noise

[yitman]

Currently , I m building a new 265 gal tank and I need to decide between Tunze and vortech.

In my opinion vortech flow is much better but I can't tolerate the noise.

I heard some rumors that you are working on new vortech model.
and I wondered if you are trying to improve the noise problem?

maybe a a bigger propeller and lower RPM will cause it preform the same but with lower noise.

 

[EcoTech Marine]

We are always taking steps to improve our product.

Have you heard our pump in person? While some users do describe the noise to be too loud for their tastes, the overwhelming majority do not have problems with the noise level, particularly on systems that are of average noise with overflows and protein skimmers running.

What is interesting is that people did not begin to discuss noise being an issue until the wireless wave driver was released. We believe that people are most sensitive to the changing speed of the pump when in pulse mode and that in any other mode the pump is extremely silent.

-Tim

 

[yitman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11667353#post11667353 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EcoTech Marine
We are always taking steps to improve our product.

Have you heard our pump in person? While some users do describe the noise to be too loud for their tastes, the overwhelming majority do not have problems with the noise level, particularly on systems that are of average noise with overflows and protein skimmers running.

What is interesting is that people did not begin to discuss noise being an issue until the wireless wave driver was released. We believe that people are most sensitive to the changing speed of the pump when in pulse mode and that in any other mode the pump is extremely silent.

-Tim

Hi Tim

My tank is going to be very quiet , since all the equipment will be in a back room.
Anyway I will go to hear it working before making any decision.

thanks,
Yitzhaki

 

[Sparkss]

a quieter wet end is definitely needed, IMO. We have a new duagher that we are trying to take videos of for posterity and I feel compelled to turn the VTs off while filming to prevent the noise from polluting the videos. Granted we have 4 VTs on a large tank and need to run them with at the high end fo their capacity. Someone with a smaller tank, fewer VTs and/or not needing to run them at 100% woudl probably not notice it hardly at all.

P.S. We fully cleaned and rebuilt our wet ends last month (new bushings and driveshafts). So it is not a matter of worn parts or maintenance issues.

Also bear in mind that 2 of our VTs are on the more quiet side while the other two are progressively noisier.

HTH

EDIT : But we do prefer the flow patterns over that of the Tunze (which we tried out recently). We have had the VTs for just at 1 year now.

 

[nottheone]

Yitzhaki,

I have had a Vortech running for 1.5 years. I always thought it was a bit noisy, but my skimmer and return pump are down 1 floor so my system is naturally quiet without the Vortech running. I thought maybe it was just me being too sensitive.

Anyway, in the last couple of months 2 friends in my reef club also bought Vortechs. There Vortechs are very quiet especially compared to mine! I can hardly here their pump running.

This leads me to beleive that the odds are that if you buy a Vortech it will be quiet. However, there is a possibility you will get one where the motor (dry side) is noisy. I don't know if Sparkss problem is same as mine since I don't hear noise or vibration on the wet side.

I will say that my noise issue doesn't seem to have any effect on or be related to the Vortech's functionality. The flow seems very good to me. For me it was just disappointment because I didn't want to have to run my TV at half volume to override the Pump's noise. ( I only have 1 Vortech)

Also note that I don't have the wireless driver upgrade and my pump runs continually at full speed, but this is exactly the same set up and the manner in which my 2 friends run their Vortechs.

Best of Luck,

Kevin

 

[yitman]

Thank you all.

From this thread it seems like some people have a noise problem and some doesn't have.

Tim, could it be that some pump doing more noise then the others ?

Did you measure the noise produced by the pump at each mode?

Can you publish the results ?

10X
Yitzhaki.

 

[serpentman]

I have two that are 1-1/2 yrs old. 1 is a bit louder than the other at full RPM. However, I would say neither is as overpowering as you both mention. Just got the wireless drivers so I will see if the varying speed makes a difference.

 

[EcoTech Marine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11697088#post11697088 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yitman

Tim, could it be that some pump doing more noise then the others ?

Did you measure the noise produced by the pump at each mode?

Can you publish the results ?

The average max decibel reading that we measure from a running pump is 45 to 50db when running at full speed. If you are pulsing the pump the noise will vary from below 50db up to a max of 50db.

-Tim

 

[MrSandman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11706037#post11706037 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EcoTech Marine
The average max decibel reading that we measure from a running pump is 45 to 50db when running at full speed. If you are pulsing the pump the noise will vary from below 50db up to a max of 50db.

-Tim

Out of curiosity, what distance are you performing the measurements at and at what orientation relative to the motor? Also, are your dB readings "C" weighted or "A" weighted?

 

[EcoTech Marine]

MrSandman,

We use a handheld decibel meter held roughly 1' away from the pump in an otherwise quiet room. I don't know if the readings are C or A weighted.

-Tim

 

[yitman]

I went to see it working.

I wanted to see it (hear it) working without any other noise at the background, So we turned off all the equipment including the skimmer and the return pump.

We configure it to work in pulse mode (supposed to produce the loudest noise) and .....
.................................
.................................
It was pretty quiet , I put my hear on it and heard a low BUZZ noise , I walked back one meter and heard nothing.

I must say, I was expected to hear much higher noise from it .

Either this pump isn't noisy at all or ....

Just to make sure, next week I will go to see it working in another tank.

 

[nottheone]

Yitzhaki,

That is the way my 2 friends sound also - they aren't noisy at all.

Unlike my friends, i obviously got one that is at the higher end of the "acceptable level of noise" range from Ecotech's perspective.

 

[Sparkss]

we have a new wet end on it's way so that we can check out a brand new one, with all of the latest design implementations, so that we can assess each of our 4 pumps one at a time to see which may be the wet end and which the motor. Keeping my fingers crossed .

 

[nottheone]

Great Tom, please keep us posted!

on a side note, even though my pump is louder than most, one friend saw the flow and bought one, then another friend saw both of ours and bought one, then another friend saw one at the other guys house and now our reef club is trying to do a group buy on them, LOL