dc pump, are they reliable? does it save you much on electricty?

[reef87]

was planning for a few upgrades (equipments only) this up coming holiday (either thanksgiving or christmas).
One of the items is the return pump.
currently I am using Pan world 100PX as the return pump which consumes about 120w. (current head lost from sump to display is 10 ft vertical up and 6 feet horizontal)
If I am going to upgrade, I like to try out DC pump.

those that have used them, are they reliable? any saving on electricity? which brand is good and very reliable like regular eheim pump.

thanks

 

[JohnK]

The DC pumps that are available under various brand names are really nice to live with (quiet, very little electricity consumption, adjustable, versitle). Unfortunately of the two I have (RLSS skimmer pump, RO return pump) both needed replacing near the end of the 2 year warranties. Mine were both first generation, and the second and third generations versions are supposed to be more reliable, but overall I would say the jury is still out in that respect.

It's hard to compare, your panworld will last 10 years easily, but it'll use 3x the electricity in addition to the higher up front cost. Also the DC pumps can't handle a fraction of the head that the pan world will. Look up the flow charts to see how one would perform in your configuration.

 

[reef87]

thank you John,
The low wattage and the easy of adjusting flow is nice. But it's hard to justify it when I read of so many failures.

 

[this is me]

http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/ecotech-marine-vectra-dc-controllable-pumps

I'll probably be looking at one or two of those. Probably will get two of the 2000gph version rather than 1 big one. Rated for 21feet!
Reliability will have to be proven but Eco Tech service is undoubtedly good.

 

[reefkeeper2]

The unreliability of most of the DC pumps is the reason I went with the RD3 Speedy pump. If you do the research, you will find that they do not have the issues of the other pumps.. There is a big difference between made in Germany and made in China. However, they come at a premium price. For some perspective, it was around 10 years ago I had a debate with some friends in here about if it was worth the money to buy a RD Bubble King skimmer. The only person I remember in that thread that is still here was Greg Hiller. I was telling him the pump needed no maintenance and he did not believe me. I had that skimmer for 10 years (approximately maybe more or less) and it is now running in my sump with a new 50 watt RD speedy pump because the original just gave out... So was it worth it? Beyond a doubt. The same argument applies here. If you are a long term reefer, you should try to buy the equipment that is going to pay off in the long run. Your main pump is not a place to skimp. You can see the pump on my "new sump, new pump" thread. For the backup pump I bought a Deepwater BLDC. At the moment I think they are the next best but Ecotech will probably change that.

 

[JohnK]

Those Germans do make some quality stuff. Can't argue against any of that ^

 

[Jim Tansey]

My Waveline is going on three days of trouble free operation.

Jim

 

[maximo]

My pan world 40 Px began making noise and intermittently locking up after 13 months of use. I replaced it with an iwaki with Japanese motor about 4 weeks ago and have no complaints at all! I'm interested to see how the Eco tech pumps will perform I love my radions!


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[JohnK]

My pan world 40 Px began making noise and intermittently locking up after 13 months of use. I replaced it with an iwaki with Japanese motor about 4 weeks ago and have no complaints at all! I'm interested to see how the Eco tech pumps will perform I love my radions!View attachment 106243


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That can usually be fixed with cleaning. Beware of check valves in saltwater.

 

[Jim Tansey]

In my very limited research into buying my Waveline pump I came across an article that stated the newer Waveline pumps are a new design and they may have sold the rights to the older design to other suppliers who with a few cosmetic changes are selling the old Waveline pumps. I do find it interesting that some suppliers talk a lot about their industry leading controllers but little about the pump.

Jim

 

[JohnK]

I don't know a lot of detail, but I can say that the RLSS and RO pumps appear to be identical except for the colors. The originals came with identical controllers, the replacements came with different but very similar controllers. (and at least with the first gen, the wavelines were supposed to be identical.)

China seems to operate on very different production and business models to say the least

 

[Greg Hiller]

>The only person I remember in that thread that is still here was Greg Hiller. I was telling him the pump needed no maintenance and he did not believe me. <

Heh...I still don't believe you! Just kidding. I actually have a number of external pumps that have run for many years without fail, also with little to zero maintanence.

My experience with the DC pumps (don't remember brand) was VERY poor. Mine failed in a matter of weeks. Sounded great at first...just like LED lights!

 

[wpeterson]

I have been running the first generation Jebao DC-9000 pump in our new 90 gallon tank for about 9 months now with mixed results. The pricepoint and energy usage are nice - you get a lot of pump for the money, I paid about $100. They also run relatively quiet, mine is in my living room without bothering us.

However, I haven't had great luck. After 4-5 months of operation I had the impeller seize but this was mostly my fault for not cleaning it and putting an Alk dosing nozzle in our return chamber. A month after that happened, the DC power supply overheated and died. Thankfully, I bought a second one as a backup and was able to swap it in while I ordered a replacement power supply for $20.

The DC pumps seem superior in terms of efficiency, noise, and ability to adjust the volume of flow without a restrictor. I would definitely go DC in the future.

I would avoid the first generation of Jebao pumps, though the new series are supposed to be better. I still think having a pair of them for $200 wasn't a bad plan. I would strongly recommend buying two of whatever return pump you get so you can sleep well if you have to hot-swap them. I also recommend some kind of controller to monitor for failure. I wired up a float switch in my sump to detect any failure in return lines.

 

[reefkeeper2]

>The only person I remember in that thread that is still here was Greg Hiller. I was telling him the pump needed no maintenance and he did not believe me. <

Heh...I still don't believe you! Just kidding. I actually have a number of external pumps that have run for many years without fail, also with little to zero maintanence.

My experience with the DC pumps (don't remember brand) was VERY poor. Mine failed in a matter of weeks. Sounded great at first...just like LED lights!

I hope I have better luck! What I like about and what makes the RD pumps different is the calcium bypass. I never had to soak that skimmer pump in vinegar. It never seized up or slowed down. Failure with DC pumps comes mostly with the controller I think. Too much heat.

 

[drsalomon]

I run jebao return with no problem for over year. The whole chinese vs german conversation is troubling. You realize iphones are made exclusively in china. Manufacturers can pay for whatever quality they desire from china, so shouldnt we focus on quality record of individual manufacturers. Jebao wp pumps were pretty unreliable but rw pumps have done okay for me. If you drip alk or kalk right into you return pump, or if your sump is infested with tiny snails you are going to have problems. In general dc pumps generate much less heat so should be less of a magnet for precipitation. Reliability of ecotech excites me about their dc pumps.

 

[reef87]

thank you everyone. i think that is good enough for the inputs.
Even there are some good inputs on the DC pump, I am just afraid that DC pump might not be able to handle the pressure for my configuration with the sump being in the basement.
Furthermore, since my pan world pump is only 6 months old, I think I will stick with this pump for now. no sense to change because of the watts thing. (a few extra pennies on the electric bill should be okay I guess).
it's good to know that my Pan world pump is going to last for a long time. it's also good to know that DC sounds great at first...just like led....(because I ran away from LED since 2011).

thanks again.

 

[reef87]

those that uses DC pump on the protein skimmer for adjust the volume of flow. why one would need to adjust the water flow coming in into the skimmer?

 

[JohnK]

those that uses DC pump on the protein skimmer for adjust the volume of flow. why one would need to adjust the water flow coming in into the skimmer?

It may sound redundant, but having the pump adjustment is actually very handy for fine tuning a skimmer. The one I'm running has an adjustable output like most any other skimmer, and additionally you can adjust the power from the pump. This lets you play around with turnover vs dwell time in a way that you can't with other skimmers. One way or another the RLSS skimmer I'm running is the best and most consistent working skimmer I've ever run (except for the month I was waiting for a replacement pump.....)

 

[maximo]

That can usually be fixed with cleaning. Beware of check valves in saltwater.

Cleaned it every time it gave me trouble! I even replaced the entire impeller/ housing! The loud bearing noise was really getting loud I could here the pump all through the downstairs of my house even though the pump was I. The basement! Bulk reef supply recommended the check valve, they said the back spinning of the pump during stops caused early failure.



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[JohnK]

^ that's very odd. I wonder if the pump either had defective bearings, or if the bearings somehow got contaminated with saltwater leading to an early death? Definitely not typical.

I have no idea what they are talking about in terms of the check valve and back spinning. I like BRS and generally agree with their advice, but I don't know about this one. I can't see any way in which spinning backwards would be harmful to ball bearings, and it seems like a stretch that it would harm the impeller. Regardless, my caution about check valves in saltwater is because they are inherently un-reliable in saltwater due to the tendency for things to grow and or accumulate on the sealing surfaces.

Whatever the case, bearing noise is bearing noise and when you hear it they are done or at least on the way out. Sorry you had a disappointing experience with a usually reliable pump.