Has there been a fix for ecotech return pumps slowing down?

[Joe31415]

I've had an Ecotech S2 pump running for a while now. A few months ago I noticed the water level in the overflow box was considerably lower than normal. I power cycled the pump and it went right back to where it should be. However, it would slowly go back down and had to be power cycled every week or two. Not really the end of the world. Until recently anyway. It's now to the point where I have to power cycle it *at least* once a day, often two or three times per day. Just now, for example, the water level was all the way down in the overflow box, to the point that the gurgling got my attention. I power cycled it and it went back to the correct level, but then almost immediately started going back down.
In addition to the inconvenience and the concern that it's just going to stop one day, it also means that when I reset it and the water is back at the correct level, my sump is so low the ATO runs for a few minutes, meaning my salinity is bouncing around as well (I wonder if that's why one of my acans looks like it's dying).

I've seen quite a few other people posting about the same issues, but I'm not seeing any solid resolutions. Most of the answers seem to be "they sent me a new pump/psu/controller and it was fine for a while then started doing it again".

 

[CoralB]

I've had an Ecotech S2 pump running for a while now. A few months ago I noticed the water level in the overflow box was considerably lower than normal. I power cycled the pump and it went right back to where it should be. However, it would slowly go back down and had to be power cycled every week or two. Not really the end of the world. Until recently anyway. It's now to the point where I have to power cycle it *at least* once a day, often two or three times per day. Just now, for example, the water level was all the way down in the overflow box, to the point that the gurgling got my attention. I power cycled it and it went back to the correct level, but then almost immediately started going back down.
In addition to the inconvenience and the concern that it's just going to stop one day, it also means that when I reset it and the water is back at the correct level, my sump is so low the ATO runs for a few minutes, meaning my salinity is bouncing around as well (I wonder if that's why one of my acans looks like it's dying).

I've seen quite a few other people posting about the same issues, but I'm not seeing any solid resolutions. Most of the answers seem to be "they sent me a new pump/psu/controller and it was fine for a while then started doing it again".

Please don’t tell me this !!! , I have one I’ve been using on a tank for two years with no issues . Oh well I’ll have to go out and get a back up !!! Maybe a apex

 

[Joe31415]

I'm guessing the problem isn't super wide-spread since it's not constantly brought up, however if you search google for 'ecotech vectra slowing down' you'll find it's not an uncommon problem.

On the plus side, I haven't read any reports of one entirely failing (in a way related to this problem), just slowing down. Of course, it's possible entirely possible some have failed and people didn't write about it (at least not in places I saw it).

 

[Joe31415]

Still having this problem. I emailed Ecotech back in July. They asked for some pictures of the pump that required me to remove and disassemble it. Naturally I cleaned it at the same time. It wasn't very dirty, but as long as it was out, it seemed like a good time to take care of it.
That seemed to fix the problem, at least for a while. A few months later, it started up again. Just like before, I'd have to power cycle it every few days, then once a day and now I'm up to every few hours. In fact, I should clean it today since it's finally at the point that power cycling it doesn't fix anything.

What bugs me about all this is that it doesn't seem like turning it off and back on again should fix the problem if it's simply in need of a cleaning. Plus, as I noted earlier, it really wasn't that dirty. Just the normal buildup of slime you'd expect to see inside any pump.
I keep thinking it must be a hardware or firmware/software/app issue. I just have this feeling either the power supply to the pump (or the power supply to the controller) is failing and turning it off and back on resets something. Maybe when I cleaned it, having it off for that long fixed something (drained a cap that powered something else) better than just a quick power cycle.

If it's simply in need of a cleaning, I'm not sure if 3 months from spotless to no longer working properly is acceptable. If it's not the cleaning that fixed it, looks like I'm in the market for a new pump at some point (or a warranty replacement).

I have also noticed that the smallest amount of algae growing around the outlet (jet? nozzle? This.) causes a big problem. In fact, if power cycling doesn't fix it, usually cleaning that will, even when it's such a small amount I can't imagine the pump is so weak that it creates a problem, but it certainly seems to. I'm hoping this is just all related. Such an expensive pump shouldn't slow down this much because there's a little bit of hair algae in the way.

 

[Joe31415]

So, 2 years later and I'm still having this problem. Cleaning the pump will fix it, but only for a few weeks and given this pump's location and that it requires tools for cleaning, it's kind of a pain to have to do it this often.

I contacted Ecotech Marine (by replying to the original ticket) and was told I'm SOL. I can pay to ship it to them and pay them to fix it, and presumably pay for return shipping if don't want to repair it after they quote me on it.
Also, it means I'll have to buy a new pump* to use while this one is out.

As long as I'll have to pick up a new pump, I see no reason to put money into this one. Too bad, I really liked the pump, but having to clean it this often is getting to be too much work.


*Yes, I have a spare return pump. But it's an AC pump that's loud and not variable, and I'd prefer not to have to adjust my overflow valve.