DC Pumps: Ecotech vs. Royal Exclusiv vs. Abyzz

[NeverlosT]

Well, initial experience with the RD3 100W was bad.

I spent ages plumbing it in, getting everything sorted and cleaned (I had to re-do a manifold since dimensions are different than the Vectra L1), finally turn it on, one joint in my plumbing is leaking, no biggie, didn't expect perfection first try, quick fix. Start it up again, and the RD3 is leaking like mad RIGHT out of the volute!

See videos here:



Long story short, I had to fix the volute myself to get going. Used alcohol and compressed air to find the leak path, used a syringe with PVC cement to seal it and a heat gun to help the cement flow. Got it to a watertight state a couple hours later. RE did send me a new volute a few days later, but the sealant in the new one doesn't look much more uniform than the old one so I haven't swapped yet.

So I am running the pump now. Is quiet, cool, seems reliable. The control box is definitely no frills. Hopefully it is reliable in the long run.

But just wanted to post the experience so that the crowd can see that throwing big dollars at a pump does not guarantee high quality.

 

[acer]

So you paid $800+ for a pump that leaked out of the box... That does NOT bode well. Maybe the new Vectra pumps will be better than the gen1? I am still using a Reef Flo hammerhead because I can't find a DC pump that provides enough water to my 150 gallon with sump in the basement ( 12 feet of pressure) without spending over or close to $1000 ( by the time you pay tax and shipping ). I will be following along as that exact Red Dragon was one I was looking at.

 

[road_runner]

This should be covered with warranty...no?
Not sure it's fair comparison comparing a unit defect to a fundamental design flow in vectra.
Vectra had the design error they did not trigger a recall...

 

[acer]

True- not really a great comparison - but great information on Red Dragon Pump.

 

[road_runner]

True- not really a great comparison - but great information on Red Dragon Pump.

100% thanks for sharing

 

[road_runner]

Its mad cool setup thu....amazing plumbing

 

[NeverlosT]

Thanks. Yeah this is true. If the RD3 design is executed correctly I think that it should be a lot better than the vectra. The vectra gen 1 L1 had some serious issues, then the Gen 2 L1 fixed the melting but didnt fix the clogging of the water circulation. So now we will see if the Vectra L2 Gen 1 can fix all of these and be a really successful pump.

Personally, I am just surprised that anyone who has been in the saltwater industry for a while could plan a water cooling loop that uses like 1/8" diameter line and a relatively low pressure differential. That thing was destined to be plugged from the get-go.

Anyhow. The RD is now working pretty well and quietly. I did ask RE about the apex interface and they explained that in their view, wanting to turn down your return pump in feed mode is not a good idea, so they don't suggest buying their Apex control box and running the pump via the apex as it is just another point of failure. interesting.

Thanks on the plumbing, it was a pita but it works well lol.

 

[road_runner]

Thanks. Yeah this is true. If the RD3 design is executed correctly I think that it should be a lot better than the vectra. The vectra gen 1 L1 had some serious issues, then the Gen 2 L1 fixed the melting but didnt fix the clogging of the water circulation. So now we will see if the Vectra L2 Gen 1 can fix all of these and be a really successful pump.

Personally, I am just surprised that anyone who has been in the saltwater industry for a while could plan a water cooling loop that uses like 1/8" diameter line and a relatively low pressure differential. That thing was destined to be plugged from the get-go.

Anyhow. The RD is now working pretty well and quietly. I did ask RE about the apex interface and they explained that in their view, wanting to turn down your return pump in feed mode is not a good idea, so they don't suggest buying their Apex control box and running the pump via the apex as it is just another point of failure. interesting.

Thanks on the plumbing, it was a pita but it works well lol.

 

[road_runner]

Thanks. Yeah this is true. If the RD3 design is executed correctly I think that it should be a lot better than the vectra. The vectra gen 1 L1 had some serious issues, then the Gen 2 L1 fixed the melting but didnt fix the clogging of the water circulation. So now we will see if the Vectra L2 Gen 1 can fix all of these and be a really successful pump.

Personally, I am just surprised that anyone who has been in the saltwater industry for a while could plan a water cooling loop that uses like 1/8" diameter line and a relatively low pressure differential. That thing was destined to be plugged from the get-go.

Anyhow. The RD is now working pretty well and quietly. I did ask RE about the apex interface and they explained that in their view, wanting to turn down your return pump in feed mode is not a good idea, so they don't suggest buying their Apex control box and running the pump via the apex as it is just another point of failure. interesting.

Thanks on the plumbing, it was a pita but it works well lol.

i would say this is what us used by abyzz and RD for years. Ibwoild argue it is proven to be working....
Rd and abyzz pump designs are top notch..I think what you dealing with is a bad unit.
Btw is the RD build to work external like that? I thought it should always be submerged...no?

 

[Breadman03]

i would say this is what us used by abyzz and RD for years. Ibwoild argue it is proven to be working....
Rd and abyzz pump designs are top notch..I think what you dealing with is a bad unit.
Btw is the RD build to work external like that? I thought it should always be submerged...no?

The RD pumps are good for internal or external use.

 

[road_runner]

Thanks. Yeah this is true. If the RD3 design is executed correctly I think that it should be a lot better than the vectra. The vectra gen 1 L1 had some serious issues, then the Gen 2 L1 fixed the melting but didnt fix the clogging of the water circulation. So now we will see if the Vectra L2 Gen 1 can fix all of these and be a really successful pump.

Personally, I am just surprised that anyone who has been in the saltwater industry for a while could plan a water cooling loop that uses like 1/8" diameter line and a relatively low pressure differential. That thing was destined to be plugged from the get-go.

Anyhow. The RD is now working pretty well and quietly. I did ask RE about the apex interface and they explained that in their view, wanting to turn down your return pump in feed mode is not a good idea, so they don't suggest buying their Apex control box and running the pump via the apex as it is just another point of failure. interesting.

Thanks on the plumbing, it was a pita but it works well lol.

Btw I totally agree on the feed mode thing. It's not a good idea to turn on off pump like that. I think ecotech was under pressure to show a unique feature so they added it to match their vortech feed mode, but I do not think it's a good idea no matter what they say.
What I like about royal execlusive is their incredible reaponce and no nonsense warrantes...
Absolutely amazing, I recently got a 2nd bubble king from my live fish store, the skimmer had small cosmetics issue..nothing that would impact performance. Once I contacted then, even though I did not buy from them, they did not even confirm with me it's a new skimmer, they immediately shipped me new part that arrived in 4 days...absolutely amazing.

Compare this to vectra fiasco and b the judge...

 

[FLSharkvictim]

I'm going to be running two return pumps on my SCA 150 build! 1 #Vectra M1 for one return and a 1 #Apexcor20 for my other return in my #Synergy CL-44 sump.

 

[NeverlosT]

i would say this is what us used by abyzz and RD for years. Ibwoild argue it is proven to be working....
Rd and abyzz pump designs are top notch..I think what you dealing with is a bad unit.
Btw is the RD build to work external like that? I thought it should always be submerged...no?

The RD uses an 1/4" RO/DI line as the cooling loop (the loop has an ID of .17"). The area of a circle with .17" diameter is .023 sq. in whereas the area of a circle with 1/8" diameter is .012 sq in. So the RD has 2x the area to flow water that the Vectra is using. That has to count for something, I mean not a ton, but something between boundary layer and biofilm thickness.

 

[NeverlosT]

I will say that if you note one of my first posts in the thread, Ecotech overnighted me a whole new pump when the first one melted down. so that was pretty solid of them, so I dont know who has the better service at the moment, since I just got a new part from RE and it was a couple days later.

 

[road_runner]

I will say that if you note one of my first posts in the thread, Ecotech overnighted me a whole new pump when the first one melted down. so that was pretty solid of them, so I dont know who has the better service at the moment, since I just got a new part from RE and it was a couple days later.

I see your point, my experience was opposit, when I contacted them I had an absolute denial until I creat a thread where someone from ecotech jumped in and checked and confirmed my vectra was acting wacky.
The only right though should have been a total recall. They chose to wait and address the unfortunate customers that observed the failure which was aweful.

 

[road_runner]

The RD uses an 1/4" RO/DI line as the cooling loop (the loop has an ID of .17"). The area of a circle with .17" diameter is .023 sq. in whereas the area of a circle with 1/8" diameter is .012 sq in. So the RD has 2x the area to flow water that the Vectra is using. That has to count for something, I mean not a ton, but something between boundary layer and biofilm thickness.

Yup I meant to say this method if done well works.. you are right.

 

[NeverlosT]

I'm going to be running two return pumps on my SCA 150 build! 1 #Vectra M1 for one return and a 1 #Apexcor20 for my other return in my #Synergy CL-44 sump.

Sharky I think you should be good to go, I have not heard of any reliability issues with the S1 or M1, only the L1.

 

[NeverlosT]

I see your point, my experience was opposit, when I contacted them I had an absolute denial until I creat a thread where someone from ecotech jumped in and checked and confirmed my vectra was acting wacky.
The only right though should have been a total recall. They chose to wait and address the unfortunate customers that observed the failure which was aweful.

Totally agree there.When they knew the L1s were melting down they should have recalled them all.

 

[FLSharkvictim]

I had problems with the 2017 models since some of the motors were overheating and expanding and breaking down but since then the M1 has been fixed per the owner of EcoTech Marine.
So what would happen the pump would heat up the gears would start to swell up! Anyways, they have fixed that problem since then on the Vectra M1'S

 

[ross0201]

Thanks. Yeah this is true. If the RD3 design is executed correctly I think that it should be a lot better than the vectra. The vectra gen 1 L1 had some serious issues, then the Gen 2 L1 fixed the melting but didnt fix the clogging of the water circulation. So now we will see if the Vectra L2 Gen 1 can fix all of these and be a really successful pump.

Personally, I am just surprised that anyone who has been in the saltwater industry for a while could plan a water cooling loop that uses like 1/8" diameter line and a relatively low pressure differential. That thing was destined to be plugged from the get-go.

Anyhow. The RD is now working pretty well and quietly. I did ask RE about the apex interface and they explained that in their view, wanting to turn down your return pump in feed mode is not a good idea, so they don't suggest buying their Apex control box and running the pump via the apex as it is just another point of failure. interesting.

Thanks on the plumbing, it was a pita but it works well lol.

How do you like the RD pump after running it for a while?