Royal-Exclusiv Alpha Cone - 170 / 200 / 300 Announcement & Pre-Orders!
- Thread starter Jeremy B.
- Start date
vanillagorila
It stings the nostrils
here's the price you said before.
I'd say 650 for a pump is ridiculously overpriced, but that's just me. others might feel that its not that bad.
mr&mrsfish
New member
Ouch! I absolutely agree .... $650 is way overpriced for any pump. I hope Jeremy will indicate the pricing has changed or was incorrectly stated. I really like the pump on my Alpha 250 but it is certainly not worth $650.
I think the point of the last few messages in this thread was to discuss the notion that the replacement cost of the RE pumps should be considered as a major negative when comparing the RE to other cone skimmers. Like others have stated, this notion has been put forward in numerous discussions on "which cone skimmer is best". In particular, owners of a particular skimmer from a particular manufacturer (call it company "X") always like to put forth such an argument. I've seen the following in numerous threads involving the Alpha, "Yes, you may like your skimmer now but wait until the RD pump fails and then you'll be sorry".
Being the owner of an Alpha 250, I agree 100% with that statement. If my pump failed outside of warranty and I had to pay $650, then I'd certainly be sorry. However, I'm not sure the owners of a skimmer made by company "X" would be happy with a pump failure on their skimmer. I just looked at company "X"'s website and noticed the repalcement cost for pumps used on their cone skimmers range from $500 to $700.
In conclusion, the repalcement cost for pumps from both RE and company "X" are certainly unreasonable (unless Jeremy chimes in and says the RD for the 250 is only $199). However, I just don't see the data to support the argument that RE replacement pump costs are out-of-line with what company "X" charges. In addition, I have yet to hear of any reported pump failures from the RE/Vertex line or company "X"'s line of skimmers. Both companies seem to have produced pumps that will last a long time without the need for replacement.
I think the point of the last few messages in this thread was to discuss the notion that the replacement cost of the RE pumps should be considered as a major negative when comparing the RE to other cone skimmers. Like others have stated, this notion has been put forward in numerous discussions on "which cone skimmer is best". In particular, owners of a particular skimmer from a particular manufacturer (call it company "X") always like to put forth such an argument. I've seen the following in numerous threads involving the Alpha, "Yes, you may like your skimmer now but wait until the RD pump fails and then you'll be sorry".
Being the owner of an Alpha 250, I agree 100% with that statement. If my pump failed outside of warranty and I had to pay $650, then I'd certainly be sorry. However, I'm not sure the owners of a skimmer made by company "X" would be happy with a pump failure on their skimmer. I just looked at company "X"'s website and noticed the repalcement cost for pumps used on their cone skimmers range from $500 to $700.
In conclusion, the repalcement cost for pumps from both RE and company "X" are certainly unreasonable (unless Jeremy chimes in and says the RD for the 250 is only $199). However, I just don't see the data to support the argument that RE replacement pump costs are out-of-line with what company "X" charges. In addition, I have yet to hear of any reported pump failures from the RE/Vertex line or company "X"'s line of skimmers. Both companies seem to have produced pumps that will last a long time without the need for replacement.
I was informed by Proline last week that you can get a replacement pump for under $400 for these skimmers. If you compare that to the price you're being charged for an ATB skimmer replacement pump, I think that's quite fair, wouldn't you agree?
The whole point here is that the likelihood of you ever buying a complete replacement pump for the life of the skimmer is slim to none. Could you need an impeller 5 or 6yrs down the road, sure, but if you take care of it and do proper maintenance that even pushes out to possibly being 8-10yrs down the road before needing to be replaced.
These skimmer companies mark their pumps high to protec their products. Anyone can go and purchase the pump, and build a cheap body around it and get it to perform decently well. We all know that most of the performance in a skimmer comes from the pump, and it just doesn't make sense for any skimmer manufacture to sell them at a low cost and hurt their sales.
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Agreed, it's ridiculous! ATB and Royal-Exclusiv both charge ridiculous prices for their pumps. The fact of the matter is they are protecting their product by doing so.
Having said that, if you take care of the pump and do routine maintenance there is not reason at all these shouldn't last you a good 7-10yrs.
Having said that, if you take care of the pump and do routine maintenance there is not reason at all these shouldn't last you a good 7-10yrs.
mojo~
Skimmer Guy
Ok let me just say I had to check to make sure I was correct before posting.
Alpha pump $650 $450 if you bought the alpha
Mini airstar from atb $120
Airstar from the atb 1050A $250 for existing owners I believe.
Not that its a huge deal but thats still almost half of the red dragon pump for the askoll pump from ATB. and they use the same motor block i believe.
So that is a pretty big difference.
I believe the sedra pumps on the warner marines range from just under $100 to Less than $200 for the 9000 pumps.
even the eheim driven skimmer pumps are all less than than $200.
the SWC askoll from marinesolutions is $299
With what I know the Red Dragon branded pumps are the most expensive on the market
Mojo~
redmarble
Member
Mojo, remember, they are a business! They can set any price they want- if there's a demand, so be it! If you had a BK pump and say, the motorblock went dead, would you buy it from the Mfg? Didn't think so.
Don't worry, we are all "educated" buyers. No need to compare prices. Ask me if I take my BMW to the BMW dealer for maintenance? No way... I go to an independent BMW shop for all maintenance. I'm sure you know why.
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