Power Head, & Water Pump Review; Aquarium & Pond
May 23, 2019 16:56:39 GMT -5
devonjohnsgard likes this
Post by Carl on May 23, 2019 16:56:39 GMT -5
I've updated my Aquarium/Pond Answers article "Power Head, & Water Pump Review; Aquarium & Pond"
Here area couple excerpts:
As to the review, which unlike most articles here at Aquarium/Pond Answers, this one is admittedly more subjective rather than objective since these were not controlled studies in the strictest scientific since.
HOWEVER these are based on decades of experience, much mentoring, experimentation, & going with what the popular fad or believing everything a product salesperson told me.
While not to pick on about.com, however after an interesting email form a hobbyist about aquarium power heads/pumps I thought I would investigate what is being said in reviews and stumbled across an article with the reviews of five different power heads at about.com.
This is also not to say I've been perfect from my selection of pumps or did not fall for what a salesperson told me, but I will point out that I learned from mistakes and sought out mentoring (often from engineers as to what a design difference would mean).
A good example back in the late 90s was the Rio 3100 Pump. I was told the new "hinged" impeller was an improvement, so I installed a couple on a new pond build to run a pair of "under-rock" filters powering a pair of UV Sterilizers.
While they ran great for a short time, the hinges broke in short order. I replaced the pumps for my client only to see this happen again. I later simply installed a pair of Rio 20HF Pumps and had no further problems.
AND
(2) The Submersible Water Pump such as the Via Aqua and Rio PowerHead/Pump series can function both as an inline submersible pump for sumps, fountains and even ponds as well as for power head applications (such as the Rio 600).
This is a VERY BROAD category, with really small models such as the 85 gph Rio 90 up to really big models for ponds or aquarium systems such as the 4755 gph AAP JAP-18000.
The design however is similar from the smallest to the largest.
Some important points to this popular and large category of aquarium/pond water pump:
* With smaller versions, often ceramic shafts are used for noise and heat reductions, but these do not fare well in larger models (much over 750 gph).
* With ALL models, power failures or surges can cause them to not re-start when normal power returns (especially if water has high particulate or mineral loads such as often found in many marine aquarium & pond applications). Even more noteworthy is that with larger models, if the impeller is left seized/frozen, this can burn out the pump magnetic windings very quickly as evidenced in warping or burning of the impeller well.
* As noted in the previous point, for aquarium applications this style pump does not function as well in the environment of being connected to electronic wave makers as the design of the impeller & impeller well does not lend itself to constant starts and re-starts (the best are the propeller pumps)
* Beware that many of these submersible water pumps will add wattage and/or larger impellers for higher flow rates designs without "beefing up" the size and weight of the magnetic windings. This can result in a shorter lifespan of the pump due to premature failure of the electromagnet.
An example is/was the Via Aqua 2100 versus the 1300. Both had the same size electromagnetic windings, but the 2100 pulled a higher wattage with a larger impeller resulting in it being a shorter lived pump.
For another comparison, the AAP JAP 8500s larger cousin the 18000 outweighs it by about 3 lbs just due to the larger magnetic windings
* Before I seem to throw this style of submersible water pump "under the bus", this is probably the most versatile style of pump you can purchase without spending "big bucks" for a generally reliable pump if properly used. These can be major circulation pumps with excellent head pressure for aquariums or ponds or even be used as a power head too as shown in the picture to the right of a Rio 600 converted to a power head for use on a sponge filter or under-gravel filter
Carl
Here area couple excerpts:
As to the review, which unlike most articles here at Aquarium/Pond Answers, this one is admittedly more subjective rather than objective since these were not controlled studies in the strictest scientific since.
HOWEVER these are based on decades of experience, much mentoring, experimentation, & going with what the popular fad or believing everything a product salesperson told me.
While not to pick on about.com, however after an interesting email form a hobbyist about aquarium power heads/pumps I thought I would investigate what is being said in reviews and stumbled across an article with the reviews of five different power heads at about.com.
This is also not to say I've been perfect from my selection of pumps or did not fall for what a salesperson told me, but I will point out that I learned from mistakes and sought out mentoring (often from engineers as to what a design difference would mean).
A good example back in the late 90s was the Rio 3100 Pump. I was told the new "hinged" impeller was an improvement, so I installed a couple on a new pond build to run a pair of "under-rock" filters powering a pair of UV Sterilizers.
While they ran great for a short time, the hinges broke in short order. I replaced the pumps for my client only to see this happen again. I later simply installed a pair of Rio 20HF Pumps and had no further problems.
AND
(2) The Submersible Water Pump such as the Via Aqua and Rio PowerHead/Pump series can function both as an inline submersible pump for sumps, fountains and even ponds as well as for power head applications (such as the Rio 600).
This is a VERY BROAD category, with really small models such as the 85 gph Rio 90 up to really big models for ponds or aquarium systems such as the 4755 gph AAP JAP-18000.
The design however is similar from the smallest to the largest.
Some important points to this popular and large category of aquarium/pond water pump:
* With smaller versions, often ceramic shafts are used for noise and heat reductions, but these do not fare well in larger models (much over 750 gph).
* With ALL models, power failures or surges can cause them to not re-start when normal power returns (especially if water has high particulate or mineral loads such as often found in many marine aquarium & pond applications). Even more noteworthy is that with larger models, if the impeller is left seized/frozen, this can burn out the pump magnetic windings very quickly as evidenced in warping or burning of the impeller well.
* As noted in the previous point, for aquarium applications this style pump does not function as well in the environment of being connected to electronic wave makers as the design of the impeller & impeller well does not lend itself to constant starts and re-starts (the best are the propeller pumps)
* Beware that many of these submersible water pumps will add wattage and/or larger impellers for higher flow rates designs without "beefing up" the size and weight of the magnetic windings. This can result in a shorter lifespan of the pump due to premature failure of the electromagnet.
An example is/was the Via Aqua 2100 versus the 1300. Both had the same size electromagnetic windings, but the 2100 pulled a higher wattage with a larger impeller resulting in it being a shorter lived pump.
For another comparison, the AAP JAP 8500s larger cousin the 18000 outweighs it by about 3 lbs just due to the larger magnetic windings
* Before I seem to throw this style of submersible water pump "under the bus", this is probably the most versatile style of pump you can purchase without spending "big bucks" for a generally reliable pump if properly used. These can be major circulation pumps with excellent head pressure for aquariums or ponds or even be used as a power head too as shown in the picture to the right of a Rio 600 converted to a power head for use on a sponge filter or under-gravel filter
Carl
