quietest return pump

[Froggie]

Mind the motor housing surface temperature is deceiving. It's definitely not the best indication of heat transfer to the tank water. The anti-calcium loop (ie. water jacket) provides active cooling for the motor by transferring the heat directly to fluid.

I've never owned a Red Dragon pump, nor do I appreciate the price, but it's nice to see a little more rigor applied to the design of hobby pumps. That said the mystique behind them is a bit much for my tastes. There are certain realities that need to be accepted as to the maximum efficiency of an electric motor, or its heat output. It's not an especially detailed set of calculations...

My recommendation for a quiet return pump? Buy a recommended and medium priced pump, create a damping base and decouple the discharge from the return piping with some form of expansion joint.

Originally Posted by sphelps

Mr. Wilson got me curious when he mentioned the temperature his pump ran at so I checked mine tonight.



It's the RD 6.5m3, hottest part was at the top back corner, was around 92F but dropped to 90.8F when I snapped the shot.

[mr.wilson]

The Poseidon/Velocity pump has a very hot external temperature, but this because the heat is on the outside, not the inside. Poseidon proved to have less heat transfer than Iwaki during testing. The heat transfer for a 50 gallon tank was not measurable. A heat sink would be a good addition to the Poseidon nonetheless. I like that it doesn't have a fan, nor do I think it needs it.

The older Red Dragon pumps have poor head pressure. Losing more than 1/3 of the flow with modest head pressure is disappointing for that kind of money. I don't now much about the new line of Red Dragon pumps, but I would consider using them if they were good quality even if they are expensive. For me it's more of a value for money issue than actual cost.