Ebay Dosing Pumps

crs751 · Sep 1, 2016

Does anyone have experience with the Chinese dosing pumps sold on eBay? They look similar to BRS dosers and feature a control knob to adjust the dosing speed. They are far less costly than BRS or Drew's pumps. Looking for feedback from any users. Thanks.

djbetterly · Sep 1, 2016

I can't tell you how many of these pumps I've tested out, and I have to say, at the end of the day you get what you pay for. The Chinese pumps will work, and you'll probably be happy with them, but within a year you'll probably need to replace the pump. In addition to the lack of quality, you'll also experience how inaccurate they are because the drive works on friction, there is no "key" or geared drive to the actual pump head.

What I can tell you about the pumps that BRS uses, they are incredibly well made pumps. In fact I'm surprised they are so inexpensive given how well made they are and how accurate they are. The company they use is called APT Instruments. I currently own six of their DC pumps, and two of their AC pumps. The AC pumps have been in use for over two years now and I've never even had to replace the tubing within the pump head. The day I bought the AC pumps they dosed 1.1mL/min and still two years later, with original tubing, they still dose 1.1mL/min.

What are you looking to use the doser for? I can probably provide you with a bit of help if you let me know. I've been working on a DIY wifi doser for some time now and I'm very close to rolling it out for users to make themselves. I currently have the basics in the hands of @FcSteve777 and from what I gather he's quite happy. You wouldn't need to go as far as this project if you don't want to, you could also do AC pumps and a basic wall timer.

reeferfoxx · Sep 1, 2016

I bought an avast peristaltic pump and a friend of mine bought the chinese pump like you are talking about. We bought them around the same month. We've both had them for over a year now. He doesn't use his but for auto top offs. I use my avast for the same purpose. All i can say is his pump still works. My avast still works. But i paid $100 more. Depending on what you need it for, $15 pump might be all you need.

djbetterly · Sep 1, 2016

@reeferfoxx that is a good point as well. A friend of mine uses the cheap chinese pump for his ATO and it works fine. He has had to replace the tubing, and I had to replace the pumps once while he was out of town, but that was due to a clogged tube that spilled water and the pump got wet.

crs751 · Sep 1, 2016

Thanks for the feedback. I intended to use these pumps for supplements I use on my system like Bacto Balance and Amino Supplement. I have a calcium reactor for Alk and Calcium dosing. I would control the pumps through my Reefkeeper. djbetterly I believe I saw your post on DIY dosing pumps in another forum and might give that a try down the line. Perhaps in the short run I could give the eBay pumps a shot and if they don't work long term I'm not out a lot of money. This is the feedback I was looking for. You get what you pay for appears to apply here for sure.

reeferfoxx · Sep 1, 2016

djbetterly said:
@reeferfoxx that is a good point as well. A friend of mine uses the cheap chinese pump for his ATO and it works fine. He has had to replace the tubing, and I had to replace the pumps once while he was out of town, but that was due to a clogged tube that spilled water and the pump got wet.

Thats weird. Shouldn't have any build up ot clogging with ro/di water. I will say the Avast pump is built very well. However my back up pump is the $15 chinese pump lol. I think my friend bought 2 or 3 of them as well. I know Fish street and some other sites sell replacement tubing, also.

crs751 · Sep 1, 2016

I was about to ask where to purchase replacement tubing.

djbetterly · Sep 1, 2016

reeferfoxx said:
Thats weird. Shouldn't have any build up ot clogging with ro/di water. I will say the Avast pump is built very well. However my back up pump is the $15 chinese pump lol. I think my friend bought 2 or 3 of them as well. I know Fish street and some other sites sell replacement tubing, also.

He uses kalkwasser in his ATO...

reeferfoxx · Sep 1, 2016

crs751 said:
Thanks for the feedback. I intended to use these pumps for supplements I use on my system like Bacto Balance and Amino Supplement. I have a calcium reactor for Alk and Calcium dosing. I would control the pumps through my Reefkeeper. djbetterly I believe I saw your post on DIY dosing pumps in another forum and might give that a try down the line. Perhaps in the short run I could give the eBay pumps a shot and if they don't work long term I'm not out a lot of money. This is the feedback I was looking for. You get what you pay for appears to apply here for sure.

Honestly, i wouldn't recommend for dosing. That said, I've never used them for dosing but just watching the water move through it, it doesn't look consistent.

reeferfoxx · Sep 1, 2016

djbetterly said:
He uses kalkwasser in his ATO...

Oh! Gotcha. We just dose 2 part.

djbetterly · Sep 1, 2016

crs751 said:
Thanks for the feedback. I intended to use these pumps for supplements I use on my system like Bacto Balance and Amino Supplement. I have a calcium reactor for Alk and Calcium dosing. I would control the pumps through my Reefkeeper. djbetterly I believe I saw your post on DIY dosing pumps in another forum and might give that a try down the line. Perhaps in the short run I could give the eBay pumps a shot and if they don't work long term I'm not out a lot of money. This is the feedback I was looking for. You get what you pay for appears to apply here for sure.

Agreed...I saw as much as 10mL difference some times.

crs751 · Sep 1, 2016

Good to know. The amount of supplement dosed is very small. My need is driven by wanting to maintain consistency and laziness on my part. The pump would run for about 2 seconds every hour at a pump flow rate of 1.1ml/min.

reeferfoxx · Sep 1, 2016

I like cheap products. I'm a firm believer in Jebao. But for a dosing pump, don't. Try it. Give it a trial. But don't put too much faith in it.

djbetterly · Sep 1, 2016

crs751 said:
Good to know. The amount of supplement dosed is very small. My need is driven by wanting to maintain consistency and laziness on my part. The pump would run for about 2 seconds every hour at a pump flow rate of 1.1ml/min.

With dosing such a small amount, you'll get even less accuracy with DC pumps. I would offset your dosing times to dose a bit more at a time and maybe give one of these a shot instead - http://www.ebay.com/itm/6V-DC-Dosin...716825?hash=item33aec8a3d9:g:KDUAAOSwNyFWecXE

At the very least this pump has a gear connection to the pump head. Just remember it runs on 6v's not 12.

crs751 · Sep 1, 2016

Thanks for the link and the advice.

Tab28 · Sep 3, 2016

I have a 3 doser in use for over 2 years. No issues. Was debating on getting the slave for 3 more pumps for my top off and maybe for aminos. It is a cheap Chinese one.

crs751 · Sep 3, 2016

Sounds like it's luck of the draw.

Kungpaoshizi · Sep 3, 2016

I had 2 wp25's iirc, first gen jebao, they still run 4 years later.. I use 4 watt no-name Chinese pumps from amazon. After a year they're at a 8:2 working/fail ratio.

You can build your own drew's dosers too.
http://www.mdreefclub.com/showthread.php?2077-DIY-Dosing-Pumps-LOTS-OF-PICS

I'm all about the 4-roller, super slow dosers.

crs751 · Sep 12, 2016

Against all the good advice I received with this post, I dropped the hammer and purchased two (2) of these pumps. I just got them and am returning them as soon as I receive authorization from the seller. The one pump had a power wire off the motor that I re-soldered so both pumps powered on. They pumped water fine but I noticed they back siphoned when turned off. Not good. Going to look at the other options on this post and stay with the known quality equipment.