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DeepBlueSea · 12/29/2017, 04:25 PM

Getting back into the hobby... Reading up on all the new technology... The big question... Old reliable for a return pump or one of the new fangled DC return pumps.

Read 100's if not 1000's of reviews. Some good, some bad, some from the fanboys, some from the haters. old reviews, new reviews. Retailer reviews, customer reviews. YouTube reviews, old articles, new articles.

Try to make the most educated purchase I can possible make... My gut said don't do it... just go with a reliable Eheim 1262 return pump...

BUT NO... I choose to roll the dice and spend twice the amount on an Ecotech Marine Vectra M1. I convince myself that this pump will grow with me. As I get the larger tank, this pump will be the future setup too... I won't have to spend twice and in the end I will have spent less by spending more upfront.

2 weeks to the day of plumbing it... Vectra M1 acting up. It's cycling power on/off all morning long. Watching it go through 10,15,20 attempts before it starts pumping water again. Two minutes later, shuts down again and again, and again. Finally, it's not doing anything. Unplug it, let it sit for 30 minutes, plug it back in.. it's pumping.... for five minutes and back to on/off power cycle.

So, my hands were back in the sump, removing the brand spanking new $350 Vectra M1... and replacing it with the 12 year old, Eheim 1262 that runs the skimmer.

Logged a ticket with EcoTech Marine, updated said ticket a dozen times with everything I tried.. no response today. Didn't really expect it. It's Friday before New Years weekend... I'm sure when they do get to my ticket, they will provide wonderful customer service. They'll probably want to charge me $1 for them to ship out a new power supply or controller or both... who knows. In the end, I'm sure I'll have a working $350 DC pump, but damn am I frustrated and not really sure I'm going to trust the pump for anything more than a salt mixing water change pump at this point.

I really don't mean to bash EcoTech.. I've spent $2,000 on EcoTech Marine products. I really really want to like their products, but 2 weeks for a Vectra M1. A bad dry side on initial start up of my Vortex. 2 out of five products 'defective'. That's not making me feel warm and fuzzy as a consumer.

I'd much rather have a solid product that doesn't require customer service, then having 'good' customer service for a sub-par expensive product.

Signed,
Super Frustrated...
The EcoTech reps will know who I am. (I'll apologize in advance.)

12/29/2017, 04:25 PM	#1
DeepBlueSea Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Gillette, NJ Posts: 217	My gut said don't do it.... Getting back into the hobby... Reading up on all the new technology... The big question... Old reliable for a return pump or one of the new fangled DC return pumps. Read 100's if not 1000's of reviews. Some good, some bad, some from the fanboys, some from the haters. old reviews, new reviews. Retailer reviews, customer reviews. YouTube reviews, old articles, new articles. Try to make the most educated purchase I can possible make... My gut said don't do it... just go with a reliable Eheim 1262 return pump... BUT NO... I choose to roll the dice and spend twice the amount on an Ecotech Marine Vectra M1. I convince myself that this pump will grow with me. As I get the larger tank, this pump will be the future setup too... I won't have to spend twice and in the end I will have spent less by spending more upfront. 2 weeks to the day of plumbing it... Vectra M1 acting up. It's cycling power on/off all morning long. Watching it go through 10,15,20 attempts before it starts pumping water again. Two minutes later, shuts down again and again, and again. Finally, it's not doing anything. Unplug it, let it sit for 30 minutes, plug it back in.. it's pumping.... for five minutes and back to on/off power cycle. So, my hands were back in the sump, removing the brand spanking new $350 Vectra M1... and replacing it with the 12 year old, Eheim 1262 that runs the skimmer. Logged a ticket with EcoTech Marine, updated said ticket a dozen times with everything I tried.. no response today. Didn't really expect it. It's Friday before New Years weekend... I'm sure when they do get to my ticket, they will provide wonderful customer service. They'll probably want to charge me $1 for them to ship out a new power supply or controller or both... who knows. In the end, I'm sure I'll have a working $350 DC pump, but damn am I frustrated and not really sure I'm going to trust the pump for anything more than a salt mixing water change pump at this point. I really don't mean to bash EcoTech.. I've spent $2,000 on EcoTech Marine products. I really really want to like their products, but 2 weeks for a Vectra M1. A bad dry side on initial start up of my Vortex. 2 out of five products 'defective'. That's not making me feel warm and fuzzy as a consumer. I'd much rather have a solid product that doesn't require customer service, then having 'good' customer service for a sub-par expensive product. Signed, Super Frustrated... The EcoTech reps will know who I am. (I'll apologize in advance.)