Ecotech Marine MP40w ES operating noise
 

Hey guys,

I just love the look and simplicity and performance of the MP40's. Judging by what I have heard and seen they are awesome. But what about operating noise that the motors make when they are in operation and fully balanced and the such. Are they noisy? I have seen some videos on youtube with some people complaining that their spouses are just not happy. What are peoples thoughts on this? is that one of their drawbacks??

let me know.

well.....if your used to koralias or tunzes, with the motor under water then yes.....the vortechs make noise.....but I wouldnt consider them noisy... I have three on my system, one 40, one 20 and one 10....wifey, get used to it:razz:

I watched someones tank a while ago and he had 4 MP40's running, all fairly new. I have to say I found them noisy and pretty irritating because they were pulsing so it was constant winding up and down noise, would have been bearable if it was just set to constant flow but that would defeat the purpose. But it does depend on the person, when I asked the owner if he found it irritating he acted like he couldn't hear anything, but he must have been deaf IMO. I've used Tunzes mostly myself, you can barely hear them even close up with the same pulse effect.

I have 6 on my tanks 4 40's 2 10's, feel free to come out or stop at a store with ur spouse and see if they can handle the noise.

You should change your signature to 4 mp40s.

:mrgreen:

Dear Blue Tang,

Do you have a store in spruce grove? Im in edmonton and I would love to come by and check out the tank.

I have two and I find them loud, I can hear them now with the tv on

I find that when I leave for work I crank them right up and when I get home I turn them down.

I do find that they work great

I have two MP10wES... My older one is loud enough that it whines when upstairs but I bumped it a little while ago and I dont think I lined it up correctly when I set it up again, because my newer one is only half as loud. I can definitely hear them in the next room though, they are on 100%... it was a bit annoying at first, but I have good ears and low 'annoying noise threshold' lol. It doesn't annoy my folks who hate annoying noises (like the smallest water drip or pump humming), though. Its not obnoxious like loud droning, but its defintely an audible 'whir' as it winds up and down.

Cheers,

Chris

Marine Aquaria, BigAls, & Redcoral. They have mp40s in their tanks.
I have 2 MP60 in 1 tank, and 1 mp40 in the other. If you want to see it PM me.

Aquarium Illusions also has one in their display tank.

In person at a house is probably best thing though for comparison... because stores are umpteen times louder than homes even without people in them.

I have 2 mp40s they are both loud and they cause interference with my tv that is in a different room. But I'm really glad I added them to my tank.

I have 2 MP40's and can agree with Doug/Fishytime... they have a little noise, especially if you use pulse modes, but on Reefcrest or Lagoon, silent.

The noise is the winding up and down, but not that bad. Compared to others and the features and power they offer, nothing can compare. I do recommend them.

If you buy used and they are out of warranty and you consider yourself as a skilled tinkerer, there is a thread on RC that goes over replacing the bearings on them to quiet them down. Buy some really good high quality RC bearings from Boca. You'll need a couple tools and a bearing puller to do it without damaging anything.

I have the bearings downstairs for my 1.5 yr old MP40, I just need a bearing puller and then I can do the replacement.

If you do decide to do this, just don't use a screwdriver to pry off the bearings as it will for sure break the magnet.

No guarantees on how much quieter this will make them though.

:biggrin:

P.S. In theory you shouldn't need to do this as the product should be engineered to be quiet. But as we all know, they slightly lack in this area...

Hey guys!

A fellow reefer (reefme) invited me to his home the other day for me to witness first hand what MP40's sound like and I was impressed! When aligned properly they are dealy quiet! no jokes. The hallide fans where more noisy than the powerheads. I am convinced that I will own a pair of vortechs for sure! Thanks for everyones imput. This forum is so helpful, I can't emphasize this enough!!! Canreef all the way! :lol:

Quieter than the MH fan? I find that hard to believe. I have 2 of them and at full power I swear I can sometimes hear them from the next floor.

Now at 50%, maybe they'd be really quiet...

I dont know why mine are the only load ones around. They are aligned properly. My bedroom is about 50ft from my tank and when they kick on in the morning after night mode I can hear them as plain as day. I returned one on warranty and after a while it too became noisy. So all 3 have been noisy and all from the dry side. I wont get rid of them though so I put up with it.

huh? how can this be possible?

Only with a CRT tube tv. The magnets can pull the electrons that are being fired in the tv. But only if it's close enough.

I would like to retract my statement below - My new one is very quiet, only audible within the room... the older one has a problem of some sort and will be undergoing return/exchange.

Mp40s are very quiet.

If its loud it's one of these 2 things:

Dry and wet side not lined up perfectly.

And/or

Dry side magnet is rubbing on the rubber spacer. Also the rubber spacer has 3 nipples that need to go into the holes but sometimes they miss the holes and bend and rub against the dry side magnet.

Personally mine are 10's... they have been checked(lined up... no spacers...) ... it is a hardware problem. The good one is very silent.

you're not using the spacer on the dry side? so your magnet is directly exposed to the glass?

The 10's don't have the pin style spacer, they just clamp on or if the glass is very thin below 3/16" i believe then there is a spacer to put in. The 40's have the pin spacer and the 60's have different spacer that slip on.

ohhh ok gotcha. well i found out why my mp40s were making noise. the pins on the spacers bent and were rubbing against the magnet. now they're perfectly silent

Are they quiet at 100% though? Mine are acceptable at lower power, but irritating at full.

They are aligned correctly, using the correct spacer setting, etc.

When you say your pins were bent, is this inside of the unit?

I've bought new bearings to try. I just need to get my hands on a bearing puller.

Yes mine are a 100% the pins are on the spacer on the dry side

Uh oh, now I'm worried how mine will sound lol.

Is the pulsing mode (which from the sounds of it is the most audible) used simply for wavemaking?

Short pulse makes waves. Long pulse makes a swaying motion.

It's an LCD tv. Does'nt do this on my main TV just the TVs in the bedrooms. Bell Xpressvu receiver. Once again, I know it's the MP40s 'cause when the power is turned off to them the lines disapear. I've contacted Ecotech and they say that it's not due to their product. I'm used to it now and it does'nt bother me. Just letting others know.

Oh ok. Well ive seen this before with older treadmills. The magnets causing to much electro magnetic interference. It's most likely because you have a coax cable splice or split near the mp40.(in the wall or on the outside of the wall since its satillite

I have a tube TV literally 6-8" from one of my MP10's and see no effect. Mind you its just a gaming console attached to it, no coax cable present.

Anyone on the north side running an mp40? I'm not sure if mine is just a pos or they really are this loud.

Would like to see someone else's running, other then a fish store.

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_u...&v=nbin4xQi0T0

Took a video, this thing really hums. Normal?

Your link doesn't seem to be working for me, I get a bunch of random videos, not yours.

I have two MP40Wes on a 4' 120 gal. But I do have it set on ReefCrest mode. Not as loud as the Pulse mode. I don't find it loud at all. I am on the north side if you want to hear them. Leon

I personally don't mind the sound, it sounds like a symphony!!!