Here it is straight from China. First the good... things thing shoots the water out. It is rated at near 4000gph on the high end. I don't think it is quite that powerful, but it puts out pretty close to what a fully modded maxi-jet puts out maybe more which means it is over 3000gph. The other thing I love is that it is DC which means that the pump should never run backwards and thus no prop clank on starting up. I also think this will help insure the live of the pump when starting and stopping. Clearly turning a pump on and off will shorten its life, but I think far less than an AC motor. Another nice design feature is that water isn't drawn in from the top of the pump which means you can get it closer to the surface without creating a vortex that will suck in air. Yet another great design decision was the massive amount of cord length you get with this pump. There is probably somewhere around 10' of combined power cord length. The last notable great thing about the pump is that it is relatively cheap. At $110 including shipping, this makes them about the best deal going for anything short of a modded maxi-jet which does require work to put together.

Now the bad and there is some annoying badness. The big one for me is that it ships with a contoller... a controller you have to use and one that you can't control all that well. The controller is a plus if what it does works for you, but pretty much sucks if it doesn't. The controller cycles through 3 modes. The first mode is between 10-20 seconds at around 525gph, 2-10 seconds at around 2100gph and the final setting is 5-15 seconds at almost 4000gph. The controller has to cycle between all three modes and none of them can be turned off. The next big downside of these pumps is th bracket. It isn't horrible, but it is bulky. Better would have been a manetic mount, but again we are talking about a 4000gph pump for around 100 bucks. The size of this pump will also turn some people off as it isn't a small pump. However, it is smaller than two Koralia 4s (and still more powerful) and smaller than other pumps that put out this much flow. Some of the Tunze that do 4000gph are quite large and not very stealthy either. They did a good job on the profile as it's height is relatively thin. It is wide and relatively long though. I think it looks fine, but again I am not a big stickler for pump aesthetics. Lastly, there is annoying humm from the controller on the final setting. The pump hums like one would expect, but the controllers noise is a bit annoying.

Here is a video test done by someone else: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Efc5Xev7BI8 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Efc5Xev7BI8)

An additional note: I hacked the controller off and wired the brick directly to the pump. Oddly the transformer kicks zero volts out. It must need a specific load before it will push full voltage out... probably a safety feature. The transformer still will power the controller and the pump when wired back up. Unfortunately I don't have a power supply that kicks out 24v at 1500ma that I can use to get this in my tank for long term testing. I plan on ordering one for $10 and see how long the pump will run full out. I did try it out at 12v with a PC power supply in a test and the pump fired right up but obviously at around half power.

There you have it. I like the pump and will let you know more when I actually get it in the tank and running for some duration.

Here are the pics (some mine some borrowed). The coral coated pump in the pictures is a Koralia 4.

ooooooohhhhhhh... they're powerheads!!! When we were talking about them before, you called them "pumps" so I think I was a little confused. LOL

Yeah I used these too and have the same issues as Cameron does but were trying to figure out how to bypass the controller (by we I mean Cameron) so that it can be run on a wave maker that can alternate between two of them and push from one end of a tank to the other. I like this pump pretty well and the mount seems to be pretty good.

They looks like they will have some good applications.

How much watts do they pull?

Is the noise tollerable?

Excellent review Cam! And thanks for the tear down of the electronics of the unit to try and bypass the controller. Good luck with finding a work around. :)

Since we bumped this thread, how goes it with these Cameron? Still holding up? Any new annoyances?

Also, is there a screen on the output to keep fish from swimming in during wave cycles and getting chummed?

Good luck with finding a work around. Bypassing the controller is about as easy as it gets since you clip, strip and rewire. I found some 24VDC 1500ma power supplies on EBay for about $10 each that work great. Dawgdude found a better power supply (same rating but the brick is a better design) and I am waiting on those to finish up. I did run a few quick tests and they work great. I would say they easily throw out 3000gph. Good news/bad news is the flow pattern is very wide. This is great for four foot tanks, but six foot tanks it presents a small problem. I am going to try two of these in my tank on the ends to see if it is enough to get the job done, but I think I will still need smaller mid tank powerheads to keep the water moving along.

How much watts do they pull?I believe 36w at the top end as the math works out that way. (24v x 1.5a = 36w), but I haven't thrown it on a killawatt to find out. I also haven't tried overdriving them which you should be able to do with more voltage.

Is the noise tollerable?They are pretty quiet. We will see if they stay that way, but as of now they aren't the loudest thing in my setup. They do hum but it is only noticable when you are right up on them. Louder than a koralia or tunze 6045. Much quieter than a modded maxijet, my return and my skimmer both of which are relatively quiet.

Also, is there a screen on the output to keep fish from swimming in during wave cycles and getting chummed?No screen, but it is a tight fit so it would be hard for a fish to actually get back into the prop section... wouldn't hurt to put a cross on the front though or pulse them before they start.

Thanks for all the good info Cam.
Id like to put a killawatt metter on it to see the actual watts. Ive found the power factor can really influance actual watts. Maybe we can through my killawatt meter on there.

So the controller noise is not to bad ether?

It still seem strange to me to be talking in terms 3000 gph pumps needing a second 3000 gph pump for a 6 foot tank. It was not that long ago that we were happy to get 10 Xs volume water flow.

Id like to put a killawatt metter on it to see the actual watts. Ive found the power factor can really influance actual watts. Maybe we can through my killawatt meter on there.Sure.

So the controller noise is not to bad ether?I gutted the controller quick, but it wasn't so much loud as high pitched. Very annoying, but tolerable and only on the high setting. Sounds like a capacitor.

It still seem strange to me to be talking in terms 3000 gph pumps needing a second 3000 gph pump for a 6 foot tank. It was not that long ago that we were happy to get 10 Xs volume water flow.In my tank, I think 20x is a bare minimum which would need a pump around 2400gph. I currently run 1 Koralia 4 and 2 Tunze 6045 which is roughly 3000gph. However, with this setup I cannot easily switch off and pump the other direction. I want to get a flow left to right for 30 minutes or so then right to left for another 30. According to research this should maximize the flow in my tank.

I just ran across this... Old post but maybe some more info on longevity?

I have these in my garage still relatively untested. They can throw some flow though. I was probably going to donate them to a raffle or sell them off at some point.

donate it to me! i'd love to replace my 2 maxijet 900s (unmodded) with it. :D

I think he's hoping they end up at my place... :doh:



Big D