In the new pumps, starting first with the 6300 and 6055 the driver is built in to the pump. The existing models won't change for several months, likely in Spring. In place of the driver is a junction box that is about 1" cubed where you connect the controller and transformer. The transformer is changing to a standard laptop power supply. The advantages are no more water damaged driver issues, you could still damage the junction block but this would be repairable. There will be only one pump to replace the 6000 and 6100 as the transformer will be switchable from 12-24V DC. At 24V it will be a 6100 at 12V it will be slower than a 6000. The disadvantages are it will cost the same as a 6100, so if you only needed a 6000 it will cost more. The alarm is gone and instead the pump shuts off and has to be manually reset by disconnecting the power. The parts are more expensive, laptop power supplies that are switchable and high wattage sell for about $90 at Fry's for example. The motor with built in driver will be more expensive to replace if something goes wrong after the warranty. I don't think the transformer will last as long, I have some 10 year old 7400.600 power supplies. However, it is a readily available part making an emergency failure easier to remedy as Radio Shack or any computer store could get you the part you need, this also drops the wattage of the pump by a few watts. The infinite adjustment afforded by the potentiometer is also gone, instead you will switch from 3200 to 2600 to 2200 to 1800 to 1400 in incremental jumps and a controller will be required to do fine adjustments. The current design will still be fully supported for many years as we will continue to make drivers and the plan is to make an adaptor for the new transformer, though we may just keep the older ones in stock. Personally i prefer the older design as I like things to be repairable and I like the torroidal transformer as it is very robust, the new design is to simplify and accelerate production and to help comply with new regulatons in Europe regarding electronic waste which has a tax for each component and they must be returned for recycling, this reduces the components by one. Consumers have also wanted fewer components and this will save some money on shipping as it cuts a couple pounds off of the weight of the pumps.
