[slief]

Originally Posted by AZRippster

Hello,
To provide clarification, here are the facts:

1. Original purchase date from Premium Aquatics for my RE-RD3-150W – 10V: 07/07/2017
2. The failed volute occurred sometime before 5 June 21. I found it on Saturday, 5 June 2021, and pulled the pump to investigate. It was found that the little insert nut being held in by some form of epoxy had begun leaking.
3. I logged into https://royalexclusiv.com/ to see what the warranty period is for the pump. I discovered it was 2 years.
4. Nothing on the site suggested contacting Royal Exclusiv through Reef Central for support.
5. I ordered a replacement volute (pump head FLOW Red Dragon® 3 Speedy pump 150Watt GREY) on Saturday, 5 June 2021, for $363.59.
6. I received an email from Royal Exclusiv confirming my order on Monday, 7 June 2021 (1st Business Day).
7. On Thursday, 10 June 2021 (4th Business Day), I had become nervous that I had not received correspondence stating the replacement volute had shipped. I logged onto the Royal Exclusiv website and used the Contact form to inquire about the order.
8. Later in the day, when I had not received a reply, I logged onto another major forum to see if Royal Exclusiv was a sponsor and found they are not (or at least I cannot find otherwise). I then logged onto Reef Central and found they still are and posted my inquiry to see if anyone had experience with how long Royal Exclusiv takes to ship parts.
9. On the 5th Business Day, I received 2 emails from Royal Exclusiv. The first was at 10:06AM from Torsten stating the part would ship that day, Friday, 11 June 2021. A little later I received an automated system notice with a UPS tracking number. I then received your first response at 7:04PM the evening of 11 June 2021.
10. The replacement volute was received on 06/16/2021 via UPS Ground Service from Florida to Arizona.
11. A new revised volute was received that no longer has the epoxied insert nut that failed. Rather, a standard bolt was included with a standard nut replacing the original design. Perhaps the original design had issues. The original design was problematic due to the bolt requiring insertion from the rear of the motor block. The material was also so thin near the bolt holes where the O-Ring seats light could be seen through it. It worked however, and did so admirably since the date of purchase. I did do regular maintenance to keep things in good working order. I do find it odd that the motor block has a nut mount that mates perfectly to a standard nut (like the other 3 bolts and nuts) rather than using the short little bolt I originally received.

Comments: Nothing personal, but I did not know I should have been doing all my communication through Reef Central’s Royal Exclusiv sponsor forum thread. There is no where on the Royal Exclusiv site that directs this action for needed support. It was due to concern the volute had not shipped within 4 business days I began reaching out where I could. After no response directly through the website, I began alternative means of communication. Oddly, the replacement volute shipped the day after I inquired into the shipping status. I don’t frequent RC as much as I used to. Heck, the Tank of the Month dates to 2015 and many people have moved onto another forum for many reasons I will not discuss here. I’ve included some pictures.

You didn’t need to communicate through this site but if I had known this was urgent, I would have been able to help get your order bumped up in the shipping order. Email via the contact tab on our website would have worked as well earlier on but that is routed through Germany before getting forwarded to me.

I’m surprised your volute was leaking. The volute makes the seal on the surface annotated in the image below. The design was changed to eliminate the glued in nut because a few customers overtightened the screws and cracked the volutes where the nut is machined and glued in. In your case the volute doesn’t look cracked there. Was it leaking from that nut or around the perimeter where the volute and motor come together? If not from the nut, I wonder if the o-ring was compressed and not sealing properly. In those cases, boiling the o-ring will restore them to like new condition and gently tightening the volute and not over tightening the volute will prevent the seal from being compromised. Those screws only need to be evenly snug. Some customers crank the screws down which is counter productive.

I hear you on not frequenting the RC site. I do when I get notifications of new posts and PM’s but that’s it. I think the timing of the shipping was more coincidental than anything else and I am sorry that it took as long as it did.

Anyhow, sorry for the inconvenience and delay. Feel free to reach out to me here via PM should you have have questions or concerns in the future. I am usually very quick to respond or if you’d like I can give you my email address via PM.