DC return pumps

T

teahsee

Howdy folks,

I've been doing some research on submersible dc power pumps. They sound great on paper - lower power, heat and sound. And the controller feature is "neat". But on the flip side, I see a a fair amount about failures and short life span (a yearish).

Any of y'all have personal experience with any specific brands? I know a lot are reseller rebrands of the same module.

I am setting up a new (to me) 60 with a single 1" overflow drain. So am looking for something less than 600 gph after about a 4.5 foot lift. Freshwater, so no skimmer.

Thanks!
 
I have a Waveline DC 10,000-II and you are spot on. A couple things I have concluded:
1) The customer service at Salty Supply is amazing.
2) The customer service at Waveline is less so, but the Salty Supply folks keep them moving.
3) The controller tech is still advancing. The tech isn't young per se, but it is new to the companies selling them. A lot of glitches come along with new tech, but they tend to get fixed quickly.
4) You can get robust solid parts....but they come from Royal Exclusiv and cost 3x to 5x what all the others cost.
5) The electricity savings alone of a DC pump over a mag-drive allows me to replace the DC pump every 1-2 years. As such the next time I set up a sump it will probably feature 2x DC pumps to cover the reliability issues. On my planted freshwater tanks I have a circulation pump and can handle being without a return pump for several days.

On my Waveline pump the cooling fan on the controller died almost out of the box. The pump kept running without it, and the Salty Supply folks had a new one at my door a few days later. The bearing on the cooling fan of controller #2 failed after 6 months. Once more, a new one on my porch a couple days later, and the pump never stopped. The new controller had a much larger heat sink and no fan. It also ran cooler. My warranty was extended to a year from controller #3's arrival. A bit under a year later controller #3 simply stopped working. The first time power cycling got it going again, the second time not so much. I feel the issue was in the controller since the pump would still operate with the old controllers (albeit running hot without its cooling fan). At this point I was sent a brand new pump/controller/power supply assembly. That was less than two months ago, so we'll see how this one does. I may go back to traditional pumps for a couple years if this one goes out, that or I'll start running them tandem.

If you feel flow to your sump is critical use two pumps and put your system on an automatically starting generator. If you aren't that paranoid then accept that you can buy a temporary pump in 12 hours and rely on your circulation pumps until then. This applies to magdrive pumps too, although they do seem to be much more reliable.
 
I have a jaebo 12000 first one lasted about 13 months motor stopped. I never cleaned it once and that could have caused the issue. I always have a backup on hand. So swapped in the new one leaving the older power supply. The original power supply died after 19 months. Swapped in a new one and has been working great. The cost savings as well as upfront cost of another non DC I think it's worth it. Replacing impellers can cost a lot and for mag pumps its always been about 20-36 months in my experience. So far I'm at 2 DC pumps and 24 months in. Even if I buy another one in the next year it will be a washed cost with more features and possibly cheaper with electricity.


Sent from pay phone in the airport.
 
Thanks for the input. Comments are as expected. I'm hoping that tech/quality keeps improving and replacement costs come with a bonus.

But have to take the annoyance of annual replacement into account. Also means I can't get a used bargain :D

Thanks again!

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Oh. And do y'all (our anyone) have any spec charts? I can't seem to find any details on how the different settings affect gph. The lowest 6000 jebao is pretty strong for me, but after lift and settings, I think it would work... Just not positive.
 
RLSS has a pump curve on their page for the DC 10000-II. I've seen a couple different ones, but it's generally roughly linear. Assuming that holds across models you can make curves for the rest of them if you know the max flow rate and max lift (ie head pressure). You can find online calculators for head loss in piping, add that to the height you will be lifting the water (display height minus sump height), and that will give you an approximate flow rate. Assume some pipe fouling as well unless you plan to clean them frequently (which nobody does).
 
I have two rlss pumps and I really like them. I will say that I have had an issue with each one but rlss was quick to warranty them and get me new parts. Ecotech marine is coming out with new ones too btw, so might be worth looking in to as well. I love my other EcoTech products.
 
what is the cost savings of the dc pumps? If it's 30 watts vs 60 watts <i>. Isn't that like a $2 savings per month? Can someone explain? Thanks!!!</i>
 
I am treating my DC 10000-II as an equivalent to the Magdrive 24. The DC pump is listed at 95 watts including the power adapter, the Magdrive is listed at 265 W. At $0.10/kW-hr that is just shy of $150/year difference in electrical cost. That alone pays for a new pump every couple years.

Now, if you're running an electric heater 24/7 then it's a wash, maybe a slight loss since the DC pump adapter heat is outside the tank. On the other hand, if you are running a chiller that is 170 W (0.22 HP) less that you need to pull out of the tank. A 0.2 HP JBJ chiller is rated at 5 amps, although I don't know what actual draw is when running. You're paying for the heat in to the tank, the chiller to take it out, and your home AC to move that heat outside. You could put your chiller outlet outside, but then the chiller would be working that much harder to get the heat out of the tank. I'm not sure what that draw is, but i'll bet it exceeds another $50/year in electricity.
 
I use mine internal and went with DC to limit the heat added to the water. I also liked their controllability and future use with my apex.
 
I have a 1/4 chiller. It users 450 watts known via psu meter and confirmed via ups software. Based on my testing the 3 rio pumps i have in the sump add about 6 degrees to the tank. Would a dc pump replace all three pumps? Or is that risky? 1- is for the skimmer, 1 is for the main return, 1 is for the trickle return for when the power goes out.
 
I would worry about going from 3 to 1 just for disaster recovery in salt. With this being a fresh tank, I have a lot more tolerance.

I ordered the jebao/jecod dct 3000 yesterday. It was available under Amazon prime which sealed the deal for me.

Should be in tomorrow. I'll try and post my thoughts once it's settled in.
 
I use a Tunze dc return pump for almost 3 years never been cleaned with great results. But Tunze has had experience with dc pumps


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@Wes wrote:
I use mine internal and went with DC to limit the heat added to the water. I also liked their controllability and future use with my apex. said:
I use my jaebo with my apex already. They sell an adaptor on fish street for it. I have another one on my 2 wp40s as well. I need to set them to all run on lowest setting when power goes out. Right now my tank on full power tank will last about 1.5 hours with lights on.


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