Ecotech Vectra L1 - New Version - Improvements!

[Elder1945 Verified Sponsor]

That's why this company is one of the leaders in innovation in this industry. I also know of some pretty cool things coming soon from them!

The rumors are circulating I see I can't wait for the "cool things" to hit the market

 

[Meo]

My L1 failed with the same "burned motor" iussue after 3 months of use, at beginning of 2017. I moved to a Abyzz A200.

Another planet. More flow, less power, no noise. The same tank level obtained with 85W, when with L1 I went at 130W

 

[NeverlosT]

It's good to see that they are working on improving the design. In all honesty, I think it is too soon to say whether the changes have worked or not. At least they made some changes, though.

It's not clear to me from the pics how water is actually circulated through the holes. Just because there's a path for the water to flow doesn't mean it will. Have you been able to tell?

Bear with me but I believe that the holes use water pressure differences to circulate water. The water pressure toward the outside of the volute is much higher than in the impeller chamber or toward the middle of the volute, so if you put a hole toward the outside and a return near the middle, water would circulate into the outer hole and out the inner hole.

Whether their particular fix did the trick, I cant say yet, but mine is still working well at this time. Maybe in another month or so I will disassemble it and have a look.

I see the comments of wanting to go with Abyzz for the heart of the system, but unless your return pump is impossible to remove/service, I just cant see paying 3x as much for a similar return pump (actually the ecotech has more features). Heck you could buy two of these and still come out ahead. But I understand if you need even more flow or want to reduce power consumption, then Abyzz could be the way to go.

Interesting to read that some folks running these internally have not had such issues.

Either way, no matter what pump we all choose, it is nice to have a company like ecotech actually fixing their issues instead of just living with a high return rate.

 

[Sleepydoc]

Well, to be glib, pressure differences are what drive all water movement! I just couldn't figure out how water would be made to circulate, but it's hard without actually seeing the pump in person.

I feel the same way about the Abyzz pumps - they are clearly good pumps, but I have a hard time justifying the cost. Fortunately, there are other good DC pump options on the market that cost far less. One of the main reasons I have a hard time recommending the Vectra pumps is that the are not compatible with any controllers on the market. Pretty much every other DC pump is controllable with a 0-10V signal, something pretty much every controller on the market has. To my knowledge, the only way to use a Vectra with a controller is by cutting its power via a controllable outlet, and at that point you might as well get a newer AC pump like the Fluval.

 

[litenyaup]

Great write up! Do you know if ecotech is waiting for these pumps to fail before replacing, or can we contact to have any upgrades done before that point?

 

[BigJohnny]

Met a vendor at a reef expo the other day who's vectra L1 melted in his sump essentially and killed 20k of coral.

 

[svogun]

So I sent another message to customer service with the pics of the volute, impeller housing and impeller shroud. I basically asked if they know this is an issue shouldn't they be offering the new items BEFORE the pump craps out? Luckily for me I have another L1 as a backup. But knowing so many people with issues is alarming.

 

[Genomecop]

Following this.

 

[Sleepydoc]

So I sent another message to customer service with the pics of the volute, impeller housing and impeller shroud. I basically asked if they know this is an issue shouldn't they be offering the new items BEFORE the pump craps out? Luckily for me I have another L1 as a backup. But knowing so many people with issues is alarming.

Since the fix involves both the impeller and the motor housing, they would have to replace the entire pump. Replacing every pump they sold for the first year or two is a pretty expensive proposition, and I'm guessing that the likelihood of experiencing problems depends on how the unit is used. If you're running it submerged at 60% then overheating isn't likely to be a problem. If you have it plumbed externally and running at 100% then heat dissipation becomes far more of an issue.

If they don't flat out replace the pump, I would be leery of it's reliability and be inclined to get a second pump and use the Vectra as a backup pump. Technically, the new pumps are still too new to really know about their reliability, but they are at least in theory more reliable than the old ones.

 

[afhtan]

My vectra L1 seized as well after 2 years. The motor block basically melted and fused to the magnet.. was disappointing as ecotech usually make good products

 

[Jstn]

Same just happened to me, burned plastic inside. I just sent them and email, glad to hear it’s a common problem and they are aware of it.

 

[Reefcowboy]

Im just relieved I sold my L1 new before I even set up my tank. Melting return pump? No thanks
Nice that there is an update though.

 

[litenyaup]

Has everyone who had the problem run their pumps external?? Wonder if that’s the common issue.

 

[Jstn]

I submitted my claim late Friday evening, got an email at 8 am today that they want to replace my pump. They are sending a new one out, I am impressed by their fast response and customer service thus far.

 

[sromero287]

Ecotech its been the best customer service company ever. They replaced two MP40’s and one MP10 even out of the warranty period, they overnight it to me knowing that my acros colonies without flow are done. Awesome company and even if they have to replace the whole 1st year Vectra production they can, all liability problems from any product certified are obligated to have an insurance just in case goes wrong. Kudos to Ecotech[emoji106][emoji225][emoji886]

 

[Jstn]

Got my new pump and installed it this weekend, worked flawlessly. I will continue to buy their products knowing they stand behind them :Thumbsup"

 

[Randyp79]

Bear with me but I believe that the holes use water pressure differences to circulate water. The water pressure toward the outside of the volute is much higher than in the impeller chamber or toward the middle of the volute, so if you put a hole toward the outside and a return near the middle, water would circulate into the outer hole and out the inner hole.

Whether their particular fix did the trick, I cant say yet, but mine is still working well at this time. Maybe in another month or so I will disassemble it and have a look.

I see the comments of wanting to go with Abyzz for the heart of the system, but unless your return pump is impossible to remove/service, I just cant see paying 3x as much for a similar return pump (actually the ecotech has more features). Heck you could buy two of these and still come out ahead. But I understand if you need even more flow or want to reduce power consumption, then Abyzz could be the way to go.

Interesting to read that some folks running these internally have not had such issues.

Either way, no matter what pump we all choose, it is nice to have a company like ecotech actually fixing their issues instead of just living with a high return rate.

Any updates to this thread? I'm thinking about ordering a new Vectra L1 and I was hoping the redesign has solved the failure issues.

 

[NeverlosT]

haha well I have to take the time to remove my return pump from my system and have a look in it...

I tell you what I will try to do it this weekend and report back.

I can tell you that the flow has been rock solid these last few months so no outward indications of failure so far. When I disassemble it I will be primarily looking to confirm that the circulation design is functioning (no dry areas around the impeller) and that the inner housing is not overheating/bubbling.

 

[slicko]

Did you manage to rip out and inspect?

 

[NeverlosT]

well, i ripped the pump out today after it was making a noise and had a look. the bad news is, it doesnt look like the changes really solved the issue of flow around the impeller, though the new impeller tube is more robust and no longer melts. i say this because there were still dry areas behind the impeller cover plate that should all be constantly flushed with water.

and in case you thought it was easy to get the pump out, this is how it looks when in and out lol.

so verdict: improvement. a few months of service and no melting. however it still fouls easily and runs dry where water should be cooling/circulating.

ill keep running it, mostly since I cant afford an RD3 right now.