I got my mp20 yesterday, boo ya.

[FatBaldingJerk]

I got it out of the box, and promptly bent a pin on the spacer.

I am such a stupid goon.

A lot of people would take "careful with the pins," "don't bend the pins, idiot," and "bent pins not covered under warranty," plastered all over the thing as their cue not to force the pin spacer onto its correct setting. Not me, I am like Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Might as well take me behind the barn and shoot me.

This is probably my #2 most goonish breaking of something. It will be hard to top pulling the door handle off a Ford Explorer.

It's still a sweet device.

#1 - Will it hurt the pump to operate it with one of the pins not fully seated? (I haven't done it yet)

#2 - What's the $ for a new pin spacer?

 

[EcoTech Service]

You can contact Customer Support to order a new Pin Spacer.
610.954.8480

 

[EcoTech Marine]

FatBaldingJerk-

Don't be too hard on yourself, it happens. If you are able to straighten the pin out you may have better luck with it if you drop a small amount of lubricant such as oil onto the pin then try sliding it back in. If the pin won't go in the hole anymore then we will help you out on your replacement unit.

-Tim

 

[FatBaldingJerk]

I tried bending it back into shape by hand a little bit, but since it failed in Euler buckling mode 2 (Tim, you can have Pat explain that to you), I have only been successful in straightening out one of the curves. I am going to go to work on it tonight with a couple pairs of needle nose pliers; I figure the worst that could happen is that I ruin it beyond repair and then need to get a replacement part (which is pretty much where I'm at right now anyway.)

Liquid hand soap worked really well as a lubricant for the pins that I hadn't mutilated. Funny how things turn out when you follow the instructions.

Anyway, as to be expected, great customer service from ETM.

 

[xbwolfx]

Re: I got my mp20 yesterday, boo ya.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13066756#post13066756 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FatBaldingJerk
I got it out of the box, and promptly bent a pin on the spacer.

I am such a stupid goon.

It will be hard to top pulling the door handle off a Ford Explorer.

I know what it feels like to be a goon...

I've broken three, that's right 3, driver's side flip down mirrors - my car, my mom's car, and my brother's car. On all three I broke the clip on the right where you can un-clip it if you want to swivel it to the side window.

When I was younger, my cousin built models like a madman and had them everywhere in his bedroom and throughout the house. Every single model I touched would break, a wing there, a propeller over there, maybe the landing gear......why I never stopped touching his models? Your guess is as good as mine (likely b/c I'm a moron). I must have broken at least 15 of his models....

I am expecting my MP20 any day now...and I'm glad you started this thread - so now fellow goons know to be careful with the pins.

 

[FatBaldingJerk]

I just got done mounting my new MH above the tank and mounting the ballast and timer in the stand, so I decided to mount the mp20 and the controller. With my first reef tank now set up, I couldn't help myself but to switch the Vortech on.

First, even with my bent pin spacer and the pump at full speed, it is still not as loud as the canister filter I have on my tank that I'm using to run carbon right now. In fact, with the window A/C unit I have in my room, I couldn't hear the Vortech at all. The only way I could hear it was to turn off my A/C and put my ear about an inch away from the dry side.

As soon as I turned it on, I became transfixed on the effects it had on the aragonite. It kicked substrate all over my helpless 29g. Because my water is so cloudy, I could see where the flow was and what it was doing. It's amazing.

How about this for a slogan, "Vortech pumps have a strong, wide flow and operate without making any noise at all - They're the opposite of your grandfather peeing!"

 

[YeahitsK]

Let's leave my grandfather out of this! Seriously that sounds great about the flow. Mine is going into a 30 gal. Did you play around with the different "reef crest" and "lagoon" modes?

 

[FatBaldingJerk]

Goon update, and more mp20 fun:

I was planning on hanging a mirror on my bedroom door... yadda yadda yadda... drilled a hole clean through my door w/o successfully hanging the mirror. I should keep a tub of spackle around, just on general principle.

I managed to make the pump start shaking last night by hitting it with my elbow while trying to chase my sister's puppy out of bedroom, and knocking the dry side a solid inch off center (fortunately, the wet side followed it almost all the way to its new location.) But, in less than a minute of adjustment, it was back to normal.

After playing with the different modes, I have determined that I could position the pump and set it so that it put a wave clear over the rim of the tank, very impressive.