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.

 

[craftycamper]

I just noticed this too! I replaced that part on mine due to it sucking in air constantly and caught that the O-rings are different,

 

[Dennis Wong]

Not only can faulty O-rings lead to air sucking, it can lead to leaks too. Earlier models had plastic moulding issues with the intakes that also led to air sucking. Its good that they are making changes as people feedback on the various issues.

On one hand I do like the overall design and functionality of the filter - I own 10+ biomasters of all sizes, and I think the air sucking thing happened more so for earlier models - there are several weak point, the gaskets, and the filter intake part is the main one. The design can be fiddly, which makes me wonder how will they work on the longer multiyear horizon as plastics naturally degrade and smaller stuff starts to deteriorate/break. So far, its been pretty good though, all things considered. Their outflows/inflows are usable but still quite ugly, and the sucker attachments are horrible. Ehiem had better suckers.

 

[Noahspapa]

One of the improvements noted is coarser sponges included with the prefilter. I was just doing water changes and cleaning prefilters on my 10 biomasters. I’m going back and forth in my head on the coarser filter being an improvement. I can see where being more coarse will minimize having the sponge getting plugged up - but wouldn’t it also mean more solids pass through and either get caught in the canister or just pass through? I’m curious what folks experiences and thoughts are on this. I realize it probably comes down to personal preference.

 

[JayP]

One of the improvements noted is coarser sponges included with the prefilter. I was just doing water changes and cleaning prefilters on my 10 biomasters. I’m going back and forth in my head on the coarser filter being an improvement. I can see where being more coarse will minimize having the sponge getting plugged up - but wouldn’t it also mean more solids pass through and either get caught in the canister or just pass through? I’m curious what folks experiences and thoughts are on this. I realize it probably comes down to personal preference.

I'm not sure which prefilter sponge they are currently including with new filters, but I've found the orange 30ppi sponge to be a good balance at capturing the most particulate while also preserving flow. Having said that, I too am now looking at moving away from the Biomasters and testing various other filter setups. I applaud Oase for their effort in being one of, if not the, first to bring the all-in-one (filter, prefilter, heater) filter to the market, it's now clear that while trying to do everything, it's just not the best at anything. Once I decide on the direction I'm going with future setups, I'll likely have a few biomasters available for really good prices.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

One of the improvements noted is coarser sponges included with the prefilter. I was just doing water changes and cleaning prefilters on my 10 biomasters. I’m going back and forth in my head on the coarser filter being an improvement. I can see where being more coarse will minimize having the sponge getting plugged up - but wouldn’t it also mean more solids pass through and either get caught in the canister or just pass through? I’m curious what folks experiences and thoughts are on this. I realize it probably comes down to personal preference.

I've talked a lot about this in previous posts and journals, but my thoughts are that coarse prefilters don't make sense to me.

It's like finding a worse motor oil that lasts longer. Sure, you can go further in between oil changes, but it causes worse issues down the road.

Prefilters should be quick and easy to clean and access, and they should allow for the removal of small particulates from your water. Fine prefilter sponges/pads are excellent DOC exporters, and you'll have cleaner water and your filters will require less maintenance over time, too.

A coarse prefilter just means that you spend more time cleaning your filters, get worse filter health and flow overall, in exchange for less frequent prefilter cleanings, but more frequent full-filter cleanings.

So my advice is use a fine prefilter, and clean it every 2 weeks!

 

[Koan]

in exchange for less frequent prefilter cleanings, but more frequent full-filter cleanings.

So my advice is use a fine prefilter, and clean it every 2 weeks!

Sounds like customers were having trouble with the meaning of "pre-", in the "pre-filter" feature




Easy to get replacement 60ppis

https://a.co/d/0gEbA4lD

 

[JacksonL]

I've talked a lot about this in previous posts and journals, but my thoughts are that coarse prefilters don't make sense to me.

It's like finding a worse motor oil that lasts longer. Sure, you can go further in between oil changes, but it causes worse issues down the road.

Prefilters should be quick and easy to clean and access, and they should allow for the removal of small particulates from your water. Fine prefilter sponges/pads are excellent DOC exporters, and you'll have cleaner water and your filters will require less maintenance over time, too.

A coarse prefilter just means that you spend more time cleaning your filters, get worse filter health and flow overall, in exchange for less frequent prefilter cleanings, but more frequent full-filter cleanings.

So my advice is use a fine prefilter, and clean it every 2 weeks!

They are so damn easy to clean, I just do it every week during water changes.
The spare sponges are so cheap, that you don’t even need to clean the sponges at the time, just pop them into a bucket for now and put clean ones on.

Literally 2-3 minutes if you are already doing a water change at the time.

 

[Dennis Wong]

They are so damn easy to clean, I just do it every week during water changes.
The spare sponges are so cheap, that you don’t even need to clean the sponges at the time, just pop them into a bucket for now and put clean ones on.

Literally 2-3 minutes if you are already doing a water change at the time.

I agree with this and also the usage of finer sponges in the prefilter. On a side note, over the years I realize that short timing to do things doesn't really motivate people. A 10 minute daily run will be life-changing for most folks, but I bet few actually do it. Folks are lazy - in the next filter iteration, the manufacturer must make it so that only 1 switch needs to be turned for the prefilter cartridge to be removed. Servicing rates will probably go up further.

The other system that really badly needs an all-in-one are CO2 systems. Now every CO2 system is a DIY PC tubing wise, not to mention all the troublesome measurement methods. It should be like a car, that even idiots can drive despite the underlying mechanisms being much more complicated. So commercial manufacturers have a lot of work to do.

 

[JayP]

A 10 minute daily run will be life-changing for most folks, but I bet few actually do it. Folks are lazy

I feel like I'm being called out.