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What's the quietest return pump available these days?

ofzakaria said:
Well when the issue is design issue, its not really a credit to them replacing beyond warranty. They should have done a recall. It took 2 weeks to end me my replacement which I clearly never used and left it in the garage..
They are not the first or last one to do such thing, of not recalling even thu the product is defective..I see this common in this industry cause it's small and not as regulated as its ran by small private companies in general so accountability is close to none..
To give a prospective, I lost close to 8 grands in trachys from the metal and copper spike the vectra did when it melted in my tank.. then I had to go on a rush buy a temp return pump from Neptune aquatics, then placed an order for the red dragon which arrived before my vectra replacement arrived..
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I guess I see this in a slightly different light. The fact that they were accommodating, easy to talk to on the phone/over email and literally took me 5 minutes to get a new pump shipped out to me within 24 hours, speaks to the ability to service me as a customer. Problems will always happen with just about any product, how a company can service the issue is important to me.

Now were they not as forth coming with a design issue upfront by issuing a recall? Maybe. And I am by no means justifying whether or not what Ecotech decided to do was right or wrong because I don't know all the circumstances of the actual issue, but with any product design or manufacturing issue/defect decision, there comes a considerable amount of risk management. How many users are affected? What's the probability that this will occur in the field? Did we catch the issue early enough and we don't foresee a ton of users encountering the issue. How bad is the issue going to be for the user. And I completely understand that you were burned by this and that sucks and you'll never use Ecotech products again, but I was only inconvenienced. I think a majority of people reporting the issue didn't have deaths like you did. And plus, how many users were really affected? Remember, we probably hear 15-20 complaints to every good case on the interwebs.

As consumers, I get it. We want the perfect product without any flaws. But you're kidding yourself if you think that's how product development/management/life cycles work. Products would never come to fruition if that was the case. I guarantee your fridge, washing machine, phone, car, or computer has plenty of defects you just don't know about. The fact that they're happy to take the hit three years after the warranty ran out and still help me out, it's cool with me. Unless of course, this becomes a regular issue.

** As a side note: I probably am slightly bias as I have around 30 Ecotech devices running.
 
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RandyC said:
I guess I see this in a slightly different light. The fact that they were accommodating, easy to talk to on the phone/over email and literally took me 5 minutes to get a new pump shipped out to me within 24 hours, speaks to the ability to service me as a customer. Problems will always happen with just about any product, how a company can service the issue is important to me.

Now were they not as forth coming with a design issue upfront by issuing a recall? Maybe. And I am by no means justifying whether or not what Ecotech decided to do was right or wrong because I don't know all the circumstances of the actual issue, but with any product design or manufacturing issue/defect decision, there comes a considerable amount of risk management. How many users are effected? What's the probability that this will occur in the field? Did we catch the issue early enough and we don't foresee a ton of users encountering the issue. How bad is the issue going to be for the user. And I completely understand that you were burned by this and that sucks and you'll never use Ecotech products again, but I was only inconvenienced. I think a majority of people reporting the issue didn't have deaths like you did. And plus, how many users were really affected? Remember, we probably hear 15-20 complaints to every good case on the interwebs.

As consumers, I get it. We want the perfect product without any flaws. But you're kidding yourself if you think that's how product development/management/life cycles work. Products would never come to fruition if that was the case. I guarantee your fridge, washing machine, phone, car, or computer has plenty of defects you just don't know about. The fact that they're happy to take the hit three years after the warranty ran out and still help me out, it's cool with me. Unless of course, this becomes a regular issue.

** As a side note: I probably am slightly bias as I have around 30 Ecotech devices running.
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Lol, totally get your point, i have 6 mp40 and have purchased over the years more than 15 mp40. I love that product...I will continue to use their products after making sure I research it.

I actually debated with their CEO or CTO back then. Before my failure, I was worried from seeing all the failures reported which, He kept telling me do not worry we have an unspoken open warranty on the vectra v1. I told him but if thats the case why do not you send me replacement and take the old one back. He never answered, Why you want it to fail then replace..

Since it was a design flaw that they openly admitted, the right thing was to recall in my opnion.

Similar have happend with ATO kits that are flawed, heaters that tend to blow up, heater controllers that perform very poorly, pumps that fail..all due to design errors that the vendor quietly change, release a v2 and tough luck for early adapter..
We as consumers should not be ok with subpar quality..

btw, trust me I know how product development and life cycle. I have launched more than 30 consumer and enterprise products from tablets, settop, phones, access points, datacenter compute racks and storage devices....u name it...from ideation and development down to mass production and reverse logistics. I know exactly what product development cycle and management is. these are the standards we carry on ourself as developers when it come to consumer experience , we always have customers above all..
If your phone or fridge freaking blow up, or cause short your house it will be recalled...
The vectra failure is just as catastrophic for the aquarium as a phone catch on fire in your pocket..in my humbel opnion..
Much respect randy!
 
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Great discussion on Ecotech, and it looks like I’ll be able to avoid the whole return pump decision after all. I was about to check out with a Varios, and figured I should confirm it was the return pump making noise. I just assumed since it’s old, never taken offline, and never cleaned. Turns out it was my skimmer, which has been running nonstop for equally as long.

Swapped it out for another and now the loudest thing on my tank are these MP40s, and a slight trickle of water from the return that I’ve never been able to dial in... Hmm...
 
iCon said:
Great discussion on Ecotech, and it looks like I’ll be able to avoid the whole return pump decision after all. I was about to check out with a Varios, and figured I should confirm it was the return pump making noise. I just assumed since it’s old, never taken offline, and never cleaned. Turns out it was my skimmer, which has been running nonstop for equally as long.

Swapped it out for another and now the loudest thing on my tank are these MP40s, and a slight trickle of water from the return that I’ve never been able to dial in... Hmm...
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So just to be fair, all the talk and experience I had was related to vectra v1. Supposedly they fixed the design issues with the v2. I just never used it to know.
The ecotech brand is solid no doubt that's why I purchased vectra right when they released it. I cannot imagin my reef without the vortechs. Their vortech power heads and lights are second to none.

My point here is, am talking about a specific product not the vendor in this case, I do not give unlimited loyalty to a vendor and call them on their product issues regardless of how good their other products are..that's all..
So please do not let me biase you especially since what am discussing is a v1 not their v2.
my garage is filled with 1st, 2nd and and third purchase of almost every part of my aquariums and most of the times, I realise I saved money by spending a bit more..

Thanks
 
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I realize you’ve moved on to the next thing, but for anyone else looking at this thread- I also use and really like my Varios pumps for my return and skimmer. if you buy 1 size larger DC pump than you need and don’t run full speed it also helps noticeably with noise and efficiency.
 
JVU said:
I realize you’ve moved on to the next thing, but for anyone else looking at this thread- I also use and really like my Varios pumps for my return and skimmer. if you buy 1 size larger DC pump than you need and don’t run full speed it also helps noticeably with noise and efficiency.
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May still end up getting a Varios after all when I tinker a bit more tomorrow. Good suggestion from the group though, as I probably would have defaulted to the Vectra.
 
Rostato said:
BRS had all Skimz items closed out like 30-50% off early this year.

I just assumed they were shutting down.
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I think it was just one particular line of products, I recall the Leopard pumps being like that. When a company discontinues a product there's really no reason to keep old stock. I mean when Ecotech Vectras when from v1 to v2 the v1s went on sale (hell I got a v1 for $200 brand new!). When the G5 Radions came out I think the price on the G4s was like $100 less (on the XR30), and Ecotech almost never does sales, guess MAP rules don't apply to discontinued goods (although it does kind of show if it wasn't for MAP chances are you'd get them much cheaper). Reef Octopus has done that a few times over the years as well either when switching up their skimmer technology, or pump technology, the Varios you can buy today is not the same as the original Varios that they put out some time back.
 
I'm currently using a COR20 and Vectra M1 on my tanks. Both great pumps. Since the pump is the heart of aquariums I always have a backup just in case one stops working. I have a used M1 sitting in a box as insurance.
 
I second the red dragon RD3. I have used vectras, Ehiems, reeflo, etc. The RD3 is not cheap, but it is dead silent. Even when run externally it is cool, and quiet. I would buy the pump again. Not to mention it is strong and you can change the pump power at will.

Vectra S1 and M1 did not have the overheating issues that the Vectra L1 had. Their cooling loops plug easily, leading to meltdown.
 
I’ll probably end up swapping out the return and keeping the Eheim as backup. Have a few backups already, but why not another.

I think it’s between Varios 2/4 and RD3 Mini/RD5 eco. Trying to find the drain’s gph rating but I’m guessing 1000 gph...?
 
what is the pipe diameter, and is it schedule 40 or 80? Is it one drain or a drain and a backup?

One drain at full siphon can be pretty stout depending on size. Id get a decent pump and if you have extra juice you can always run a manifold :)
 
iCon said:
I’ll probably end up swapping out the return and keeping the Eheim as backup. Have a few backups already, but why not another.

I think it’s between Varios 2/4 and RD3 Mini/RD5 eco. Trying to find the drain’s gph rating but I’m guessing 1000 gph...?
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One thing stands out with red dragon is their flow rate. Many other dc pumps collapse with the slightest head pressure which result in a very high reduction in the flow rate if you compare to their data sheet claims. Red dragon data sheet is dead on.
Vectra l1 that is marketed as 3100gph used to output max 600gph( I measured it using reliable flow meter) while red dragon 80 that is marketed as a 2100gph gave me ~1300gph..same plumbing same setup..
 
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