Vortech MP40w to replace existing powerheads

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Treebeard

I was asking around at a couple LFS in Calgary and was told that the failure rates of the Vortechs are over 50%. Both guys told me that they no longer sell them because so many were coming back defective in the first few weeks of use. I am not sure who to believe now. The EchoTech Marine forum on RC seems very well supported by president of the company and I don't see a lot of unhappy customers.

Wow, 50%, that's definitely not good, but as I said, mine are going strong still after 2+ years. One thing, these are not necessarily simple products to look after. You need to take care and align the wetside properly when setting them up or risk premature motor or bearing failure. It's not like with conventional powerheads where you throw them on the tank, plug them in and forget about them. The dry side needs to stay dry as does the driver/controller. You need to read the instructions well for these things before firing them up.

The company did have a bad batch of bearings go out late last year or early this year and this caused a high failure rate for the MP40 units affected. Don't recall whether it was new units or Gen 2 upgrade kits for those wishing to change out their old magnets/shafts/bearings. EcoTech have been up front about this quality issue and immediately took steps to correct things. From what I've seen on their Forum and from personal experience with a shipping issue which was not entirely their fault, they will take care of any problems you have like no other company I've dealt with. I've rarely seen their president lose patience, even with customers that appeared to be trying to take advantage.