, while tearing the old one down to lube not only the two visible o-rings, but also the 3 buried within, I broke one of the retaining tabs that hold the inner portion in tightly against those buried o-rings. When I grabbed a new one that I'd just recently purchased, I noticed the visible o-rings were now orange instead of the normal black. They also look a little beefier. I wonder if this is Oase addressing the known common issues with this assembly and making some quiet updates and improvements.



Oh, and the farm tank filter is running great again...so far.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

The only issue I ever had with biomasters was with this exact piece, where one of the "tubes" cracked while pulling it off. It seems common. It's great if they're fixing this issue!

 

[JayP]

The only issue I ever had with biomasters was with this exact piece, where one of the "tubes" cracked while pulling it off. It seems common. It's great if they're fixing this issue!

Yeah, that was my first failure as well. Broke off right at the o-ring channel. They were quick to send me a new one. I think the "buried" o-rings drying out and not sealing well is the other prime issue, but they don't sell those o-rings by themselves and many people probably wouldn't want to mess with taking the two pieces apart anyway. I've actually had one start to suck in air and when I took it off the filter and tried blowing through each tube in the closed position, got air through, but after taking it apart and lubricating those o-rings, it was back to working normally.

 

[gnatster]

Would this Food Grade Grease be safe to use?

 

[JayP]

Would this Food Grade Grease be safe to use?

I think any food grade silicone lubricant should be fine. I'm using Super Lube. I used to use a generic "keg" lube on the o-rings of my home brewing kegs but didn't like the metal tube it came in.

 

[Valerio]

. I wonder if this is Oase addressing the known common issues with this assembly and making some quiet updates and improvements.

Well, looking at the improvements of the bio masters V2 at least they do seem to listen to customers' complaints, e.g. the new pump head plate, the pre filter spraybar, coarser sponges already included for the prefilter.