Nero 3 dead after 16 months of use

[Idech]

oof...sucks!

I ended up going Tunze as some of their pumps come with a 5 year warranty.

I also have a jeabo in my sump and on my nano that are many years old

Too many things in this hobby have very high costs and a 1 year warranty... there are a few that do stand out with 3-5 year warranty's though. It is something I try to take into consideration when purchasing.

I think with some credit cards you can get 1 year extra on top of the manufactures but you have to dispute with your CC I think.. not sure how you paid but ya.

There is a law that protects consumers in my province. The law says that no matter what the warranty says, any product should work for a reasonable amount of time (not specified).

Their distributor refuses to acknowledge it so I will have to see how I need to go about it. I don’t have great expectations though as honestly I don’t have that much energy to put into this and I am certainly not going to go to small claims court.

Aqua Illumination lost a customer for life.

I’ll look at Tunze pumps for sure. Tunze is one of my favorite reef equipment manufacturer.

 

[wolfen281]

You’re not wrong but you’re commenting like a corporate CEO and we are just commenting as a consumers.

It's in the language that people use that clue you in to how they roll.
Next up in the playbook is becoming the victim.

 

[TheReefDiary]

When I started in this hobby, I did my research and decided to pay more on my equipment for quality and piece of mind. Let’s just say I am very disappointed with Aqua Illumination.

My Nero 3 pump, in use for a little over a year, died. I have been very diligent with maintenance. The pump has been cleaned as it should have. There is no reason for this other than poor manufacturing and quality. I’ve reached to Aqua Illumination support, who said it was a hardware problem and sent me to their Canadian distributor. Who then told me the warranty was expired and I would have to pay for repairs.

I’m not going to pay to repair a 230$ CAD pump that barely lasted a year…

Now I’m wondering how long it will be before all my other expensive Aqua Illumination equipment dies on me.

and this is why I don't by expensive pumps or wavemakers. I just plan to replace them yearly and anticipate the cost (at least the return pump). I have a hygger and it's worked well for 6 months so far constant use. I can't justify the $200+ and the tech isn't really light years ahead. the app is nice, but to me just not worth it.

 

[atlantean]

I got the red of light of death on my Nero 3 after a similar time frame, despite regular maintenance and citric acid baths. I moved to the Octopulse 2 for my new setup.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

I got the red of light of death on my Nero 3 after a similar time frame, despite regular maintenance and citric acid baths. I moved to the Octopulse 2 for my new setup.

Yup so this is the common problems. They need to fix it just like a vehicle recalls, free or at least a reasonable repair fee. If you want to be a sucker to the “oh look I got a Nero or I am going to get something nice so that I won’t have to upgrade” your choice!

 

[delv2323]

IME Tunze warranty periods are more a suggested point where a sliding scale occurs for cost of repair. I've had Roger fix/replace pumps out of warranty for little or no money. Plus, Tunze magnets are one of the few brands I actually trust for multiple years.

 

[spsick]

IME Tunze warranty periods are more a suggested point where a sliding scale occurs for cost of repair. I've had Roger fix/replace pumps out of warranty for little or no money. Plus, Tunze magnets are one of the few brands I actually trust for multiple years.

Tunze support (Roger) is so good it’s not even close. Sure the pumps don’t have fancy app control but they are dependable products you can trust will work for years and if you have an issue you can actually get support (parts or repairs). I’ve had Tunze pumps in service for 10+ years without a hiccup and my Vortechs have both been in for multiple repairs in the 2 years I’ve owned them.

 

[707Nick]

When I started in this hobby, I did my research and decided to pay more on my equipment for quality and piece of mind. Let’s just say I am very disappointed with Aqua Illumination.

My Nero 3 pump, in use for a little over a year, died. I have been very diligent with maintenance. The pump has been cleaned as it should have. There is no reason for this other than poor manufacturing and quality. I’ve reached to Aqua Illumination support, who said it was a hardware problem and sent me to their Canadian distributor. Who then told me the warranty was expired and I would have to pay for repairs.

I’m not going to pay to repair a 230$ CAD pump that barely lasted a year…

Now I’m wondering how long it will be before all my other expensive Aqua Illumination equipment dies on me.

I run The Nero 5 and 3 for past 2 years no issues on my end super powerful and smalll

 

[Idech]

Tunze support (Roger) is so good it’s not even close. Sure the pumps don’t have fancy app control but they are dependable products you can trust will work for years and if you have an issue you can actually get support (parts or repairs). I’ve had Tunze pumps in service for 10+ years without a hiccup and my Vortechs have both been in for multiple repairs in the 2 years I’ve owned them.

That’s incredible ! I have a small Tunze 6015 in the tank now and I like it. Not noisy, doing it’s job. I hope it lasts as long as your.

 

[twiatr2001]

I wanted to share my experience with AI, Ive had a nero 3 for about a year and a half, the other day I was performing a water change and after this i stuck my finger in the water just by chance and felt a tingle, didn't know what it was I did it again, turns out its stray voltage, after some diagnosis by unplugging certain items, I found it's my nero3, luckily I had another brand new one for just this instance or if it were to break, swapped it out and was good, I simply called customer service to ask for a replacement part and if they had seen this before, I was ready to pay for the replacement piece, they asked me for receipt and some other information and they did in fact warranty the pump hardware free of charge, was shocked by this, what Im trying to get at is, I believe their customer service is very good, since it is ecotech, I think what happend here is that you're in another country and their distributor is the one you're having a problem with and not AI, I hope this helps to bring some closure on this issue, and I believe the replacement part is about 52 dollars US, so a fraction of what a new one would be, best of luck.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

I wanted to share my experience with AI, Ive had a nero 3 for about a year and a half, the other day I was performing a water change and after this i stuck my finger in the water just by chance and felt a tingle, didn't know what it was I did it again, turns out its stray voltage, after some diagnosis by unplugging certain items, I found it's my nero3, luckily I had another brand new one for just this instance or if it were to break, swapped it out and was good, I simply called customer service to ask for a replacement part and if they had seen this before, I was ready to pay for the replacement piece, they asked me for receipt and some other information and they did in fact warranty the pump hardware free of charge, was shocked by this, what Im trying to get at is, I believe their customer service is very good, since it is ecotech, I think what happend here is that you're in another country and their distributor is the one you're having a problem with and not AI, I hope this helps to bring some closure on this issue, and I believe the replacement part is about 52 dollars US, so a fraction of what a new one would be, best of luck.

So I am in the US and the “repair” was $145, great now they selectively treat certain customers exceptional or whatever they like including many that had bad experiences.

 

[twiatr2001]

Depends on what your damage was, I'm guessing, I have just received my replacement motor today and was going to change it when I found corrosion in the motor connector, i just uploaded pictures of it and sent an email, probably won't get a response until sometime tomorrow, but i have a technical background and just by looking at it, it is caused by water getting into the wiring, then the wiring acting like a wick because the copper wires are stranded together allowing the water to creep into the connector through wicking, just like a wick, I will keep you guys updated, I don't know what your instance was with them but All my equipment has no damage and or modifications to it, it simply started sending voltage into the water, maybe this is why they are giving warranty on this item simply of a safety stand point. This is just information that I am sharing with you guys, it's not meant to cause anyone grief or unhappiness. What was your original concern with them? Fishingandreefing

 

[jaganshi066]

Read my post above. It’s a little more than that. Anyways, I don’t really care what you think.

I think people should know these pumps are not worth the money they go for. If I had known, I wouldn’t have bought all that AI equipment.

My Nero 5 is ongoing 4 years

 

[jaganshi066]

Four years on all four of my Nero 5s. Three years on all 3 of my Hydra 32HDs.

All I have to say.

I’m on the 4th year for the Nero 5 as well

 

[liddojunior]

I think people posting they’ve had success with their pump lasting long are missing the point.
While OP is upset that the pump didn’t last long or warranty isn’t that long. The real issue here is the absolute lack of wanting to make it right and stand behind their product.
A company focus should be to make things right in a way that both parties are happy. It’s disappointing to see a company essentially not want to help and being felt like telling you tough luck give me your wallet

 

[twiatr2001]

Is there a list of acceptable life span of products in Canada, if so I'd love to see it, Im just curious on time frames the province would set on pumps that sit in salt water all their lives.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

Depends on what your damage was, I'm guessing, I have just received my replacement motor today and was going to change it when I found corrosion in the motor connector, i just uploaded pictures of it and sent an email, probably won't get a response until sometime tomorrow, but i have a technical background and just by looking at it, it is caused by water getting into the wiring, then the wiring acting like a wick because the copper wires are stranded together allowing the water to creep into the connector through wicking, just like a wick, I will keep you guys updated, I don't know what your instance was with them but All my equipment has no damage and or modifications to it, it simply started sending voltage into the water, maybe this is why they are giving warranty on this item simply of a safety stand point. This is just information that I am sharing with you guys, it's not meant to cause anyone grief or unhappiness. What was your original concern with them? Fishingandreefing

Mine was simply flashing red light. Based on the diagnostic, there’s blockage on the propeller. I vinegar bath it, scrubbed it and spun freely. It won’t work, sent it by on my own dime and later told I had to pay $145 for the “repair” the Nero 5 was $199.99 at the time before inflation

 

[Fishingandreefing]

Is there a list of acceptable life span of products in Canada, if so I'd love to see it, Im just curious on time frames the province would set on pumps that sit in salt water all their lives.

There’s a lot of people running the Nero’s without problems including the few I still have except another Nero 5 that average got stuck and need a cleaning in every week which is super annoying.

If this is a cheap pump, sure it breaks easily and just buy another one. It’s $250, and consumers expected a better quality ones and that’s why people willing to pay for but turned out to be junks.

 

[Idech]

There’s a lot of people running the Nero’s without problems including the few I still have except another Nero 5 that average got stuck and need a cleaning in every week which is super annoying.

If this is a cheap pump, sure it breaks easily and just buy another one. It’s $250, and consumers expected a better quality ones and that’s why people willing to pay for but turned out to be junks.

A Nero 5 is 385$ CAD with tax and a Nero 3 is 287$. I wouldn’t call that cheap.

 

[twiatr2001]

You guys both make very good points, but at the same token you have to look at the other power heads on the market as well, I bought the nero 5 originally, way too strong for my application, then I purchased an MP10, still too strong, the nero 3 was just what I needed, but the ecotech product line is a far better product than the AI, agreed, I look at it this way, like car manufacturers there are others out there, you can buy a GM car for close to the price of a Toyota, you'll probably pay more for the Toyota, and it will definitely outlast the GM any day, there's always exceptions to the rules, but on the other hand there really aren't any threads here or on any forum that have the title of how long their pumps are lasting, I'm sure if you polled everyone the better would definitely outweigh the bad, some are better than others, on a product that is mass produced there's always some that are going to last and some that aren't going to last as long, Ive had better luck with citric acid, versus vinegar, I also will take my water from a water change after I've performed it and an old kids tooth brush and clean the pumps in there versus using any chemicals or acids, I find this works better and preserves the pumps internals. Also based on your guy's responses, the exchange rate is slightly higher which makes it more expensive to repair, and purchase as well, I think if you weren't dealing with a distributor and directly with AI it might be more affordable to repair or purchase another one. Companies typically will work more with the consumer versus a corporation that is profiting off of their product. I'll update you guys on what happens with mine. Good or Bad.