Acroholic;928244 wrote: I am glad there are high flow pump options for people in different price ranges now, but sometimes I think we are comparing apples to oranges when we get into these Ecotech vs Jeboa or Tunze vs Jeboa, etc.
Now, if all you are comparing or care about is price, then my points may be moot here, but there are several key differences in the pumps.
Jeboa has all the electrics in the pump and it is in the water, power cord coming out of the water, and the resulting heat and possible electric shock issues. It is not hard to put a motor on a propeller and move water. Companies have been doing it for decades. Tunze, Marineland, Danner, etc.
Try doing that with a mass marketed pump/powerhead through glass of differing thicknesses, while eliminating all chance of electric shock from the product and all heat transfer to the tank water. Really an achievement. Also, at the same time, achieve flow rates in the thousands of gallons an hour with a much lower in-tank profile than either Tunze or Jeboa alike. Those pumps look like grapefruits in the tank compared to the EcoTech. In addition, throw in all the wireless programmability, and flexibility to coordinate with Radion fixtures and Reeflink (early this year) and all the other controllers EcoTech has in the pipeline, and you have pumps that will integrate into a total tank control system.
Have a different company develop a product that does it like Ecotech did and you have a true comparison, not just flow rates. I doubt anyone could make a pump that does all the EcoTech does at a cheap price point. I did not base my buying choice on cost alone, but because of the above features. I have MP40s that have been in continuous service for 5 years straight, only requiring a yearly soak. If there is a weak point in the EcoTech pumps, it is the power supplies, not the pumps themselves. People run Tunze pumps for 10+ years without issues as well.
Noise. Another apples to oranges comparison. The motor part of the Vortech is outside in open air, and it is a variable RPM pump, how are you not going to get some noise? The Tunze and Jebao pumps are totally in the water, so of course they will be quieter. IME Vortechs are not noisy at a stable RPM, but they make a whir when they are in their programing cycle changing RPM rates. That is just part of their nature. It goes with the design feature of no in-tank electrics and no heat transfer. Unavoidable because of the product design itself.
The only complaint regarding the Jebaos I have is their choice of name for the pump, about as close to MP40 as you can get without being totally plagiaristic. I don't think it does the Jebao company any good either. Like calling a Rolex a Folex, it only reinforces the cheapness of the price of the product, but not in a good way. I think they could have come up with a better name for the range instead of taking the easy way out like they did.
I really consider the Jebao line closer to the Tunze line of pumps versus the Vortech line, regarding technology and design similarities and comparable features.
