A/C or D/C, What’s Your Preference?

[BeanAnimal]

Fair,,, but I'd hate to touch your wall wart (AC/DC converter) that runs your heaters.
...just kidding

In reality, I didn't even know DC heaters were available in the aquarium industry.

In reality - (4) diodes of modest size ( a few bucks each for high current high reverse voltage), no transformer... would get you 106.7VDC (theoretical) output from 120VAC. Let's say you drive the heater at 500W. That is around 13W of heat dissipated (lost) in the bridge. No filtering needed, but you could add an electrolytic cap or two (no more heat, just smoother output).

Even cheaper - a simple half wave rectifier (single power diode). Less heat (but half the output to the heater). No big deal you have a 15A or 20A circuit to drive it

I digress.. we have moved from pumps.

 

[Alexraptor]

D/C I like the control and I also feel safer not having 220 volts running through the system!

 

[EricR]

I digress.. we have moved from pumps.

...but OP said "equipment", not "pumps."
*sorry,,, just messin' around now

 

[Ironwill723]

A/C for return pumps. Too many dead wall warts to trust D/C for the heart of the system. Plus I have no need for fancy controllers.

 

[BeanAnimal]

A/C for return pumps. Too many dead wall warts to trust D/C for the heart of the system. Plus I have no need for fancy controllers.

this is the first controller we had

It was a literal "clicker" and the tv had a motor behind the dial and an audio sensor. Clicking the button turned the channel. You had the go the whole way around the dial if you click one too many times or somebody clapped their hands or you dropped something that made a loud noise....

not fancy!


But there were FANCY controllers that came out a few years later. The puppy below was mechanical, but the sounds were ultrasonic and the tv had sensors to pick up the 4 different ultrasonic sounds...

I bet @Paul B had one or the other at some point!

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

this is the first controller we had

It was a literal "clicker" and the tv had a motor behind the dial and an audio sensor. Clicking the button turned the channel. You had the go the whole way around the dial if you click one too many times or somebody clapped their hands or you dropped something that made a loud noise....

not fancy!


But there were FANCY conrtollers

I was my Dad’s controller for the t.v.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I was my Dad’s controller for the t.v.

We all were... and in very serious instances the antenna holder too....

"stand right there and don't move until half time.... Well actually step to the left just a bit and hold your right arm higher, the picture was a bit better that way"

 

[malacoda]

Depends on the equipment, but mostly tend to prefer AC.

Have used a couple of DC pumps by eCurrent USA for my return (sump is the cabinet). One eventually developed a crack in the impeller ... but motor and controller-wise, they've worked fine for 3 years.

Used to have a Tunze 9410dc skimmer. Picked it up used. After 2 years the either the pump or the controller died (not sure which because they're permanently wired together, so have to be replaced as a single 'unit'). Replaced them ... at nearly the cost of a whole new skimmer. 2 years later, died again. Replaced the whole skimmer with an AC skimmer. Works like a charm ... and nearly just as quiet.

This fall I'll be replacing my 120g with a 180g. It's sump will be in the basement rather than the cabinet...

Definitely going to be using AC return pumps (already picked some from the R2R market place ) 'cause I sure as heck am not going to spend $1,000 on a DC pump to strong enough to push past the head pressure.

But I do plan on implementing closed-loops (it'll be a peninsula tank and I don't want wavemakers on the viewable end). There I intend to use DC pumps ... mainly because I want programmability for the flow.

 

[oldbob50]

Voted both. I run AC for utility lights, heaters and 1 skimmer*. Everything else on my two tanks runs on 24V DC provided by the Mega Battery Backup system I designed and built. It has a single 24V DC power supply that runs everything when the AC power is up and a 50 AH 24V battery when it is down. *If it fails it will be replaced with a 24V DC model.

 

[Naekuh]

depends on application and purpose...

If its a return pump or wave maker, DC all the way.

If its a utility pump, AC... i don't want a controller and power brick for a utility pump when all i need is the pump to be on full all the time.

We all were... and in very serious instances the antenna holder too....

Nah i would do the old fashion way.. of kicking the TV, when things were built like tanks, and didn't break by sneezing on it directly like today's stuff does.

 

[PharmrJohn]

I was approached back in 2008 or 2009 by a prospective importer to do some testing for on some DC aquarium pumps to market toward the hobby. A year or two later DC pumps were imported as the Waveline series of DC pumps for the hobby and a few other brand names (same basic pump, same factory just as most still are).

Larger industrial DC pump and drive applications have been around for decades. Historically pumps (and lights) used in this hobby were direct industrial adaptations and DC pumps were just too expensive to bother with. That (with the boom of Chinese consumer goods) has changed and now items are developed directly for use in the hobby at a far larger scale than they were over the last few decades.

There are some newer designs (different stator winding configuration and number of poles) but most of the DC pumps have changed very little from the DC aquarium pumps I tested in 2008 or so.

AC and DC pumps vary greatly in their torque capabilities and they way they are speed controlled.

Without getting into a lot of detail (and with a few notable exceptions), DC pumps do not work well in high head applications and if watt per gallon is considered, AC pumps typically outperform DC pumps except in very small applications.

DC pumps are better suited to low head low power applications both from an operating efficiency and manufacturing cost perspective. When scaled up for higher head/flow the manufacturing cost rises significantly compared to AC and efficiency drops. Durability comes at a higher cost too.

So a lot of bends and increased length of water travel may require AC?

 

[Cichlid Dad]

We all were... and in very serious instances the antenna holder too....

"stand right there and don't move until half time.... Well actually step to the left just a bit and hold your right arm higher, the picture was a bit better that way"

That was me! Lol

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I like it best when used together

 

[EricR]

I like it best when used together

Shot down in flames ... when my AC/DC converted fell into my tank

 

[Hadla]

Like others said, I immediately thought of the band

 

[Hadla]

Shot down in flames ... when my AC/DC converted fell into my tank

You’ve been

Thunderstruck!

 

[Hadla]

this is the first controller we had

It was a literal "clicker" and the tv had a motor behind the dial and an audio sensor. Clicking the button turned the channel. You had the go the whole way around the dial if you click one too many times or somebody clapped their hands or you dropped something that made a loud noise....

not fancy!

So that’s where “clicker” came from

 

[Cichlid Dad]

this is the first controller we had

It was a literal "clicker" and the tv had a motor behind the dial and an audio sensor. Clicking the button turned the channel. You had the go the whole way around the dial if you click one too many times or somebody clapped their hands or you dropped something that made a loud noise....

not fancy!


But there were FANCY controllers that came out a few years later. The puppy below was mechanical, but the sounds were ultrasonic and the tv had sensors to pick up the 4 different ultrasonic sounds...

I bet @Paul B had one or the other at some point!

I remember both of those! In my house I was The remote

 

[DanATL]

I like DC mostly for cooler running. Between the LED lights and DC pumps I have no need for cooling in the summer. Big difference between metal halides and AC pumps in the good old days.

 

[X-37B]

DC for skimmers, if needle wheel, and AC for the rest.
AC/DC Bon Scott fan so I need to run both, lol.