pump heat

[uclacsnerd]

so my pump died (again) last night at 3am. I was able to get it working again but not without some serious tinkering. i don't trust it anymore though -- so its time for a new one, or two.

the pump is Sen1200 with 3/4" output being split to 2 3/4" returns. i have two complaints aside from the reliability issue.
1). it puts off a lot of heat - my tank sits at or a little above 80 without a heater.
2.) its a little louder than I would like (even running submerged)

I think I am going to go with 2 smaller pumps instead of one. this way if one dies i should still get some flow through the tank. I am also hoping that 2 small ones won't be as loud or as hot as one big one. Anyone disagree?

I did some searching throughout this site and got a few choices picked out:

two Mag 7's - everyone says good things about them. these were also reccomended by the guy i talked to at marinedepot.

two rio hyperflow 17's - some people on this board like them. rios tend to be quiet too. the guy at marine depot said rio pumps are cheaper and lower quality than mags. (but they cost more )

two QuietOne 3000s - i've heard mixed things about these. they are silent. the guy marine depot said they are about the same quality as Mag pumps and would be about as loud and hot.

What does everyone think?

 

[JeepersReefers]

Mags are your best bet out of all those IMO. You will get less heat transfer if you run the pumps external. My temp droped a few degres when i got rid of my 2X mag 18s(in sump) and went to an external sequence pump.

Im not a RIO fan at all 3 out of 4 have failed on me. Just thought id share

 

[uclacsnerd]

external

I wish I could go external.. but I can't because I just dont have the room. Also when they are external they are so loud.

What about the QuietOne?

 

[addict]

I'd stick with Mags myself... if you can't go external then they're your best bet.

They may add a bit of heat to the water, but so will any other sumbermsible pump.
One word of caution though... the only Mag pump I've ever heard bad things about is the Mag7... mainly because it's just a stepped up Mag5.
I'd upgrade to the Mag9.5, which has a different housing and will give you some 'legroom'... you can back off the flow with a ball valve inline with the return, and it should push your dual return really well.
I'm currently running a 9.5, and am upgrading to a Mag18 in the near future... I also run a chiller though, so adding in a bit of extra heat isn't too much of a problem for me...

HTH.

 

[wooddood]

i would check into the rio hyperflow models i run a rio 32 hf and am very satified with its performence.

 

[BoomerD]

One of the best ways to figure out how much heat a submersible pump will add to the water, is to compare the watts of electricity used and the GPH of flow, with watts being the heat source. You should look primarily at 2 factors. 1, you want to try to minimize that watts/gph as much as possible, and you want to maintain a good flow rate as the pump starts pumping against head pressure. It does no good to find a pump that uses 1 w/ 100 gph, IF it loses 70% of it's volume before the water gets back to the tank.
MOST submersible pumps will be somewhere in the general range of 1 watt used per 10 gallons/hr at 0' head. That's pretty much an average, with most Mag drives being in that category. The challenge then comes in to try to beat the 1:10 ratio as much as possible without losing pressure. That becomes somewhat more of a challenge with submersibles, but there ARE a few that will out perform the others, YOU just gotta do the research. Been there a couple of months ago for a friend, don't remember all the stats, but Ocean Runner pumps came in pretty well in the w/gph ratio. I don't remember how they fared in the head loss area though.
For the record, I have Mag drives in a variety of applications, even though I know they might not be the most efficient pump, they have been pretty dependable.

 

[uclacsnerd]

thanks for all the help. i have been looking at the watts/gph ratio and heres what i found

my sedra1200 = 120 watts/1200GPH... which hurts.. thats very large heater in my sump.

quietone 3000 = 40 watts/780GPH@0' & ~580@4' (ratio ~ 1/20!)

mag 7 = 70 watts/700GPH@0' & ~480GPH@4' (ratio = 1/10)

rio 14h = 40 watts/840GPH@0' & 660GPH@4' (ration ~ 1/20!)

The RIO and QuietOne crush the mag in this department. I could get two of QuietOne 3000s or Rios and have more flow than I do now for 1/3 less power. MAG7 isn't too impressive in this light but since I know so many people swear by them around here I do want to check 'em out.

A friend of mine has let me borrow his Quiet3000 for a test drive. I will report back. I have heard good things about the RIO hyperflows as well but I heard that they are somewhat loud. Wooddood what is your experience?

 

[wooddood]

mine is quiet as a mouse and i run mine submerged also. i love it and would definatly buy one again.