Reeflo Barracuda performance issue? Urgent

dirk_brijs

Active member
Ok guys need the advise from people who have been using the above pump for a long time as I just installed this pump but seem to be very dissapointed with this pump as for the amount of water it pushes.
As I have no references I am not sure if I have to be dissapointed as maybe the pump is faulty?
So here is the set up and maybe you guys can tell me if this is possible that this pump pushes so little water due to a fault, a mistake in set up or just that's the way it is?
I start of with a little clip I made of the pump in operation and as I heard the pump is very quiet I don't think this is very quiet but then again I am aware that always a buzz will be around with this size pumps so is this noise acceptable or did we see the first signs of a fault here? The end of the clip is taken about 10Ft away from the pump still hearing the noise of the pump.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/NTBOVWQdgEA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Second a picture on how my return valves are set to have a steady flow out of the tank to the sump. One valve completely closed the other just open a little. If I open one valve just not enough water flows out of the tank resulting into the slurping sound of the set up. 4500GpH with just one 2" pipe barely opened?

And lastly here is a sketch-up for the set up of the plumbing of the pump as it might be too many corners maybe resulting in just too much loss of pressure maybe? Hope the sketch is clear
The red pipes are 1 1/2" and the yellow ones are 3/4" with 6 separate outlets with loc-lines connected to it. I also added the length of every pipe to it.
 
I would believe the issue is the down grade from the 1 1/2" pipe to a 3/4" pipe though shouldn't the water then be shooting out of the loc-lines as now the water comes out but more at a slow outlet rather then a high powered stream?
 
is the discharge side of the pump 1 1/2 or 2". That pump should keep up with the 2" drain line fully open. I agree that the 1 1/2 to 3/4" is contributing to your flow. I would of left the 1 1/2 all the way and used reducing tees at the lock line. Hope this helps.
 
normal wear and tear

normal wear and tear

The Barracuda pump is operating in Thailand at 50Hz, this diminishes the max flow down to 3300gph and the max pressure down to 14'...at 6' the flow is down to about 2000 gph...this pump is capable of handling a Hammerhead impeller...this will increase the flow by about 25%....as for the noise, this pump is over 3 years old and its motor bearing are showing some wear-not sure where you got it
 
this pump was indeed bought a while back (maybe 2 years or so) but has never been used till recently.
The first time on my first project of a 1000Gallon tank which broke on me so had the pump only installed about 2 weeks on it. (about 9 months ago)
Then just last week I re-installed the same pump to my second attempt 1000Gallon system which just got water in it for the first time 2 weeks ago.
So all in all the pump has only ran for about 4 weeks maximum.
For the rest of that time it has been stored and not used.
The rust on the bearings is from the first use then being cleaned (not oiled) and stored again. As I took the cover off previous the bearings are in a perfect condition.
 
By the way I would like to mention in here too the exceptional response from Reeflo in this matter and though disappointing with this particular pump I am very impressed at the response time and interest shown to my case through several other mails exchanged between us previous to our discussions here.
 
as Reeflo is active in ReefCentral maybe you can see on this thread of my build on when and how much time the pump was actualy previously used.
The start of the build thread of my previous upgrade is here
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2106665
with the pump only placed in used for the first time on this page
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2106665&page=4
which was posted 25/6/2012 showing the pump in brand new condition just out of the wrapper. (though purchased about 1 year previous.)
with the tank failing a few days later.
 
the first yellow (3/4") pipe looks like it should still be a 1.5" pipe then a 1 1/2" T to split it to the yellow plumbing. IMHO you are restricting the flow too early. It also looks like you have six 90 degree turns and a T all in the red piping, this will cut flow down a lot.
 
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