What a let down from Koralia
- Thread starter smoothdog
- Start date
cardgenius
New member
The prices are a little weird, but still much cheaper than Tunze. For a package price its really not that bad like lark said.
Hydor has great customer service. Anytime I had a problem I emailed them and they fixed it with no questions asked.
And from what Ive heard, they have pumps that will be pushing close to 3000gph coming out soon that will be priced just like the others.
Hydor has great customer service. Anytime I had a problem I emailed them and they fixed it with no questions asked.
And from what Ive heard, they have pumps that will be pushing close to 3000gph coming out soon that will be priced just like the others.
downhillbiker
New member
they have mods for these. you can use a regular wave timer if you add a piece of airline tubing to the shaft on the propeller to keep it from hitting and rattling every time it turns on.
I guess I can understand the disappointment that there's not a $200 option yet for good, non-obtrusive, pulsing and alterantive non-laminar flow of 3,000 to 5,000 gph.
But I definitely see this as a good start and it's nice to have some competition in the market.
I'm delighted with my 6055s. They are tiny, well crafted, very easy to point and move, and I've seen a dramatic change in my LPS in particular in just a short period. If the hydor controllable pumps are the same as the old non-controlable ones, I'm pleased with my choice and not that bummed that I jumped when I did on tunze. My tunzes are better than the hydors they replaced. About 1/3 the size of the hydor 4, the magnets are way better and stronger, and it's much easier to point them in the right directions.
That said, would I still have spent the extra $250 without waiting for some reviews on these hydors? I guess I can't know the answer that question, but my hunch is no.
But I definitely see this as a good start and it's nice to have some competition in the market.
I'm delighted with my 6055s. They are tiny, well crafted, very easy to point and move, and I've seen a dramatic change in my LPS in particular in just a short period. If the hydor controllable pumps are the same as the old non-controlable ones, I'm pleased with my choice and not that bummed that I jumped when I did on tunze. My tunzes are better than the hydors they replaced. About 1/3 the size of the hydor 4, the magnets are way better and stronger, and it's much easier to point them in the right directions.
That said, would I still have spent the extra $250 without waiting for some reviews on these hydors? I guess I can't know the answer that question, but my hunch is no.
smoothdog
Active member
The pumps are designated 12v low voltage and I remember reading a blurb about these a while back that stated DC but I can't remember where I saw it now. Here are a couple links with some details:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4585+18915&pcatid=18915
http://www.hydor.it/en/products/list/11
Maybe you could put together a build thread in the DIY forum about that Radio Shack controller.
downhillbiker, I've heard it's not just the noise that's a problem with using the standard koralias on a wavemaker, apparently it burns out the motor from all the starting and stopping, they just weren't designed for it.
psteeleb
Team RC
I'll add; they are on a RK2 so the soft start may also help but I don't know how. They clattered a bit on start up but I fixed that with some airline tube, now they are dead silent and still running strong. The only issue I ever had was one did not start or got stuck. Initially I thought it burned out, but, I soon found that I just needed to clean them once and while of coraline build up.
superedge88
New member
so airline tubing on the shaft stops it from a hard startup?
renisel
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12254588#post12254588 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smoothdog
Maybe you could put together a build thread in the DIY forum about that Radio Shack controller.
I just ordered one of the new Koralia 4's to play around with. That will probably be here on Monday, and then I'll probably pick up some supplies from Radio Shack after my midterm on Tuesday and see how it goes. If it works, I'll be sure to post some info.
smoothdog
Active member
That's what I was thinking but at first I couldn't find the info on their website. After actuall scrolling down to the accessories here http://tunze.com/149.html?&L=1&C=US&user_tunzeprod_pi1[predid]=-infoxunter025 it shows that they will run off 10-24v dc power source. If the koralias are really 12v as the name implies then maybe some industrious electrical engineering type person here could come up with an easy way to step that voltage down on the Tunze controller.
Then again, they may have gone with low voltage but higher amps just so you couldn't do this.I don't really understand the electrical jargon that well, but offer this in case it helps. The way my tunze 6055 works is that it plugs into an electrical transformer that, in turn, plugs into the wall. The transformer has a selector switch on it, with six positions from 12 to 24v. As you move the switch, the output of the pump gets higher, from approx 500 gph to 1500 gph, according to the manual. The multi-controller somehow overrides this, changing the voltage sent to the pump to vary the flow (and sometimes turning it off altogether).
The tunze manual claims that the pump can be operated by any device -- e.g., battery or solar panel -- that runs from 8 to 24v. The manual strongly suggests, however, that if such a device is used, that it be used in conjunction with a safety device sold by tunze that has a fuse in it. The manual also cautions that direct voltage should never be used on the pump without a fuse and that voltage spikes above 45v will destroy the pump.
I suppose the hydor controllable pumps would be safer to experiment with, since they are about $30 to $60, while the tunze is $225.
The tunze manual claims that the pump can be operated by any device -- e.g., battery or solar panel -- that runs from 8 to 24v. The manual strongly suggests, however, that if such a device is used, that it be used in conjunction with a safety device sold by tunze that has a fuse in it. The manual also cautions that direct voltage should never be used on the pump without a fuse and that voltage spikes above 45v will destroy the pump.
I suppose the hydor controllable pumps would be safer to experiment with, since they are about $30 to $60, while the tunze is $225.
renisel
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12256100#post12256100 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smoothdog
That's what I was thinking but at first I couldn't find the info on their website. After actuall scrolling down to the accessories here http://tunze.com/149.html?&L=1&C=US&user_tunzeprod_pi1[predid]=-infoxunter025 it shows that they will run off 10-24v dc power source. If the koralias are really 12v as the name implies then maybe some industrious electrical engineering type person here could come up with an easy way to step that voltage down on the Tunze controller.
That should work. Making a circuit to cut voltage in half is extremely easy. It would be more difficult if the the Koralias didn't operate on a range of 5-12V (i.e. 1/2 of the 10-24V that the Tunze controllers put out), but from my calculations it looks like their bottom end is at about 5V (I didn't find this explicitly stated anywhere, but DFS does list the power consumption at maximum and minimum flow, and those values can be used to figure out the bottom end voltage based on the maximum voltage). At $60 or so for a single Tunze controller, this might be the way to go.
renisel
New member
I built the circuitry for a basic controller last night, and got the pump today. So far it looks like I may have been mistaken in my assumption that these pumps run at 12V DC and vary the speed by varying the input voltage. I emailed Hydor a couple hours ago to find out if they could give me any info on what kind of input is used to run the pumps. Hopefully they'll be able to tell me something that will allow me to modify my plans and get it working soon.
smoothdog
Active member
So they didn't even include any specs in the documentation that came with the pump or print details on the pump itself? Man, that bites. :mad2: Maybe I'm showing my age here but I remember when just about all small electric devices actually came with useful information including a schematic. Now all you get is a bunch of useless legal warnings in 22 different languages and if you're lucky a picture with no actual words showing how it's operated.:lol:
renisel
New member
Nope, no useful information in the documentation or on the website as far as I can see. It just says 12V and gives the approximate power consumption at the top and bottom speeds. If it were running on straight DC power, this would be sufficient. However, I suspect that they did something to design the pumps so that they need some kind of special signal from the Hydor controller to run. If that's what they did, I have every intention of getting my hands on one and figuring out how to run their pumps without their controller--just out of spite if nothing else.
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