FREAQ Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 So I'm now researching return pumps for a sump and however much I would love one of the Ecotech Vectra M1 for now they are beyond my budget, thus looking for peoples opinions on what they would choose to use otherwise.How I see it is that the main factors for me to consider are.1. Reliability.2. Ease of repair and availability of said spares if needed or replacement including waranty which would aslo mean a good quality build.3. To go for a DC which I am leaning towards but still cant seem to decide on as these seem to cheap for what you get to ridicuously expensive and over priced for what you get.4. Stay traditional AC pump, but they seem to use so much more power for the same flow as a much lower consumption DC pump.So here I am asking what other people use or have used, their good and or bad experiences with different makes and models of submersible return/sump pumps.(If this would be against the forum rules saying bad things about a crappy brand send me a PM) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoconr Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 1. Reliability. The AC pumps have been around a very long time so they are at this time going to be the most reliable. DC pumps had a short history and some of them have been very bad, but saying that each generation gets better and better. Jebao DC pumps from fish-street.com are interesting, they have just released a new generation. I have a couple of the older DCT working after 9 month. I would always buy a spare. Deepwater DC, I have two of these which have been running about 3 months again they seem ok. The best are the German made highly reliable and very expensive. Generally the failure point for DC pumps is the power supply, this is simple a case of being more complex than a direct connected 240 V AC pump. 2. Ease of repair and availability of spares. Go AC pump brand name going to be much easier to get parts. DC buy a spare pump. 3. DC pumps at the lower end can be very unreliable, buy spares 4. AC pumps use more power and are noise (50hz hum) and generally have no method of controlling flow rate other than some type of restriction system. Which is very power inefficient. It remains to be seen if the Ecotech Vectra M1 are going to be reliable but they seem like the only DC pump which is at a price point that means we can buy a name brand. At this time I run the cheap brands and just keep spares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlecoSam Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 I have a Royal Exclusiv which is very nice and a quality pump although rather expensive, the low dollar has compounded this issue. I also have two Jebao DCT pumps which to be honest are just cheap junk, the Jebao I bought to test and play with, one is used for water changes. The other little Jebao 1200 runs two reactors, I would not use a Jebao for a filter, they really are cheap garbage.I do not like the power supply with the Ecotech's, the separate power supply is a design floor and the reason I don't think they will be as good as a Royal but then again they are almost half the price. I would like to see power supply redundancy capability with the Ecotech's before I purchase one.Look into Aquabee they seem to have a good following at qldaf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simy696 Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 what makes them cheap sam are they noise dont doo the job asked etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlecoSam Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 They make some noise, not to bad, but the housing and the quality is just not there. I suppose from a price point of view they are ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoconr Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 As I said they can be unreliable, noise level is better than most AC pumps. Build seems perfectly ok to me. Potted motor, plastic housing and in the lastest models no metal any where so ok for salt system. The pump is self generally never failed from what I read, its the power supply and electronics that go bad. I ran one on a hobby brushless motor controller and a desktop power supply with out much difficulty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 I have the Echotech M1. Only been running for a couple of weeks. So far cannot fault it, whisper quiet (actually can't hear it at all over the ambient noise in the room). Calibration is super easy and adjustable flow at the turn of a knob.Only thing I don't like that can be changed is the intake doesn't have a grill or cover, so if you are running K1 media can be easily sucked into it, easy fix though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlecoSam Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 As I said they can be unreliable, noise level is better than most AC pumps. Build seems perfectly ok to me. Potted motor, plastic housing and in the lastest models no metal any where so ok for salt system.The pump is self generally never failed from what I read, its the power supply and electronics that go bad.I ran one on a hobby brushless motor controller and a desktop power supply with out much difficulty.For the money the build quality is ok, I would get a more reputable pump for a return though, ok in non critical applications. But I loathed to support cheap and nasty, it is where the world is heading, cheap and nasty is diluting good quality products. But that is just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlecoSam Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Look into water blaster too, what is your price range? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoconr Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 What noise level do the water blasters have ? they look nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlecoSam Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 I don't know, they review quite well and apparently move quite a bit of water. They are ac so the old 50hz hum would be the norm no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoconr Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 mmm 50hz hum was my problem with the compact+ 5000, the vibration from it could be felt/heard 20 meters away though 5 walls. I'm sure it was a sympathetic transfer. As the pump its self in a bucket was not that loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlecoSam Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Same problem my display tank is on the opposite wall of bedroom, the low frequency hum from the Compact 5000 drove me nuts at 3am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoconr Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 The DC Waveline 6000 I purchased removed that issue completely, it was not until I made lot of other changes that I could hear the pump again.I actually think the DC Waveline is still the quietest pump I have (its on a rack right now), I have one of the Top Eco on this tank right now and it got a quiet but high pitched hum.I end of making changes for changes sake sometimes so thats why it not on the system. I think my next pump on my display tank will be a Ecotech Vectra M1, but I have to save up for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlecoSam Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 The Royal Exclusiv's are silent, I don't hear anything, I have heard good things about waveline... they are a generation 2 pump are they not, I am a little dubious about them though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoconr Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 The one I have is a second generation, they seem ok. I've had it about a year.I'm sure the royal exclusive are really good pumps, just cost way more than I can afford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlecoSam Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Yeah the Royals are way overpriced in my opinion, the vectra's are on the money price wise. Waveline seem the best bang for buck, and Jebao well I suppose you get a lot for very little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FREAQ Posted November 4, 2015 Author Share Posted November 4, 2015 The Waveline DC-6000 look good and there was good reviews for them, so for the price etc I'm thinking to give one of these a go and just pick up a cheapo for a back up in case of a catastrophic failure.Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoconr Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 I'm happy enough with mine so hopefully you will be also. If you don't mine where are you planning to purchase it from ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FREAQ Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 I'm happy enough with mine so hopefully you will be also. If you don't mine where are you planning to purchase it from ?I've spent the week cogitating, planning, plotting out my plumbing and then searching for what I'm after so I'll be looking to buy the pump etc from aquarium online supplies Australia as I can get a few other things from there that I'm after and not have to pay freight from suppliers all over the place, it will be first time buying from there so hopefully all goes well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcsongei Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I have been running this pump on my 1200 litre display for a few months and am happy with it. I have a wave maker for additional flow in the tank. Low wattage for the flow rate, quiet and working well at about 1.6m head. http://www.aquaholicsonline.com.au/biopro-submerible-fountain-pump-4000lph-eco.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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