Iwaki. Best of the Best?

Fishnthecorner

Fishnthecorner

New member
Just returned my original plan of a mag drive 1800 gph pump for a bad a$$ Iwaki MD70RLT Water Pump (Japanese Motor). Anyone use one of these?
I plugged in the Mag18 to my saltwater mixing station, and it was just way too loud. I couldn't imagine this pump running 24/7 in my living-room. I'm hoping the Iwaki runs much more quiet...
Oh, and I picked it up new for only $335!
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You will be hard pressed to find a more reliable pump on the market. I have seen them run for 15 years plus without a hiccup. The trade off is noise/energy. Its not the quietest nor the cheapest to run, But it is a work horse.
 
creetin said:
you will be hard pressed to find a more reliable pump on the market. I have seen them run for 15 years plus without a hiccup. The trade off is noise/energy. Its not the quietest nor the cheapest to run, but it is a work horse.
Click to expand...

+1
 
Don't forget to let it break in before judging the noise. I know the little one I had was a bit loud when new and after cleanings. Good pump though.
 
After receiving this beast... Looks like it may be too much water... Can I slow it down with a ball valve? Will it hurt anything?
 
these are high head pumps, they are made to push water 20ft straight up so restricting the flow is fine.

However in the long run it would be cheaper to buy a smaller pump that doesn;t suck so much juice.

Like mentioned they will run a very....very..... very long time!! I just do not like the noise & power they suck/consume

Depending on the flow you need if it's just a mixing station you could probably use a 20/30/40 rlt/rlxt.... I purchased a 20rxlt for my mixing station ($100 shipped & under 50w + about 800GPH max) a 80-90g sump/qt tank
 
No. I'm using the Iwaki 70 for my main return pump, on my 235g. I use a Panworld 40 on my mixing station. It is extremely quiet!
 
I have a 55rlt and love it before this I was using a mag 12, mag 3 for GAC reactor, sro 3000 for chiller. With the iwaki I'm running 2 reactors, the chiller and the return on a manifold. I still have to valve it down or it dries up my sump.
 
oops... sorry... misread :)

The 55's & 70's are designed for high head pressure thus ideal for powering long runs to chillers up a story or two etc. I have used them several times when we would run ocean clear canister filters, had to be careful to run it through enough canister filters otherwise it would blow the lid off of the caniser... not fun!!

I use a Velocity T4 on my 210g, pushes 800-1000 GPH at 140w & is silent. My 475g I swapped out my Red Dragon 12m3 for a BubbleBlaster 7000. The 12m3 was pushing 2500 +/- gallong a hour & it was to much for my sumps. The BB7000 at 80ish watts & 1200-1400 GPH works great..... but I only have about 6ft of head pressure on each tank thus I do not need a high head pump
 
Had a MD70RLT for years as a basement sump pump. Thing was excellent for this application but no way would I have one in the same room as the display, way to loud.

As for Reeflos, have a Barracuda now, again good for a basement sump, but like the Iwaki wouldn't have one in same area as display. Reeflo Dart, sure, and even have one on my CL. Plumbed as a return they get around 2000gph if running below the display and are fairly quiet.
 
ok. I just ran it for a test drive, and it is a bit loud for my livingroom. I'm wondering if I could insulate the cabinet doors and or cover it with some sort of sound deadening material. If it runs a bit hot, Is it ok? I mean the motor runs hot, it wont interfere with the actual pump running hot, and heat the water...
 
I ran a Blueline 70HD, very similar in design to the Iwaki.

Great pump, just kinda loud, and definitely an energy hog.

DON'T cover it up with anything, its an air cooled pump and has to have good circulation around the pump. I found that the body of my pump was quite warm when it was running. I did end up doing a semi soundproofing job on the front of my cabinet that cut the noise quite a bit.
 
I have an Iwaki that's been running 24/7 since '94 and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. It's a little loud for my taste but with some careful mechanical decoupling and muffling I don't hear it at all. Flexible plumbing and some strategically placed Roxul goes a long way towards some peace and quiet. I also used some 3/8" high density rubbery soundproofing(forgot the brand) for mounting.

Iwaki's efficiency isn't too bad for a magnetically coupled pressure pump. Reeflo pumps will use less power but that's because they are direct drive. Direct drive pumps have shaft seals which will inevitably fail. It's bad enough when that happens on your car's water pump much worse in your living room...
 
Yea... like mentioned enclosing it can be bad & probably will not reduce the noise. Using non rigid pipe will reduce the resonance however it will still not be quiet. If you want something quiet I woulf just get a different pump.

In a 235g pump you only need something that does 2-5x's a hour turnover, so 450-1200 ish GPH is all you need. If you want internal & have a normal 5-6ft of head pressure a iwaki 30 or 40 rlxt would be a much better option. The 30 will be quieter due to not having the cooling fan.... that is if they still use them
 
So I was planning on using 2 MD30RLT for my 75 gallon tank I am building. I was also going to put them in the cabinet. Sounds like I need to rethink my setup for the 50th time.
Having external pumps seemed more pro and would add water volume to my sump. But the loudness factor would definitely be a problem. I also was planning on having my refugium directly above my two iwakis. Sounds like they need more space to keep cool. Hmmmmmmm. Back to the drawing board
 
I took the fan off my MD70, and it got at least 3 times more quiet! Now obviously the fan is on there for a reason. But I'm thinking I can use a separate fan (one that is much more quiet) To keep the pump cool.. I left it on for about an hour with no cooling fan, it got warm, but not too hot to touch... hmmmmm....
 
Fishnthecorner said:
I took the fan off my MD70, and it got at least 3 times more quiet! Now obviously the fan is on there for a reason. But I'm thinking I can use a separate fan (one that is much more quiet) To keep the pump cool.. I left it on for about an hour with no cooling fan, it got warm, but not too hot to touch... hmmmmm....
Click to expand...

There's a thread here on RC, I think it is in the DIY forum, that shows several different ideas for replacing the impeller style fan on these pumps with quieter fans.

Might be something worth looking for...
 
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