SYNCRA ADV 5.5 Review - Highly Disappointed

[RMS18]

I wanted to share my thoughts and review on the Syncra Advance 5.5.

I decided to upgrade for the efficiency, and coolness this pump runs. I came from a Sicce Slient 5.0 rated at 1321gph at Max head hight of 12.6ft. This pump would give me 590-605 GPH per my Neptune flow meter.

I spoke with BRS about the Advantage 5.5, and after chatting, the conclusion was it would give me similar results, rated at 1450gph at 10ft Max head hight.

Well BRS was wrong on GPH, and honestly I feel Sicce did not represent this pump well. The consistency of flow is also very poor.

The range of GPH I get using the advantage is, 470gph-527gph, yes you read that correctly. Let me assure you there is no way to tune your overflow for this swing. I either have gurgling or my emergency drain is going on my bean overflow. The advantage is quieter than the Silent but now I have either gurgling or splashing lol.

Here are some screen shots of the flow from Apex, showing 1 day, 1 hour and all.

I don't care about losing 100-70gph. What I hate the most is the inconsistency of the flow, throwing off my overflow.

I think about going back to the Slient, however I am saving in two categories, temp and power.

I have contacted Sicce but haven't heard back yet.

 

[ksed]

What is the power difference?

 

[RMS18]

What is the power difference?

Advantage is averaging 40w, while the Slient was 52w.

 

[Water Dog]

I run an ADV 5.5 on my 57 gallon tank and it’s pulling a mere 33 watts, I do have it throttled back 10% though. The Herbie drain that I run on my tank runs silently as well, without the gushing and gurgling that you’re experiencing. I wish I had a flow meter to see what I’m actually running and if I’m getting the same fluctuations in flow like you are. My understanding is that DC controllable pumps often experience these fluctuations in flow as well.

See post #123 in this ADV discussion...

BRS - what's up with Sicce Syncra ADV pumps?

A lot of what has been discussed about the similarities and differences between the ADV and SDC pumps is over my head but it sounds like the concensus is it's basically the same pump but the SDC is controllable and the ADV is a constant speed. I've been reviewing the pump curves of these pumps...

www.reef2reef.com

According to Sicce, it sounds like the ADV is a fixed speed DC pump without a controller. It’s essentially identical to the SDC sans the controller. Perhaps this explains why you’re seeing the fluctuations in flow reported with DC pumps that are normally not seen with traditional AC pumps.

Not sure if any of this helps, but at least the ADV 5.5 seems to be outperforming the Vectra S1, a similarly rated controllable DC pump, in overall flow performance.

Apex reporting return flow at 250gph with a Vectra S1 return pump

So are these Vecta pumps extremely over rated or do the flow meters restrict flow by a fair amount? I just setup my new Vectra S1 with a 1in flow meter on a reefer525 and apex is reporting a max GPH of 252... This flow report on a 140gal tank is causing me concern. I've adjusted the FMM to...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[RMS18]

Appreciate the feedback @Water Dog . I am running mine full throttle. If you were I think your overflow would tell you.

 

[Water Dog]

Well, I just picked up an ADV 7.0 to be used on a 24” Lifereef skimmer down the road. I’m curious to see if what you’re reporting will have an impact on skimmer performance.

 

[Sicceus19]

I wanted to share my thoughts and review on the Syncra Advance 5.5.

I decided to upgrade for the efficiency, and coolness this pump runs. I came from a Sicce Slient 5.0 rated at 1321gph at Max head hight of 12.6ft. This pump would give me 590-605 GPH per my Neptune flow meter.

I spoke with BRS about the Advantage 5.5, and after chatting, the conclusion was it would give me similar results, rated at 1450gph at 10ft Max head hight.

Well BRS was wrong on GPH, and honestly I feel Sicce did not represent this pump well. The consistency of flow is also very poor.

The range of GPH I get using the advantage is, 470gph-527gph, yes you read that correctly. Let me assure you there is no way to tune your overflow for this swing. I either have gurgling or my emergency drain is going on my bean overflow. The advantage is quieter than the Silent but now I have either gurgling or splashing lol.

Here are some screen shots of the flow from Apex, showing 1 day, 1 hour and all.

I don't care about losing 100-70gph. What I hate the most is the inconsistency of the flow, throwing off my overflow.

I think about going back to the Slient, however I am saving in two categories, temp and power.

I have contacted Sicce but haven't heard back yet.

Advantage is averaging 40w, while the Slient was 52w.

Hey there, my name is Steve Berlin and your post just came across my radar so I definitely want to learn more about your application and figure out a solution together. I run Sicce North America so I'd be happy to work through this with you to get you back in good shape. My email address is [email protected] and my phone number is 561-445-7947. Please reach out to me and we'll get you taken care of - thanks for your support of our brand. We appreciate everything you do for our hobby.

 

[RMS18]

Hey there, my name is Steve Berlin and your post just came across my radar so I definitely want to learn more about your application and figure out a solution together. I run Sicce North America so I'd be happy to work through this with you to get you back in good shape. My email address is [email protected] and my phone number is 561-445-7947. Please reach out to me and we'll get you taken care of - thanks for your support of our brand. We appreciate everything you do for our hobby.

Thank you Steve, I have a email comming your way!

 

[dhboiler]

Thank you Steve, I have a email comming your way!

I know this is an older thread, but did you have any luck getting this resolved?

 

[RMS18]

I know this is an older thread, but did you have any luck getting this resolved?

Not entirely. So after adding the tank to it's own circuit, the voltage drop is between 116-118 daily. The GPH ranges from 501 - 528 per day which is still enough to throw my shadow bean over flow off. So end of the day I closed the voltage gap, and narrowed the GPH issue but the variance is still large enough to throw off the overflow resulting in gurgling - then running right - then overflowing throughout the day.

 

[Nemosis]

I know this is an old thread but I'm having the same issue. I can literally see the water level in the return section of my sump going up and down every few minutes. So much so, that it will trigger the ato. That in turn decreases my salinity and also affects the water level in the skimmer section which causes it to overflow. The inconsistecy of the pump is unacceptable when stability is so important. I love Sicce but I can't risk losing everything in my tank. I hope they are able to get that resolved at the company level.