EcoTech profanity removed

[HippieSmell]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

ETM actually recommend a new wetside every 18 months. Seems a bit ridiculous to me frankly, but that's what they say. I've yet to have a wetside fail (including two of the older pre-QD wetside designs). Not sure what you people are doing with them?

I've used most of the powerheads available, and vortech are hands down my favorites.

Seems funny to recommend replacement after 18 months when they have a 1 year warranty.

I just sent one of my wetsides in for warranty repair last week, actually.

[ktownhero]

Originally Posted by reefinder

[I]"There's nothing about anything you wrote that is wrong except for your own expectations. They offered you the solution, it isn't their problem if you don't want to pay for it.You don't buy a Mercedes if you can't afford the bumper[/I]."

I'm okay with buying the bumper for sure, but Mercedes did not tell me if the bumper breaks I need to buy a new windshield and tires and door panels. that essentially their solution. If one small part breaks you have to buy 1/3 of the product no matter what piece breaks. cant change your oil you just need to buy the whole engine instead.

You make the mistake of assuming Ecotech had individual parts available at all, even for themselves. They likely don't. These things are manufactured and assembled.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[lilphil26]

Now I'm glad I didn't drop 450 Canadian funds on a quiet drive mp10. Bought a jebao 2 years ago and it's been flawless. Clean it every month and away it goes again. I'm not trying to hijack, it just seems really crappy that these expensive pumps don't significantly outlast their Chinese cheap counterparts.

[Potatohead]

Originally Posted by lilphil26

Now I'm glad I didn't drop 450 Canadian funds on a quiet drive mp10. Bought a jebao 2 years ago and it's been flawless. Clean it every month and away it goes again. I'm not trying to hijack, it just seems really crappy that these expensive pumps don't significantly outlast their Chinese cheap counterparts.

On average they do, by a lot.

[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by Potatohead

On average they do, by a lot.

I'd say on average they DID. While I prefer the name brands for the added integration and features I would argue that the knock offs have significantly closed the quality/durability gap while leaving the price gap intact.

[ca1ore]

Everybody has different reasons and priorities for why they buy things (that's why Hyundai and BMW co-exist; both get you to the grocery store reliably). For me, there is an elegance and functionality to the Vortech (integrated to my Apex via WXM) that every other pump I've ever used leaves me vaguely dissatisfied. Even the Apex WAV pumps gave me that feeling.

Further, my own experience with Vortech is that they are more reliable and longer lived than the cheap Chinese brands - though if longevity is your goal, Tunze is the King.

[jacksonpt]

Ultimately, there's no right answer to this conversation. They are big ticket items for sure, but whether or not they are worth it is up to the individual. I've got a pair of pre-QD MP10s, and while I'm frequently frustrated with how fussy they are, the form and function is unbeatable. For me. And since it's my tank and my money, I get to choose what's "worth it" and what isn't.

As for OPs OP, I understand the frustration and have been in a similar situation... different problem, same result - had to buy a new assembly. But the assumption/expectation that you can (or should be able to) buy every tiny piece as a replacement part is a reach. And frankly, for as fussy as these things can be, from Ecotech's standpoint, I'd hate to think about end users tearing things apart and making small repairs. Most end users in that scenario would likely make things worse.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by ksed

Where did you see that they recommended a new wet side every 18 months?

Not sure I'm going to recall where I read that, so you'll have to take it with a grain of salt. If I find it, will post it.

[HippieSmell]

Originally Posted by jacksonpt

And frankly, for as fussy as these things can be, from Ecotech's standpoint, I'd hate to think about end users tearing things apart and making small repairs. Most end users in that scenario would likely make things worse.

You can't make things worse than needing an entirely new wet side.

[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by hippiesmell

you can't make things worse than needing an entirely new wet side.

+1

[Potatohead]

Originally Posted by HippieSmell

You can't make things worse than needing an entirely new wet side.

Of course you can, you can replace the whole pump? Which is what is needed with the cheap stuff very often anyway.

Maybe I think differently but replacing a wet side every ~36 months is a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the costs of the hobby, especially when you consider the other positive benefits the Vortechs offer over their competition.

[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by Potatohead

Of course you can, you can replace the whole pump? Which is what is needed with the cheap stuff very often anyway.

Maybe I think differently but replacing a wet side every ~36 months is a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the costs of the hobby.

Hard to say it is worse when replacing a wet side or pump both mean that the pump is down and the cost for a cheap pump is pretty even with that of a wet side.

[smatter]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Everybody has different reasons and priorities for why they buy things (that's why Hyundai and BMW co-exist; both get you to the grocery store reliably). For me, there is an elegance and functionality to the Vortech (integrated to my Apex via WXM) that every other pump I've ever used leaves me vaguely dissatisfied. Even the Apex WAV pumps gave me that feeling.

Further, my own experience with Vortech is that they are more reliable and longer lived than the cheap Chinese brands - though if longevity is your goal, Tunze is the King.

I like that every single replacement part is available for Tunze equipment.

[Jyetman]

That's why I buy jabeo if the pump dies after 5 years I just spend another $60 to replace it.

[reefinder]

Sorry having issues uploading pictures from my iPhone on reefcentral.

[reefinder]

I went ahead and purchased a diffrent pump, i will slowly phase the vortechs out going forwar.

[xCry0x]

Eh, this is why when my Mp-10 finally broke (I got a good 3-4 years out of it) I opted to go with the chinese option and got the jabeo cp-40 gyre knock off.

I honestly like the flow of the gyre more than the ecotech pumps anyway -- and it cost me all of $70. I could buy 5 of them for the cost of one mp40 =)

I have come around on the value of these fancy pumps honestly. You just need water moving -- the gyre design does that very well.

[HippieSmell]

Originally Posted by Potatohead

Of course you can, you can replace the whole pump? Which is what is needed with the cheap stuff very often anyway.

Maybe I think differently but replacing a wet side every ~36 months is a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the costs of the hobby, especially when you consider the other positive benefits the Vortechs offer over their competition.

You're not replacing the entire pump if you only mess up the wet side.

Sure, a replacement every 36 months isn't a big deal. Every six months because a snail jacks up the propeller? At $160 a pop? For a plastic propeller? That's different.

[FirstContact]

You could always get a powerhead more reliable or get a powerhead less expensive than an Ecotech. That would solve the problem.

[tkeracer619]

I find it interesting that people write off a company because they don't create components that are user serviceable or give you what you want simply because you want to get angry and argue with a manager. If they offered the part they would have it on the website.

You literally spent good money on a pump that obviously you liked but because you need to buy a replacement part that is a wear item you just abandon ship. I just don't understand that logic. The wet side is cheap and once in a while they break. Not all the time mind you, I still have original mp pumps that haven't had repair parts available since almost day one. They work just fine. When they do finally die, I'll replace them.

Currently I'm working on replacing my old legacy mp pumps with all QD stuff. That's 6 mp40s and a mp60. Going with 4 mp60qd and 2 mp40qd.

The reality of the wet sides are that if they are going to break they usually do so within the warranty period and from what I gather the quality control is much better. To maintain that quality control it took a design change. My initial wet sides had all sorts of issues that customer service quickly took care of. It was likely a nightmare to keep up with it all. By going to a non user serviceable wet side they likely greatly reduced failure rates.

What are you doing with your mp10 dry side? Is it a QD?

[reefinder]

"I find it interesting that people write off a company because they don't create components that are user serviceable or give you what you want simply because you want to get angry and argue with a manager. If they offered the part they would have it on the website"

tkeracer619 you have collectively spent over 2-3k in water motion pumps in your tank. A device that just moves the water. It is one of many many purchase in your tank, but you opted for a pump that you believe to be the best. Companies who charge the most and are known to be the best are held a higher standards.
let me give you an example I have multiple hobbies fishing is one of them, if I break one of my sage rod's that was a couple hundred dollars in my life time they replace it no questions asked. even if its just the rod tip that breaks they replace the rod with the never model style, same goes for the multiple hundred dollar reels. The expectation is that if you buy the more best and most expensive brands, they are held to higher levels of service, we all deal with it on all day to day stuff. With that being said you don't price gouge your customers when they have issues, you solve the issues to suit your customers needs.
No offense but sticking up for companies who have developed bad business practices enables companies like EcoTech to price gauge and provide sub par customer service to its customers, who pay way to much for a silly pump that just moves water in a fish tank. Keep these companies in check by posting your problems and it will help keep companies honest and striving to win more customers.
Do I believe EcoTech should have reached out to me because of this thread? Yes, If it was my company you can bet your over priced coral I would have by now.

[mcgyvr]

You won't convince the ecotech fan boys or change their minds or get them to switch now or whatever so don't waste your time..

Yes it sure would be better if they offered each part to consumers vs having to buy a whole wetside or whatever.. Anyone that disagrees with that is just silly and disagreeing just to disagree..
But Ecotech doesn't.. so life goes on..

[ca1ore]

I'm an unabashed fan of vortech pumps (fan boy is such a pejorative term and intellectually lazy), I guess that's why I have 8 of them . Being brutally honest, I tend to think that many folks that have problems do so because of user stupidity. I have had no issues with any of mine (other than the aforementioned stupidity - flooding the controller is not a good thing to do). Not saying there cannot be problems (magnet problems with early generation MP40 QD wetsides as notable example), but I have seen countless foolish implementations with mine own eyes. As a said earlier, to each his/her own. The form factor appeals to me as I despise clunky equipment in my tank.

[d2mini]

You actually used to be able to buy certain components of the wet side on their website.
Looks like that has changed this year.

That said, $60 for a brand new wet side that will last another couple years easily if taken care of doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to me. But that’s just me.

[reefinder]

Your right on the fan boy, he pulled out the thesaurus to prove a point lol.

D2mini I understand and $60 really is not the problem it's just a waste. I only need the a small part I don't want to waste all the plastic for one part. whatever I don't want to complain anymore, I apologize if I came off that way. I hope this thread shines some light on this company and multiple other companies who have the same ridiculous practices.