Driving the Mercedes equivalent of powerheads

[k3nnyp]

I have spent most of my 10+ years in reefing wondering why folks always raved about their Echotech MP?? powerheads and whether they were really worth what seemed to be an exorbitant price tag. After all I had been using knock offs like Jabeo that were 1/10th the price and were mostly happy with them. I then moved to Gyre pumps and enjoyed the flow pattern and with very minimal maintenance they seemed to last me a good amount of time. Earlier this year when my Gyre finally failed after 5+ years, I replaced it with an updated Gyre from Coralvue and had nothing but issues with it out of the box Ultimately the motor was bad, they shipped me a replacement and ultimately they declared that motor was bad as well. I could not deal with the lack of dependency in my tank so I bit the bullet and bought two MP40 Quiet Drive powerheads. Best pumps on the market ( reportedly ). They are sleek and look great in the tank, when they are attached to the glass and the housing hasn't flown half way across the tank. They also perform excellent in my tank when they are NOT stuck or dirty causing them to vibrate.

I rarely clean my pumps because I'm lazy and to be honest it's never really been an issue. I do it occasionally ( once or twice a year maybe ) but never because the pump stopped functioning until NOW.

In < 6 months

I have had no fewer than 4 occurrences where the cage has blown off of the pump. This happened last week to one of my pumps so I took the wet side out and soaked it in Citric Acid for a few hours then scrubbed it with a scrub brush and put it back in. I then removed the other pump and did the same. This morning the opposite pump's cage flew off. Since I clean them one at a time I can confirm these are separate cages/pumps. The cage doesn't seem to have any clipping mechanism or threading, just a reverse thread spin on and it's done.

On two separate occasions I have had the wet side slip off of the glass. I am using the thin spacer on my 220 so it should be correct for my glass thickness. On one occasion the impeller hung up, started vibrating and dropped from the glass. No idea why it hung but after I put the wet side back on it reported a Stall Error. I could tell the impeller was frozen so I took apart the wet side but didn't find anything. I put it back together and put the wet side back on and it started working again after a reboot.

Every couple months it seems the pumps will become noisier than usual. They are generally quiet and this noise is not comparatively loud but enough to let me know it's dirty. Time to clean the pumps.

Is this a common occurrence with the new MP40 QDs or do I have Lemons? Curious about other experiences with these pumps. Is it just me?

I'm about to head out for two weeks with my daughter to Alaska and my wife knows very little about cleaning powerheads. I guess a tutorial is in order.

I can't say how disappointed I am with this product. After all the years going cheap I wish I would have stayed there. I will likely be wiring up a Jebaeo in the tank in case both of my MP40s fail while I'm gone. I just realized Ecotech sent me a survey yesterday. I guess I'll have to fill that out. Likely post this thread into a support ticket also to see what they have to say about my experiences.

 

[k3nnyp]

Not humorous

"Thank you for contacting EcoTech Marine. The following guide will confirm how to easily clean the wetsides:"

Apparently my experiences are expected and I should clean more frequently. I have to assume that since I wasn't given any explanation or apologies or advice. Just cleaning instructions ( which I follow other than using Citric Acid instead of Vinegar ).

 

[civics14]

This all sounds about right. I have 6x MP40wQD and they are a bit finicky. You have to get the cages on the wetside tightened just right to a point where you think you're going to break it due to rage and frustration. Then.... you have to try to position it with the dry side perfectly else it will just go flying off and sound like a helicopter taking off before crashing down on whatever below it. But.... If you get all those just right, it will work and look nice.

I do have to say tho... I like the ease of cleaning it and the aesthetics of it. I have a Eurobrace tank, so its nice to not have the wires going up and around it from the inside of the tank.

 

[bg2311]

This all sounds about right. I have 6x MP40wQD and they are a bit finicky. You have to get the cages on the wetside tightened just right to a point where you think you're going to break it due to rage and frustration. Then.... you have to try to position it with the dry side perfectly else it will just go flying off and sound like a helicopter taking off before crashing down on whatever below it. But.... If you get all those just right, it will work and look nice.

I do have to say tho... I like the ease of cleaning it and the aesthetics of it. I have a Eurobrace tank, so its nice to not have the wires going up and around it from the inside of the tank.

Our 3 Ecotech MP40wes are all second hand circa 2012-2014. Thus far have only had to replace 1 wetside. The option to swap the control chip to get the quiet drive functionality is nice. We 3D printed covers for ours. Typically pull and soak the cover and wet side in a citric acid concentration then brush with a tooth brush to remove Coraline algae buildup. As long as I remember to power down the dry side completely before trying to seat the wet side swapping them in and out hasn't been an issue. Also use those small sticky squares to hold the dry side power cable to the tank so the motor doesn't fall when removing the wet side for cleaning. Ended up building a larger capacity battery backup box instead of using the Ecotech branded one. Probably adding 2 more MP40s to the frag tank we just setup.

 

[k3nnyp]

This all sounds about right. I have 6x MP40wQD and they are a bit finicky. You have to get the cages on the wetside tightened just right to a point where you think you're going to break it due to rage and frustration. Then.... you have to try to position it with the dry side perfectly else it will just go flying off and sound like a helicopter taking off before crashing down on whatever below it. But.... If you get all those just right, it will work and look nice.

I do have to say tho... I like the ease of cleaning it and the aesthetics of it. I have a Eurobrace tank, so its nice to not have the wires going up and around it from the inside of the tank.

I do like they way they perform, the way they look and the ease of cleaning when necessary. I also like the ability to throw another $70 at the problem and get a spare dry side to make it easier to clean .

I don't like
the fact that I seem to have to clean them so often
that they are likely to fall apart inside my tank
when they do fall part it leaves a menacing spinning propeller in my tank.
the fact that I'm considering spending another $70 on this "premium" pump
and it really gets to me when support dismisses my complaint and just sends me instructions for cleaning their pump.

On the bright side, I no longer have EcoTech envy

 

[k3nnyp]

Our 3 Ecotech MP40wes are all second hand circa 2012-2014. Thus far have only had to replace 1 wetside. The option to swap the control chip to get the quiet drive functionality is nice. We 3D printed covers for ours. Typically pull and soak the cover and wet side in a citric acid concentration then brush with a tooth brush to remove Coraline algae buildup. As long as I remember to power down the dry side completely before trying to seat the wet side swapping them in and out hasn't been an issue. Also use those small sticky squares to hold the dry side power cable to the tank so the motor doesn't fall when removing the wet side for cleaning. Ended up building a larger capacity battery backup box instead of using the Ecotech branded one. Probably adding 2 more MP40s to the frag tank we just setup.

Thanks. I do power down when taking them out and don't power on until after they are firmly attached. I'm hoping time will better seat the cages, maybe I need to look into buying some of the aftermarket cages.

BTW, per my latest update from support after I asked for clarification they are now claiming the Citric Acid cleaning solution could possibly be part of the problem.

"For cleaning, we do recommend the vinegar mixture and may have been why you were running into some issues."

 

[gill]

You might want to remove the spacer. I had the adhesive give way on my MP40 two years ago, and it fell to the floor and broke the plastic casing. Ecotech sent me a replacement part by express mail, free of charge. Now I use lots of adhesive sticky to hold it in place. I don't think it is the fault of the company. The whole design involves the dry side hanging in space so you've got to hold it there using something that won't damage your glass. Ditto on wet side, sometimes it goes wonky and you have become a powerhead whisperer with it. But man, they are quiet and move water!

 

[hzheng33]

Let me put it this way: if I pay xyz amount for a top of the line wavemaker, it better perform according to that price tag. Performance in my opinion should be functionality + serviceability + durability

it is one of the reasons why i didn't like versa when it first came out....leaking, more leaking, more leaking. went through a few iteration before i can finally use it. so disappointed with ecotech last year in terms of the product they produce (not to mentioned cracked G5 case, etc.)