Quick Recommendation on Return Pump

[Tango2]

So I've been having problems on and off with my return pump, and I think it finally gave out. I'm currently running a QuietOne 4000 on my 45G cube plumbed from the pump to a ball valve, then a T to feed my refugium, then up to my DT through 1" flex. It hits a 1" T and splits to 2 3/4" flex lines back into the DT.

Over the past few months, occasionally when my pumps turned off for feeding time, it wouldn't start back up without me spinning the impeller a little. Today, it appears it is overheating and shutting down. Took it apart to make sure it was clean and the impeller and pump were pretty hot. Pump is fully submerged.

I was never happy with the noise level of the QuietOne pump, but it was a second hand pump. I like the idea of the DC pumps but have heard too many mixed reviews on the longevity of them. Any quick suggestions on a good replacement pump? One catch, I only have a max of 6" width in my return pump section of my sump.

 

[twilliard]

A dc6000 pump and you will be happy!

 

[hybridazn]

Yea the jebao/ jecod DC pumps are nice for the price tag. If it's within your budget I'd look at the ecotech marine m1

 

[Roberto CRC]

Jebao DCT are very quite, programmable, ship.

 

[Salty1962]

I also use a DCT4000 for my return and it's been rock steady and very quiet. It also has a feed button on it so you won't have to turn on and off.

 

[Tango2]

So the dct can't be Neptune controlled, but the dc's can. Any comments on one or the other? Most of my equipment is automated, and I'd hate to backtrack. Do these pumps recall state/speed if I was to control the outlet with the Neptune?

 

[Ravenr108]

So the dct can't be Neptune controlled, but the dc's can. Any comments on one or the other? Most of my equipment is automated, and I'd hate to backtrack. Do these pumps recall state/speed if I was to control the outlet with the Neptune?

I have a dct8000 hooked up to my apex outlet. It turns back on to the previous speed. I use it to shut it off on feed mode then it comes back on.

 

[Tango2]

That's good to know, thanks

 

[Ravenr108]

Your welcome. Great pump super quiet and plenty powerful..

 

[Tango2]

Anyone have actual measurements of the DC/DCT-6000? I'm skeptical to use the Amazon measurements.

 

[Tango2]

So in trying my pump one last time, I think I just took out one of my EB8's because my GFCI tripped. I couldn't get it to reset, even with everything unplugged from the Apex. I'm assuming that one of the triacs shorted to ground. Now I need a pump and an EB8. Always something...

 

[mcarroll]

I was never happy with the noise level of the QuietOne pump, but it was a second hand pump.

I've run Eheim, QuietOne and Mag pumps and none of them should be noticeably noisy.

The QuietOne and Eheim are comparably quiet and a bit more quiet than the Mag, however. (The Mag is also a bit stronger pump.)

I would try a new impeller first.

If that's not it, then I'd get a new QO4000. If you can return the impeller, great. If not, you have a spare. Good policy anyway.

Something was prolly wrong with the original (second hand) impeller. All it would take is to have had it run dry once. The motor block is prolly fine.

I currently run a 4000 as my return – also for multiple displays. It's forget-it's-even-there quiet. Can't even hear it with the skimmer off and I have a wide-open sump. When I have the whole system shut down and it's the only thing running in the whole house and I'm working near the sump, it's just got an extremely mellow hum. Even just the HVAC running would drown it out though.

$0.02

 

[Tango2]

I've run Eheim, QuietOne and Mag pumps and none of them should be noticeably noisy.

The QuietOne and Eheim are comparably quiet and a bit more quiet than the Mag, however. (The Mag is also a bit stronger pump.)

I would try a new impeller first.

If that's not it, then I'd get a new QO4000. If you can return the impeller, great. If not, you have a spare. Good policy anyway.

Something was prolly wrong with the original (second hand) impeller. All it would take is to have had it run dry once. The motor block is prolly fine.

I currently run a 4000 as my return – also for multiple displays. It's forget-it's-even-there quiet. Can't even hear it with the skimmer off and I have a wide-open sump. When I have the whole system shut down and it's the only thing running in the whole house and I'm working near the sump, it's just got an extremely mellow hum. Even just the HVAC running would drown it out though.

$0.02

I probably would have considered the impeller (and have in the past). Now that this pump took out an EB8, I want to throw it as far as possible. I have spare pumps, but unfortunately they are all MagDrive pumps and not a direct swap for what is currently there. I will also have to tear the EB8 out of the garage to limp by for the next few days until I can get replacements in. Here comes a long night.

 

[mcarroll]

Let the EB8 rest unplugged for a while....overnight or so....and try again.

If it really fried the EB8, I think you can be certain something else was wrong...

Gotta get a 1" to 1/2" PVC bushing on-hand so the Mag can mount up to your 1" plumbing. I used to run into the same issue....

Spears Reducer Bushing

 

[Tango2]

I ended up buying another eb8 and the deepwater bldc5 pump. I'm pretty sure I have a failed triac because there was arcing inside the ev8 when I reset the gfci with nothing was plugged into the eb8. It'll only cost $10 to replace all the triacs, and I'll have a spare eb8.

 

[Tango2]

Received my small fortune's worth of replacement parts. WOW is this pump silent compared to my old one. I'll post up a bit more of a review after I've used it a bit, but my Quietone 4000 sounded like a Cummins diesel engine and the Deepwater BLDC5 pump sounds like a Tesla. There is a very good chance the Quietone pump was damaged when I got it (second hand), but I don't ever remember it being truly quiet. I'm running a herbie overflow with a 1/2" primary and 3/4" secondary drain, and on speed 2 I'm maxing out a full suction on the 1/2" line. My Apex is showing 0.1 amp draw with only the pump on.

 

[mcarroll]

Awesome!

One last thought...

My Apex is showing 0.1 amp draw with only the pump on.

How does that compare with the old pump - any idea? Can you phrase that in terms of watts? (Is it 120v? ..so 12 watts?)

If that's significantly less watts, keep an eye on your heaters and tank temperature. Your system may not consume any fewer watts even if your pump does....

The upgrade I did that "conserved power" like that (Mag 7-based skimmer replaced with a Tunze 9410) ended up costing me a heater upgrade.

What I had in place for heat couldn't keep up (in the winter time) without the Mag's heat contribution.

In the end, zero power savings. There was none.

(Power savings is IMO a silly criteria to use for pump selection if your system isn't prone to overheating due to T5/halide usage or some other factor. Downright backwards in many cases, really, since keeping the system warm-like-the-equator is a big part of the game. It certainly depends on all local factors, but it seems like most tanks aren't prone like that these days thanks to LED lighting.)

 

[Tango2]

So by no means did I replace the pump for power savings, but I have heard that the DC pumps were more power efficient than the AC counterparts. I don't recall the power usage of the old pump, but based on my apex graphs from pre- and post-failure, the peak consumption has dropped considerably. That's not to say that my heaters aren't running more now that they did before, which may be true, but I don't think that my old pump was throwing that much heat.

I'm running 2 150w (I think) heaters on my tank that are internally set to about 84° (so in the event of an apex problem they don't fry the tank) and controlled by the apex. Each should be able to barely heat the tank by itself, but may struggle in the winter (although they shouldn't).

I'll try to post up some apex graphs later - I can't get them to pull up right now.

 

[Tango2]

Here's a quick screenshot of my amps readings from before, during and after my pump fail. Looks like average with the old pump was roughly 2.4 amps. During my pump failure, I was pulling an average of 1.15A (only powering vortech, kessil and heaters), and after getting the pump and everything else back online, I'm pulling 1.75A. It doesn't seem like much, but based on peaks that's almost a 1/3% reduction in power usage.

 

[Serega]

Received my small fortune's worth of replacement parts. WOW is this pump silent compared to my old one. I'll post up a bit more of a review after I've used it a bit, but my Quietone 4000 sounded like a Cummins diesel engine and the Deepwater BLDC5 pump sounds like a Tesla. There is a very good chance the Quietone pump was damaged when I got it (second hand), but I don't ever remember it being truly quiet. I'm running a herbie overflow with a 1/2" primary and 3/4" secondary drain, and on speed 2 I'm maxing out a full suction on the 1/2" line. My Apex is showing 0.1 amp draw with only the pump on.

A little off topping. I'm also looking at Deepwater BLDC5 pump for my future upgrade, but like you I'm skeptical to use Amazones measurements which lists this pump at 10.2 x 8.7 x 6.7 inches(huge) Did you say your return section was only 6" wide? How did you fit it in the sump? Or is measurements I got from Amazon are wrong? Also how do you like it, not to powerful for your 45 gallon tank? Thanks.