What return pump has the best warranty?

BantyRooster97 · Jul 12, 2018

I believe my jebao DC12000 is about to go out on me (1.5 yrs). Today it wouldn't restart after feed mode & I had to manually turn the impeller to get it to come back on (like a jump start). I enter feed mode when I feed frozen foods 3 times a week, so looks like it's gonna need to be replaced. Plus, I figure this is the beginning of the end.

Anyway, looking for a new pump. Would prefer 1800+ GPH. DC or AC. I can just turn an AC pump off. I like the adjust ability of the DC pumps, but honestly I didn't use it. I set the pump on high & adjusted the valve on my overflow.

Noticed Fluval SP has 3 yr warranty!!
Varios 2 year.

Vectra M1 or S1??? (lots of bad reviews about it melting the insides & freezing)
COR? (kind of new, not sure I want to roll the dice)

Any other suggestions. Looking at the $150 - $350 price range.

It doesn't have to be a fancy name, I want reliability & a good warranty.

Forsaken77 · Jul 12, 2018

Sicce Syncra SDC has a 5 year warranty on BRS's site.

madweazl · Jul 12, 2018

Vectras dont exactly have a good reputation for reliability. COR is brand new, I tend to stay away from that. As far as reliability, Eheim and Iwaki are legendary (regardless of warranty periods) but neither may be a good fit for your application (more details on your setup would help here).

ndrwater · Jul 12, 2018

Abyzz has a 10 year warranty. Awesome pumps.

BantyRooster97 · Jul 12, 2018

Abyzz! LOL They should have lifetime replacement for those prices!

I have a 105g & a 40 sump directly under it, total water volume roughly 130g. Heavy SPS. What else do you need to know?

boxed_reef · Jul 12, 2018

Eheim has a reputation for great pumps (and they are). But I was disappointed in the warranty fine print. I had an impeller issue... but basically anything with the impeller is not covered under warranty. My pump was 8 months old, and i noticed the rear of the impeller was damaged. Basically... don’t count on warranty. Buy based on reputation and hope for the best.

Fritzhamer · Jul 12, 2018

I buy two Jebaos and keep one on the shelf as my instant warranty replacement.

Coralvue makes you ship the pump to them. The entire process can take weeks.

Sicce also makes you ship the pump to them, they are quicker but ship it back USPS. Also takes about a week to two.

Amazon can usually deliver a brand new Jebao tomorrow.

Forsaken77 · Jul 12, 2018

Then check out the Sicce Sycra SDC I mentioned. It's 1,000-2,5000 gph with up to 25 ft. head height. Sicce is one of the most established pumps around and they have models that fit your criteria. I don't think you'll find higher than 5 years unless you pay Abyzz money.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/syncra-sdc-9-0-controllable-pump-1000-2500-gph-sicce.html

mcarroll · Jul 13, 2018

QuietOne, 3 years motor, 1 year impeller. Sicce Pro design, but made in China.

BantyRooster97 · Jul 13, 2018

I thought about buying 2 more jebaos to have on hand, barely over $100 each on ebay.

Syncra SDC looks nice, but aren't they fairly new?

Anyone running fluval or varios?

Also, found a used vectra for about half price.... worth it?

Greybeard · Jul 13, 2018

The best warranty is the one you never have to use.

I have a Danner MagDrive 1100 that I originally bought to drive a Precision Marine Bullet2 Skimmer... a couple decades ago. Today, it's pumping water for the slide on my swimming pool. I put a new impeller in it, once. It's loud, runs hot, and it's a power eating monster, but it'd be hard to knock it for reliability

Over the years, I've had good luck with Sicce, Iwaki, Eheim... I'm running a Current USA eFlux pump for about the last year. So far, so good. I've rarely had problems with decent quality pumps. I did have a pump go out on a Vertex 180i skimmer recently. Vertex support got me one fairly quickly, but it wasn't cheap.

I've also rarely had any luck with bottom dollar pumps. I'd put Jabao, Rio, and Odyssea in that category.

BantyRooster97 · Jul 13, 2018

My last tank (75g) I put together on the cheap & bought a $50 no name pond pump off ebay. That thing ran, uncleaned for 7 yrs before I upgraded tanks & decided to buy "better" equipment. I still have it & it still runs great. It just doesn't pump the volume I want, or I'd throw it back on this set-up.

Forsaken77 · Jul 14, 2018

BantyRooster97 said:
I thought about buying 2 more jebaos to have on hand, barely over $100 each on ebay.

Syncra SDC looks nice, but aren't they fairly new?

Anyone running fluval or varios?

Also, found a used vectra for about half price.... worth it?

The wifi is new, but the Syncra line is not. Sicce has a variety of pumps in your range, but the SDC has double the head height.

VarioS pumps are good as well. I have two of the VarioS-6's for my 180 because a single VarioS-8 wouldn't provide enough head height being split.

I've also noticed with a few different DC pumps that they work better and last longer when not run at 100%. So if you go DC, try to over size. Just my experience because out of the 4 different ones I've had, they all started to slow down eventually (except the VarioS because they're new). So what the pump would output at setting 3 is now equal to setting 6.

rockskimmerflow · Jul 14, 2018

jhOU said:
Eheim has a reputation for great pumps (and they are). But I was disappointed in the warranty fine print. I had an impeller issue... but basically anything with the impeller is not covered under warranty. My pump was 8 months old, and i noticed the rear of the impeller was damaged. Basically... don’t count on warranty. Buy based on reputation and hope for the best.

Yeah I think it's because impellers are often damaged by hobbyist mis-installation after disassembly or cleaning etc. - Not that you did that, just why they likely don't warranty it.

Was there any issue with your pump's performance or you simply noticed the impeller rear was 'damaged'? I only ask because the silver plastic part where the rotor magnet portion terminated into the shaft often looks chipped away or damaged on the old school universal hobby series pumps, but is actually not and just part of the way it's manufactured. I've installed a ton of eheim hobby series pumps that have this feature. Not sure if your pump was a hobby series or a rebranded Compact line pump so not sure if it applies to your situation. Figured I'd ask out of curiosity.

Fritzhamer · Jul 14, 2018

While I love Sicce, the Syncra was by far the loudest pump I’ve ever owned.

I also wouldn’t buy based on warranty. Warranty repair or service is the worst. Other than Tunze who will usually just send you another one, everyone else wants you to send it back so they can test it and repair it. You also have shipping there and back. All in all if you need the warranty you will be without a pump for weeks maybe a month.

Buy based on reputation but have a backup in case you need the warranty.

boxed_reef · Jul 14, 2018

rockskimmerflow said:
Yeah I think it's because impellers are often damaged by hobbyist mis-installation after disassembly or cleaning etc. - Not that you did that, just why they likely don't warranty it.

Was there any issue with your pump's performance or you simply noticed the impeller rear was 'damaged'? I only ask because the silver plastic part where the rotor magnet portion terminated into the shaft often looks chipped away or damaged on the old school universal hobby series pumps, but is actually not and just part of the way it's manufactured. I've installed a ton of eheim hobby series pumps that have this feature. Not sure if your pump was a hobby series or a rebranded Compact line pump so not sure if it applies to your situation. Figured I'd ask out of curiosity.

I noticed it when I took it out for cleaning. It does still seem to work fine. It’s the eheim 1262. If there is nothing wrong with it, it would have been nice for eheim to mention that in the correspondence... instead of just sending me a link to buy a new impeller. It looks really rough, I can’t imagine it would be manufactured this way.

BantyRooster97 · Jul 14, 2018

Yeah, I need a quiet pump, the tank is in my office. I think I might buy another jebao for now & try to make it to black friday & look for a deal on a vectra or varios.

I looked in my sump yesterday & after a few days of feeding without turning the pump off, the skimmer section was full of food.

Def gonna need a pump can turn off for feeding.

I've also realized I was probably running my return pump to high. 100% on the dc12000 is 3000+ gph, give some head loss maybe it was actually 2500 or so. My tank is only 105g, so thats a 25x rate. I really don't need that much flow & it was probably too fast running through my sump & cheato.

rockskimmerflow · Jul 14, 2018

jhOU said:
I noticed it when I took it out for cleaning. It does still seem to work fine. It’s the eheim 1262. If there is nothing wrong with it, it would have been nice for eheim to mention that in the correspondence... instead of just sending me a link to buy a new impeller. It looks really rough, I can’t imagine it would be manufactured this way.

I had a feeling when you said rear was damaged. That's not a defect, just how the impellers come from the factory, so it would have been a waste for them to warranty it or for you to order a new one. There is some machine process that chips away the plastic overmold to expose the ceramic bearing inside. That white ceramic part is the only place contact is made on the impeller rear while spinning in the rotor well so that mangled looking area has no functional impact. I agree its weird looking to ship an impeller that way, but I've got tons of 1262s spinning away out there 24/7 and have yet to have any issues with the impellers that look like that.

boxed_reef · Jul 14, 2018

rockskimmerflow said:
I had a feeling when you said rear was damaged. That's not a defect, just how the impellers come from the factory, so it would have been a waste for them to warranty it or for you to order a new one. There is some machine process that chips away the plastic overmold to expose the ceramic bearing inside. That white ceramic part is the only place contact is made on the impeller rear while spinning in the rotor well so that mangled looking area has no functional impact. I agree its weird looking to ship an impeller that way, but I've got tons of 1262s spinning away out there 24/7 and have yet to have any issues with the impellers that look like that.

very good to hear that! I just wish eheim would have told me that when I sent them pics.