Thank you Mark and kbriers, I think your assessment of durability is correct as I have seen one of these pumps and unlike a Tunze or Vortech it generates no detectable Hz pattern, which means that it is likely a very simple DC coil being very rapidly cycled on and off to induce rotation with an electronic akin to your turn single flasher on steroids, that is how they have done it so cheap, all the other controllable DC pumps on the market use far more sophisticated electronics to generate a Hz frequency. I cannot confirm this is how they work, but it seems to be and anyone who works with electronics knows a key torture test is how many off and on cycles can something take and that is generally in the 1000's on the low end and the 100,000's on the high end, it is not infinite. It also feels incredibly light, while I haven't cut one open it seems the magnet and pump or only ultrasonically sealed and not actually potted, the polyurethane resin over the motor would add considerable weight. While it shares our looks and Vortechs name, it has nothing in common with either and while many companies, including Chinese companies with much cheaper labor and materials have tried to knock off our design, when they copy the electronics, no one has done it for less than 200, I think you will find in time, you are indeed getting what you pay for.
