?!?DC Pumps?!?

[rmchoi]

I love my dc pumps. I dont use one for a skimmer tho, the best part about them is if your running a manifold, you can run a bigger pump at a lower speed (witch vitually makes it silent) and if you ever T off into reactors and such, you can just up the flow a tinybit to account for it without having to adjust your overflow (if your using gate valves).

Pump and fan noise was the reason I switched to a DC pump. Like Sabellafella, I went with a bigger pump and run at about 55% speed, mostly to compensate for pressure loss. Everything is valved and runs off this one system pump, including two separate refugiums, media cylinders and UV. All it took was to set the flow and make a couple minor valve adjustments.

Things don't always go this easy in this hobby. Being so used to one change creating a chain reaction of unexpected consequences, that I feel like I'm waiting for something else to happen...

 

[RudyB]

I went ahead and replaced my old pump with a Jaboe 8000 for my 65g reef and it ran super nice. Quite, cooler and since I now had control of the pump speed I was able to open the valve I was using before to control the flow. I have been running that pump for about a year now and so far so good. I liked it so much that I just build a 150g reef and decided to use a Jaboe 12000 for it. It has a good head pressure as I am running two up tubes and I am not going full blast, so I have plenty left for more. All I can say is as the rest of my pumps start to wear down I will be replacing them with DC pumps.

 

[cnote2991]

I have been thinking about switching to a DC return pump as well. I am currently using a mag 18 and upon recent cleaning I found 2 screws had completely rusted out. I band-aided it but time for something new.

While researching returns I stumbled upon something that made me think DC would be a good choice. I am not an electrician and could be completely wrong because I just started looking into this, but from what I have read so far it seems that maybe a DC pump would not necessarily need to be connected to a GFCI (which sometimes causes nuisance trips). Again, from what I understand so far if a dc pump goes bad or leak voltage into the tank there is not as much danger to us if we put our hands into the tank. Could anyone with better understanding on this matter educate me on this?

I am just getting back into this hobby after a few years downtime, b/c I lost a fully stocked SPS tank while on vacation. I had the entire tank ran on a GFCI breaker and a skimmer pump went bad and shut down everything. Total loss!! Finally got the courage to dump more money back into this and would like it if I could safely isolate at least the return pump to avoid tank shutdown if a heater or something goes out. I have also had my GFCI breaker trip for no reason at all a couple times. I was home then and tested all equipment and found no faults. Re energized and went on. Very frustrating.

So, could a DC pump have the advantage of being safely isolated on a non GFCI?

 

[gcarroll]

Interesting Greg on the red dragon , I did not know that....

Yes, that is why we say that DC pumps are not created equally. It is in fact a more efficient way to run the pump since no loss stepping the voltage down. Of course the controller will have some losses but that is minimal in comparison.

 

[evmibo]

So let's see the mag 24 on the kill-a-watt while running that skimmer. I know for a fact that it isn't consuming 265 watts. I used to run a Mag 36 on an AquaC that I used to have and it only pulled 175w. I would bet the Mag 24 would be down around 125w or possibly even less. Of course that's not less than 80w, but a whole lot less than 265w. The bigger thing is it will be pushing a whole lot more water than the DC9000 which will equate to better skimmer performance.

Can you explain in more depth on how this actually works?
I understand that the mag 24 has a higher pressure rating than the dc9000, but if the mag24 does comes down to say 125w (about 50% reduction from max. wattage output), and my dc9000 came down only to 67.8w (~3% reduction from max. wattage output) - why doesn't the dc pump come down in wattage too? Why doesn't that translate into the dc pump pushing more water?

 

[ksed]

You had mentioned a 3% reduction. Did you measure the wattage with the meter before installing it on the skimmer?

Can you explain in more depth on how this actually works?
I understand that the mag 24 has a higher pressure rating than the dc9000, but if the mag24 does comes down to say 125w (about 50% reduction from max. wattage output), and my dc9000 came down only to 67.8w (~3% reduction from max. wattage output) - why doesn't the dc pump come down in wattage too? Why doesn't that translate into the dc pump pushing more water?

 

[Redrider009]

Been running one for a few months, so far so good , Very quiet, flow control , plus gate valve control = more control ! Time will tell .

 

[evmibo]

You had mentioned a 3% reduction. Did you measure the wattage with the meter before installing it on the skimmer?

No, I've only ever ran it on the skimmer. It's advertised as a 70w (maximum) pump.

Hope I'm not clogging this thread up at all

 

[ksed]

It would be interesting if you could run it with no back pressure. I have a feeling it will be close to 80w . I could be wrong though.

No, I've only ever ran it on the skimmer. It's advertised as a 70w (maximum) pump.

Hope I'm not clogging this thread up at all

 

[NeverlosT]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dc-pumps-ecotech-vs-royal-exclusiv-vs-abyzz.236376/

Another good thread on this I started a bit ago

 

[NeverlosT]

Gcarroll is correct, Abyzz and RD3 80w are much different critters than the Jebao and Wavelines. They also come with a pricetag of 3-5x the price (or more).

For a lot of applications, the cheap ones work great, but if you want lots of head pressure, or the best efficiency, then you may want to look at the pricey units. (never thought I'd consider an ecotech product to be the "affordable" option!)

 

[gcarroll]

It would be interesting if you could run it with no back pressure. I have a feeling it will be close to 80w . I could be wrong though.

I too would be interested in this. I have long suspected that these chinese pump manufacturers have been lying about flow numbers. It would be interesting to see if they are also lying about current draw.

 

[evmibo]

It would be interesting if you could run it with no back pressure. I have a feeling it will be close to 80w . I could be wrong though.

I too would be interested in this. I have long suspected that these chinese pump manufacturers have been lying about flow numbers. It would be interesting to see if they are also lying about current draw.

Came out to 80w pretty much (at setting 6/6, just like it was on the skimmer). Hovered between 79-81.

 

[gcarroll]

Some might say your DC9000 pulls more than the DC12000. Of course we know the truth. These bogus ratings are how the myth of DC pumps being more efficient continues to this day.

 

[evmibo]

Well, they're still more efficient, no? What am I missing here?

 

[cee]

Haven't read the whole thread but soft start, less electricity consumption and safer than having 120 V in you aquarium (24 V never killed anyone that I'm aware of unless they punctured their skin or something).

 

[charleslotz]

Efficiency to me = power consumption vs flow rate. think this is the overall discussion that 80w means very little if the flow does not compare to 120w draw of a mag 12 as example under load .... So a standard 1" 5ft length return . Mag 12 draw 120w at 800 gph and 80w dc draw 80w at 500 gph.

Or on the life reef as example , Jeff from live reef will tell you himself the skimmer needs head pressure to perform at its best ,meaning head pressure is more important than flow rates. Think the conclusive test is a flow meter and a p3 ... To measure draw vs flow = efficiancy. In a practical application.

 

[gcarroll]

Well, they're still more efficient, no? What am I missing here?

Depends on your definition of efficient. If they are lying about their energy (a measurement a few hobbyists have the ability to verify), why would you think they are truthful about flow (a measurement that a handful if any hobbyists have the tools to verify).

Haven't read the whole thread but soft start, less electricity consumption and safer than having 120 V in you aquarium (24 V never killed anyone that I'm aware of unless they punctured their skin or something).

Are you aware of anyone killed by a 120v pump?

 

[cee]

No but there are plenty of deaths from 120 V, about 2-3 per year according to NIOSH.

 

[Salty1962]

I love the controllability of my DC3000, manifold, and DCT4000, return. They so far have been reliable and dead silent. Also like the soft start and lack of heat coming from pumps.