Announcing the VorTech MP40w Generation 2!!!

[EcoTech Marine]

You talked, we listened.

Over the past year we have been listening to our valued customers, talking with our retailers, monitoring this forum and are delighted to announce the VorTech MP40w Gen2. As innovators in the reef aquarium industry, we strive to continually enhance our products. The next generation VorTech MP40w once again raises the bar while providing you with even greater flexibility, safety, durability and performance.

Gen2 features a new magnet, high performance plastic drive shaft screw, a revised wet frame cover and is fully backwards compatible with all VorTech pumps. The new magnet is fully encapsulated within black plastic, cannot be scratched or damaged under normal use, is more durable, eliminates rusting and requires no regularly scheduled replacements.

New features for the MP40w Gen 2 include:
• A new Long Pulse Mode allows for wave pulse timings of between 2 and 60 seconds, enabling you to create slow alternating flow throughout your tank. And, you can couple multiple masters and slaves to create spiraling or gyre flow too!
• A new Night Mode – one of the most sought after enhancements - enables you to set your pump to operate for 14 hours in whichever mode you select for the day and go back to Night Mode for 10 hours. Master pumps will tell their slaves to go into Night Mode as well. Your Night Mode setting will be stored for as long as you want or until you cycle power to the pump, at which point you simply program the Night Mode again.
• A Pump Disconnect feature automatically shuts down your pump if the dry and wet sides become separated.

Enhancements to existing modes include:
• Feed Mode has been slowed from 1000gph to 500gph to make it easier than ever for you to spot feed corals and slow moving fish in your tank with the push of a button.
• A modified range of adjustment for Short Pulse Mode makes it easier for you to fine tune wave form.
• A novel save function for Pulse Mode enables you to save your own fine-tuned wave, providing you an even higher level of customization, and preventing you from ever having to re-program a wave again.
• A more sporadic Reef Crest Mode for both single pump systems and multi pump systems enables more pronounced speed changes constantly throughout the day
• A more sporadic Lagoon Mode for both single pump systems and multi pump systems provides your tank with enhanced variability to better simulate a lagoon environment.

As we have done in the past, we strive to make all upgrades backwards compatible at nominal costs so you can obtain the best technology for use in your aquarium:

Gen2 magnet upgrade kits including a new magnet, high performance plastic drive shaft screw, and a revised wet frame cover can be purchased directly from us for just $9.45 plus shipping by emailing sales@ecotechmarine.com or by calling 610.954.8480 ext 106. We're still at Interzoo in Germany and we’ll start shipping a few days after we get back, so please be patient. We encourage you to order with your fellow hobbyists or reef clubs to keep the shipping rates low.

If you purchase a first generation VorTech MP40w after May 23, contact us at sales@ecotechmarine.com and include a scanned copy of your sales receipt and completed warranty registration card and we’ll ship you a Generation 2 magnet kit.

Your existing drivers can be upgraded to Gen2 through a simple code re-flash. Because of the programmability of the driver, once you have one driver upgraded to Gen2, that driver can upgrade other Wireless Wave Drivers. The code upgrade itself is free, though depending on the way you choose to upgrade, you may need to cover shipping fees.

You can:
• Mail in your existing VorTech Wireless Wave Driver to EcoTech, along with your address and credit card information. Upon receipt of your driver, EcoTech will load the Gen2 code onto your driver and ship it back. The credit card will only be billed for the actual shipping rates. If new magnets are purchased at the same time, both driver and magnets will be shipped back together, helping you reduce shipping cost.
• Take your driver to an EcoTech Marine dealer that has a Gen2 demo and you can upgrade your driver at their location. If they do not already have a demo model available with the new code to perform the upgrade, the dealer can contact EcoTech Marine directly.
• Find a local reefer that has a Generation 2 driver. All Gen2 drivers have the ability to perform the re-flashing process on other MP40w pumps.
• Purchase a new driver from EcoTech Marine by emailing us at sales@ecotechmarine.com. All drivers purchased from EcoTech Marine will have the Generation 2 code. WWD's purchased from retailers will still be first generation as we are working to ship them Gen2 WWD's.

We are very excited about the launch of Generation 2. We are always working to upgrade and improve upon our products and we will continue to do so. As we have done in the past, we strive to make all upgrades backwards compatible at nominal costs so that our customers are able to have the latest and greatest EcoTech products in their aquariums.

All very exciting stuff – and much more to come! Stay tuned and let us know what you think of the new VorTech MP40w Gen2!

-Tim

[glassbox-design]

Glad to hear

[MrSandman]

Sweet. I'll be sending mine in ASAP.

[rroselavy]

Originally posted by EcoTech Marine

• Feed Mode has been slowed from 1000gph to 500gph to make it easier than ever for you to spot feed corals and slow moving fish in your tank with the push of a button.

All the new enhancements sound great, but does the Gen2 have the ability to have longer feed modes? Many people like to leave their pumps off during feeding for 10 minutes to 1 hour. It would be great if the Gen2 could allow the user to save a feed duration.

[MrSandman]

Can we adjust the speed of the pump for night mode?

[Mac Inger]

Absolutely wonderful. I hope the new magnets are more resistant to that "black bubbling" effect. I cleaned my Vortech the other day and i have about 5 of those.
The fact that you are making the updates backward compatible shows your dedication to the product and i uplaud you for that. Very few companies do that.
I just hope the new magnet will mean less separating as that is the main problem that i have with the pump. I dont mind buying the new magnet and other elements as long as i dont have to worry about the pump separating when im out of town for work. It broke my huge prized puprle monti in several occasions and now i have the wet side tied to the dry side with a piece of fishing line (a little ghetto)

Again, congratulations and please please please keep having all your upgrades backward compatible even if they have to be a little higher priced. I will be shipping in my vortech as soon as you guys get back from interzoo. have fun in germany

[JHAI3]

Great job with customer support.... Can you give us an idea of turn around time?

[ganjero]

Can we order the whole thing also from you guys?

[Joe]

That's great news! The only problem I see is that the current (old)magnets' skin has been bubbling at about the two month usage stage. As my Vortechs are guaranteed for a full year, when I call for another set of magnets, will I receive the old or new version?

Joe

[sfsuphysics]

Out of curiosity, do you happen to have a list anywhere of EcoTech dealers or know of those who have demos? Just anywhere that sells the pump?

[sfsuphysics]

Also, are different firmware versions supposed to auto-flash each other or is there some special way to do it? I have a 1.3 (3 blinking blues I believe the color is) and a 1.4 (4 blinks), and it hasn't updated the other.

[dacro]

These all sound like nice improvements. The only other thing I am unhappy with is the battery backup. With the non controllable vortechs, the battery backup operated at 50%. The wireless version runs at minimum speed which is not enough flow for me.

[Nuuze]

Great to hear!

[DAKOOP]

What about the poor saps like me that just bought his Vortechs 2 flippin weeks ago?
Bend over and take it like a chump, I guess.

[mrcrab]

Curious as to what the "Night Mode" does exactly. How much does it drop the flow rates, etc.?

[evad1]

on the fence with tunze and vortech
i just purchased vortechs from md.com and now will be sending you an email with my scanned receipt for the version 2
you guys are truly a great company with great cust. service...

[jay24k]

That sounds really nice and the price is even better.

[raynist]

Great news!

I have a MP20 beta and I love the new random Reef Crest.

I will post a video of it tonight or tomorrow so everyone can see the difference!

--Ray

[Gomer]

Any word on when the MP20 will be available? Will it have the same upgrades as the MP40 gen2?

[raynist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12603825#post12603825 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gomer
Any word on when the MP20 will be available? Will it have the same upgrades as the MP40 gen2?

I know the new Reefcrest and Lagoon modes are included as my beta unit has those. I beleive it also has the wave saving feature.

[rroselavy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12603825#post12603825 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gomer
Any word on when the MP20 will be available? Will it have the same upgrades as the MP40 gen2?

Listen to Reefcast episode 28. Marc and Evan interview Ecotech, and they discuss the MP20 features in good detail. The MP20 driver has most, if not all of these programming improvements. It just doesn't have the ability to communicate with other pumps, and they didn't really discuss whether the wet side magnet/shaft/cover is similar to the improved Gen2.

[nanoguy]

It's great to hear that the Gen2 upgrade is backwards compatible with the 1st generation MP40w's. I will be sending mine back to you guys for the code re-flash and the upgrade kit.

[recife111]

Excellent work,

[spankey]

Sweet and thank you for keeping the upgrade costs low so everyone can enjoy them! EcoTech makes a solid product with excellent customer support.


My SPS love this pump so I know anyone else's should like it as well too!


Spankey!

[youngtimothy]

when and where are the gen2's available? what's the price differance between gen1 and gen2?