? on durability

[chad508]

i have had 2 vortechs since the begining. i love the pumps and plan on buying more as money allows. my question is how long are the pumps projected to last? the two i have had have been in for repairs twice for each pump. not including the power supplys i have been sent and wet frames that have cracked. the service has been great and i am not complaining at all about service. im just worried that a year from now the pumps will go dead again and they will be out of warranty and it will then cost me who knows how much to repair. i do not run them on a timmer as i know you can not, they are also plugged into surge protecters to protect from surges. i don't feel it is anything i am doing to cause the problems. i am packing up one of the pumps now to send off to be repaired again. any info would be great.

thanks chad

 

[EcoTech Marine]

Hi Chad, in short regarding maintenance you're looking at the following:

Replace the wet side magnet around 18 months. The magnets are coated in plastic but water diffuses through the plastic resulting in oxidation below the coating. At around the 18 month point it's best to replace the magnet.

Replace drive shaft around 24-36+ months. There's no real knowledge yet how long the drive shaft will last beyond this. It's possible, especially with the new controller, that you'll never have to replace the drive shaft. It's also possible that if the pump is grossly misaligned that you will have to replace it sooner. It's tough to estimate and depends on numerous factors, mostly alignment and pump speed.

Aside from these two items, there's nothing else to really wear on the pump. The motor should last for 5 to 10 years or more, the power supply and driver the same thing. We plan to make maintenance kits widely available through our retailers within the next two months in the form of Wet Side Assemblies. You'll be able to buy a new wet side assembly that will include the magnet and drive shaft mentioned above, plus everything else.

-Tim

 

[chad508]

what could be a cause of my controllers going out so much? like i said i do not run them on a timer. i do run them full blast, but i don't think this would hurt anything. i do keep the controller as far away from any water as the cord will allow. just want to see if there is anything i am doing wrong are could change.

 

[IceCap Service]

Once I inspect your pump I may be able to tell you more on what is going on. Who knows, it may not even be a driver problem. I will know more once I check them out.

 

[CW from the OC]

That is great we'll be able to buy a complete wetside assembly.

Could you also put together a "rebuild kit" that includes only the wear items and not the entire frame? The spacer/washers, the shaft, the magnets.

Thanks!

 

[EcoTech Marine]

Hi Craig,

In truth a "rebuild kit" wouldn't be any cheaper than the whole wet side assembly because the only parts that you didn't include on your list are the injection molded parts which are relatively inexpensive.

-Tim

 

[Giovanni]

Tim,

When these pumps first came out EcoTech Marine stated that the only part the would need replacing was the little inexpensive bearing on the wet side.

Am I reading correctly that now you are saying we need to replace the entire wet side every 18 months? If so what is the exact cost of the wet side?

 

[Philwd]

Wait a minute. Replace the magnets??? When was this posted because I surely missed it. So you are saying a full wet side replacement every 18 months? I paid $100 for my extra wet side. Please tell me you are kidding. My pumps are 14 mos. old and now I'm looking at a few hundred $$ in replacements?!?

 

[chad508]

what about the driver. if mine keeps going out like it has been im sure the controllers not going to be cheap. im sure you will work with us on warranty times as you have in the past, but sooner are later you won't, and thats were i see these pumps becoming exspensive atleast from my past problems.

 

[Giovanni]

Just found this Post where Tim states the wet side was $50 but have gone up to $100.

 

[EcoTech Marine]

Giovanni-
We were able to design the drive shaft and bearing in such a way that they will last longer than was originally projected. However it appears the magnets won't last as long as we thought. We are always innovating and our product continues to get better all the time, some of these changes you can see, some you can't but we are always working on improving our product.

Phil-
All parts will be available for purchase singly, so there is no fear about purchasing entire wet sides, I'm sorry if I explained it poorly. Magnet's are currently $15 shipped.

chad508-
I suggest you work with our service department to figure out what is causing your drivers to have problems. Driver failures or code corruption does occur from time to time, but it has never been a significant problem.

Everyone-
We have always taken care of our customers. Period.

-Tim

 

[Giovanni]

Tim,

Good deal. $15 for the magnet is manageable.

 

[Philwd]

Ok. Yeah $15 is fine.

 

[melev]

Being able to buy an entire wet side assembly is a nice way to rotate through a cleaning schedule, so all pumps can run all the time, while soaking a dirty one overnight. I like that.

I don't know if the driver is the problem, Chad, but with my own, I was always a little worried how hot they can get if you feel the back of it. Mine still aren't screwed to the wall, but perhaps small spacers to get a little air behind the driver might help in your case?

The new drivers may be different. Since they haven't been released yet, only EcoTech can tell us the answer to that one.

 

[EcoTech Marine]

Marc-

The wave drivers don't get hot, period, but even in the case of the old drivers, insulating it is actually worse than mounting it flush. You want to mount it to a metal or otherwise conductive surface so that any residual heat is pulled away. Still, I believe that Chad's problems are attributed to something else. I'm sure Dave in service will get to the bottom of it, he always does.

-Tim

 

[melev]

Hey Tim, you're absolutely right! I just checked all three of mine, and none of them are remotely hot to the touch. Barely warm is more like it. My mistake!