I have the pump in question and am not thrilled with it but man does it give some great flow. Part of the problem Darren had with his was the size of the tank it was used on. Due to all the flow it had a lot of suspended sand. Any sand at all is murder on these guys according to what I've read. If I had it to do over, I'd go with a Mak 5 or one of those Jacuzzi brand pumps.

Hi Troy,

Thanks for the input! Fortunately with a 31" deep tank I don't have to worry about suspended sand. Also, my application would allow the Ampmaster to run at 0 head pressure if I were to use it. I have quite a few colonies that range from 8 to 11 inches in diameter that would love the increase in flow this pump would provide. The question is, is it worth taking the risk. The jaccuzi would do the job, however I'm triying to minimize an increase in amp usuage and I think the jacuuzi brands are power hogs..need to confirm that though, they can be very noisy as well.

How long have you had your Ampmaster and what don't you like about it? Do you use it for a closed loop or return, and does it affect your water temp?

I thought the whole problem with jacuzzi pumps was the fact that they were usually somewhere at 5amps and UP. Man, you'd almost need a dedicated breaker at the box for that kind of pump. Otherwise generally quite inexpensive though (I looked at a used 1/2 HP jacuzzi pump once, it was less than $100! But man it would have cost that much per month just to run it. Ouch...) Pardon my random rambings, just my $0.02.

Those Sequence pumps look nice too. Although ... I sure do like the Mak pumps. I'm trying to find some right now actually. Hardly ever see them come up used though, you gotta be quick at places like RC when they show up..

Here's another thing to consider; Darren did tests on power consumption on the Ampmaster and both he and I called Dolphin to confirm, these pumps draw double claimed on the website (the fellow at Dolphin agreed and gave a long winded explanation).

Terry, my comments on the suspended sand was more of possible reason for the quick demise on Darren's pump. I have a 24" deep tank and have had no problem (I've taken it apart to be sure). The design of the pump is, as mentioned by Victor, questionable and I think it will be a problem down the road. The same sand that go in the Dolphin pump also got into the Gen X pump in Darren's system and caused no problem there.

I don't know if you caught it or not but I mentioned Gen X's Mak 5 as a possible substitute. It's pricey but if the quality is anything like the Mak 4 it may be worth it. I think (off the top of my head) it runs at around 2000gph and can handle head pressure.

Hi,

I think of Maks as being quiet and lower power versions of the Iwakis. :) The Mak5 is pretty close to a 70RLT and a Mak4 is pretty close to a 55RLT.

The Apr/02 fix was to relieve pressure on the seals so that the rotor can spin more freely. The original problem causes the motor to work hard and grind the seals even faster. I guess they were hoping that they can make the seals last longer by relieving the pressure. However, it does not fix the fact that seals always grind against each other in normal operation. Eventually, the seals with grind away and start to leak...as it is suppose to.

When you have time, do you think you could post a picture of your tank ?

- Victor.

I don't know if you were referring to me but I don't think I can. I don't have a camera or a website and nobody likes me enough to help me :? <---hard to imagine I know :roll: :)

I would help ya Troy.. tell ya what you pay for the Ferry and I will come take pics :D

Steve

Based on the very helpful feed back, its's going to be a Mak 5 or Sequence. I am waiting for specs on the Sequence line from Flavio at Oakville Reef Gallery before I decide. He's also had some bad experiences with the Ampmaster and won't touch em. It's too bad the Ampmaster has this problem because the flow is phenominal! As Troy revealed, it's also good to know that the power consumption is double what the MFR claims it to be. ThereforeI wouldn't be any further ahead buying a pump that has the potentail to leak at some point in time and comsumes the same amount on power as a MAK 5. The trade off for losing 1200GPH for reliability is probably wise.

Just a couple of other points. The Ampmaster is silent; a very good thing. I've never seen the Mak 5 but Allen at J&L Aquatics said they are very big and noisy. There are always trade offs. Good luck.

Hi Troy,

Thanks for the info. This makes things more complicated because what I didn't want is a noisy pump. This may take a little longer than I thought. I've heard the MAK 4 and the noise level is not too bad, but the flow is not near what I need. The MAK 5 is 1800GPH and although I would prefer higher flow, if it sounds like a tractor (LOL) I wouldn't want it. Hopefully the Sequence will have most of the specs I'm looking for.

Thanks