Noisy Vortech DrySide FIX!!

I currently use 6 mp40s, 3 mp10s and as of yesterday an mp60. I have not had any of the mp10 wetside breakdown on me but I have had all 6 mp40 wetside go down on separate occasions, some needed replacing more parts than others. Either the ceramic bearings, magnets, fused screw/shaft, etc wear out. Once the whole propeller goes out of alignment, it wears out whatever is on its way. I have 2 tanks and a frag tank. Cleaning and alignment is good but it would not help in my case. I did have one wetside go down due to snail.

The wetside on the mp40 is so poorly designed - too many moving parts - all you really need is the cover and propeller/magnet but they put so many parts in it that one of them is bound to break down. The propeller also does not touch the wetside cover unlike the mp10 and mp60 wetside so there is no stability with the spin. Any snail could crawl and put the whole thing out of balance and it will wear and break after.

They had it right on the mp10 and mp60. I am suspecting that ecotech is revamping the mp40 line and will likely put out a smaller "mp60" to replace what they have. Other than that they could replace the wetside the same as the mp60 and anybody with the old mp40 will be happy.

I am actually thinking of getting rid of my mp40s since I now own the mp60 and could not believe how much better they are. My tanks are 150 gallon and 300 gallon. I am using mp10s on a 6 foot truvu frag tank. The sale of the mp40s will get me closer to replacing all my pumps sooner.

MACNA is just around the corner, I bet they are releasing a new version of the pump soon. If they replace the mp40 wetside, I will not have to get rid of my mp40s and I will be set.
 
Joined the club!

Joined the club!

One of my MP40 dry sides has been noisy the last couple of months and finally stopped working.

I had purchased a while back some Boca bearings (SMR698-ZZ #5 & SMR607-ZZ #5) as well as a bearing splitter from Amazon (OTC 1122 1/8" to 2" Bearing Splitter) in anticipation of the Vortech failing.

When I opened up the Vortech, I found that one of the bearings was completely seized. I still went ahead and changed both bearings. I found that I did not need a bearing press to install the new bearings - just took some manual pressure.

The repair didn't go completely smoothly - it took me a while to figure out how to take apart the dry side, clean it, replace the bearings, and then put it back together (which I had to re-do a few times until I got it right). The repair once done has been fine - pump is about as quiet as my other pumps and best of all, I didn't have to buy a new dry side. Overall quite happy with how it went.

I like my Vortechs but it does seem that living with their performances also means living with some periodic mechanical maintenance.
 
Great to hear another success! Although a few bumps in the road, you still got it!

As far as the bearing press goes, I have heard some needing it and others not. I probably just depends on the person or machine that made that particular drive unit

But within all reason, if you had to replace bearings every other year, that's still less then 10$ per year maintenance. Not bad if you ask me.
 
I think we need to start complaining more to ecotech.. warranty for only 1 year and having to basically pay 1/2 the price every 1.5 - 2 years is pretty ridiculous!
 
FiReC said:
I think we need to start complaining more to ecotech.. warranty for only 1 year and having to basically pay 1/2 the price every 1.5 - 2 years is pretty ridiculous!
Click to expand...
I think replacing the bearings every 1.5 – 2 years is a worst case scenario. I have only needed to replace the bearings on one of my MP40s after four years and that was after I spilled salt water on it. I had a total of five MP40’s and only one had to be replaced.
 
dahenley said:
Great to hear another success! Although a few bumps in the road, you still got it!

As far as the bearing press goes, I have heard some needing it and others not. I probably just depends on the person or machine that made that particular drive unit

But within all reason, if you had to replace bearings every other year, that's still less then 10$ per year maintenance. Not bad if you ask me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for an awesome post. I replaced Bearings on 1 of my MP40 & it is quieter than the other pumps.
If there was a rating system on RC, I would rate this thread as Most Useful.
 
I replaced my bearing today. It did make a good difference in noise reduction. its not silent but its quite.

i spent about 3 hours trying to remove the bearings of my mp40. something with these gray colored magnet have a tight bearings to remove. i search and found other users having the same issue with the grey colored magnet. i highly recommend that a bearing splitter is purchased just like the OP did. and wrap the magnet in blue painters tape to prevent chipping damage to the magnet.

thanks for the tip
orlando

now replacing the bearings of my dart pump. its much easier removing the bearings from the pump. dissambly is more consuming but easy also.
 
hello guys well i just purchased an mp10 with what i belive to be bad bearings and was wondering if the 687zz bearings of ebay would be ok to use as replacements or should i buy them at a different place.
thanks, rich
 
high speed bearings yes. you cant use "roller skate" bearings, as they are not rated for the RPM's and will be noisy. although, you can use a high speed bearing on a roller skate.

i say this, because i used a bearing that was the right number, but was available at a sporting good store because it was used for skates. it worked, but it was noisy real soon.

as mentioned, you can use a high speed quality bearing for a simple pair or skates.

so, just make sure its a quality bearing and you are covered.
 
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