Bubble Magus Curve 7 Skimmer Pump - Pulling 71 watts?!?

[kyley]

Hi,
I have a Bubble Magus Curve 7 Skimmer that is working fine. However, the pump (Bubble Magus SP2000) is pulling 69-71 watts according to my Apex. It says right on the label 22 watts though, which is part of the reason I wanted this skimmer (supposed to be pretty efficient). Can anyone with an Apex (or something else to read the wattage) tell me if their pump is using this much juice? My powerful Jebao return pump is only using 57 watts. I tested the skimmer on different outlets with the same result. Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Do you have a Kill-A-Watt? is the pump feel hot? Is the impeller swollen?

 

[Wiskey]

I don't have a Curve 7, but I do have a Curve 5 and It's pulling 40W when it's supposed to be an 8 watt pump.

Whiskey

 

[S.Pepper]

I don't have a Curve 7, but I do have a Curve 5 and It's pulling 40W when it's supposed to be an 8 watt pump.

Whiskey

I have a Curve 5 Elite that I will be putting in my new system. The only difference between the 2 is the Elite has the upgraded pump by sicce. I hope it's not going to be pulling that much power. It's rated at 18 watts.

 

[Wiskey]

I have a Curve 5 Elite that I will be putting in my new system. The only difference between the 2 is the Elite has the upgraded pump by sicce. I hope it's not going to be pulling that much power. It's rated at 18 watts.

Do you mind posting the pump model number? My skimmer's been running a number of years now and I'm starting to notice that the air cycles. Like it pulls air for 6 seconds, then it sounds like it has a split second where it doesn't and it pulls for 6 seconds again. I'm not sure if it always did this, but I really doubt it. I'd be interested in a pump upgrade.

Whiskey

 

[S.Pepper]

Do you mind posting the pump model number? My skimmer's been running a number of years now and I'm starting to notice that the air cycles. Like it pulls air for 6 seconds, then it sounds like it has a split second where it doesn't and it pulls for 6 seconds again. I'm not sure if it always did this, but I really doubt it. I'd be interested in a pump upgrade.

Whiskey

Well you kinda of caught me. lol It was delivered today but was damaged in shipping. It's been sent back and a new one is on the way. I did look it up and it has the Sicce SK-200. Hope it helps.

 

[kyley]

Do you have a Kill-A-Watt? is the pump feel hot? Is the impeller swollen?

No Kill-A-Watt; I used the Apex to measure the power draw. On other components the Apex shows I'm pulling less than what is advertised, so it's really frustrating to see this pulling over 3x what it should! I haven't checked the impeller or the pump heat.

I don't have a Curve 7, but I do have a Curve 5 and It's pulling 40W when it's supposed to be an 8 watt pump.

Ugh, thanks for sharing. This is really aggravating. I bought this skimmer to save electric cost over higher wattage skimmers, and instead I'm going to be paying more. I wonder if all their pumps are like this? Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[Jon Fishman]

I am replacing my 5 elite with a 9 elite. not “worried” per-se, but a bit bummed to hear this

 

[Wiskey]

Well you kinda of caught me. lol It was delivered today but was damaged in shipping. It's been sent back and a new one is on the way. I did look it up and it has the Sicce SK-200. Hope it helps.

Haha! I wasn’t even trying to catch anyone! I looked into this, and your skimmer is much nicer than mine actually. The entire design has changed. Mine has a pipe to turn with a hole in it for instance, and yours has gears for a more precise adjustment. I’ll email and see if the pump is a direct swap, but I doubt it is.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

No Kill-A-Watt; I used the Apex to measure the power draw. On other components the Apex shows I'm pulling less than what is advertised, so it's really frustrating to see this pulling over 3x what it should! I haven't checked the impeller or the pump heat.



Ugh, thanks for sharing. This is really aggravating. I bought this skimmer to save electric cost over higher wattage skimmers, and instead I'm going to be paying more. I wonder if all their pumps are like this? Thanks,
--Kyle

You know? I was thinking about something. I wonder if it’s because the air makes it spin faster?

One interesting aspect of AC pumps is that as the load goes up, by valve, or head the power draw drops because the pump spins slower. With a skimmer we are injecting air, and using a needle wheel which is bound to have less drag than a traditional impeller. I wonder if this is simply a result of the use case for the pump, and every pump would do it?

Whiskey

 

[kyley]

Thanks for the feedback. Any suggestions on pumps I could replace the factory one with (that you know draw significantly less power)? Or suggestions on other skimmers for a 120g tank that would be more efficient? Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Your skimmer comes with two pumps, check out the Sicce model, you could also contact Bubble Magnus because they might be able to see you a direct replacement Sicce pump.

 

[kyley]

Your skimmer comes with two pumps, check out the Sicce model, you could also contact Bubble Magnus because they might be able to see you a direct replacement Sicce pump.

Thanks, I forgot that I actually reached out to them 8 days ago asking about the issue, but no reply. I didn't specifically ask about the Sicce pump. Going to follow up and ask about that. Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[kpl_creations]

I have the Bubble 7 ( only a month old ) and it is pulling 1.0 to 1.05 amps which now that I think about it seems high. The return pump is only pulling .55 amps. I wonder if there is something wrong with mine as it just doesn't seem to be working well.

 

[kyley]

I have the Bubble 7 ( only a month old ) and it is pulling 1.0 to 1.05 amps which now that I think about it seems high. The return pump is only pulling .55 amps. I wonder if there is something wrong with mine as it just doesn't seem to be working well.

Are you able to see the wattage? Or just amps? Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[kpl_creations]

Are you able to see the wattage? Or just amps? Thanks,
--Kyle

Nope, just the amps off the GHL powerbar.

 

[MandyProsko]

I have same skimmer and I am pulling same wattage as you and my skimmer is working fine. I don’t know why it draws 70 watts but i took it and cleaned it all up to see if it’d draw less and no change.

 

[sawdonkey]

I have a Bubble Magus B10 and it pulls 99.5W average on my apex and it’s specs say it should pull 42.

It’s also underperforming quite a bit. I can’t get it to pull a dark foam for the life of me.

 

[A sea K]

My Sicce Shark powered skimmer is rated at 22 watts. If I can find time later today I'll drag out my kill-a-watt meter and see what it actually pulls in use

 

[Wiskey]

I'm shocked that so many of these ratings are so wrong! Many people base their purchase decision on things like wattage numbers. There should be some control around them being correct.

I bet this is true for all of them too, because any needle wheel air mixing pump I've tested so far seems to draw more than it's rated for.

Whiskey