Jebao MDP 10000 issues

[reef.pi]

Hello,

New to the hobby, starting a RedSea Reefer 625 G2+, went for a Jebao DC 6000 return pump. Found it too noisy, wanted to get a Red Dragon but one friend insisted Jebao pumps are good, ordered a MDP 10000, installed 2 days ago.

I have read numerous posts of people comenting Jebao pumps are 'dead silent', mines are not. The DC 6000 at 3 out of 6 led (I think there are 6 of them) makes an easy audible sort of medium pitch noise. The MDP 10000 at 30W (this one comes with a fancy display where it shows current wattage) generates a hum sound, similar to a big boar on the river. It is by far, much quiter but not silent. I will call it 'acceptable', for the moment. Really thinking if Red Dragon or Abyzz are truly better in terms of noise.

However, the MDP 10000 have other, more serious issues.

Manufacturer wanted to be clever, and for some unclear reason the pump goes into what they call 'Lock' mode. That;s it, pushing buttons on the controller does nothing. Why would they think this is a great idea beats me, but, exiting 'Lock' mode is when real issues begin. You have to long press 'Pause' button, the 'Lock' icon dissapear, it makes you believe you have retrieved control over the unit. Pump at 30W, press 'Up' once, goes 'OFF' and shuts down. Water starts pouring back from the aqaurium, I am pushing 'Up' again, starts the pump, press 'Up' again and... nightmare! It quickly starts self incrementing, pump goes into maximum mode, water level inside display tank very fast increasing, soon puring back thru both return pipes making a heck of a sound, I desperately press 'Down' button trying to make it stop, it eventually stops counting up, but then refuses to start counting 'Down'. I just have to unpower the unit to calm everything down.

Starting it again, start itself at 25 W which is minimum, I press 'Up' to make it go to 30W where I want it to be, counts up to 28 and decides to go 'Off'. I put it back on, press 'Up' a few times and eventually stays at 30W.

Now, I do understand that what I have is a piece of Chinesium, but is it truly that bad? This so-called 'smart' pump it is supposed to be controlled via WiFi, posibily from a remote location. What if you engage 'Up' and then the pump goes into overdrive all the way up to the maximum? And you have a generous sump but not a backup mechanism to avoid a disaster...

It may be just a firmware issue, I havent got into setting up WiFi and let it eventually upgrade, if that;s really a thing for this unit, but I so unimpressed by what it offers to the point I don;t really trust to let it run when I left the home.

As a temporfary solution, until installing a lot more sensors, I wired it via a Zigbee smart plug connected to Home Assistant with a rule to turn it off if power exceeds 35W.

Is this common, anyone with similar issues, is my unit defective or that's Jebao quality?

Thanks.

Cornel

 

[C_AWOL]

Sounds like the controller is defective or something like the plastic film (if not removed) could be causing phantom inputs. Wouldn't say this is a common occurence but I would suggest exchanging for a new jebao if possible.

Not particularly sure on what you might be experiencing noise wise but in my use case of an mdp 20000 I can only hear a very light rev like noise at close to max (definitely less noticable than any AC skimmer ever will be to say the least)

I have no personal experience with abyzz pumps but what I notice as audible noise is negligibly different between a red dragon 3 230w/red eco5 200w vs a jebao mdp 20000 other then at higher than ~80% output (I assume you most likely won't need to run a jebao equivalent of rd eco5 100w that high anyways)

If budget is of no issue, go ahead and buy an abyzz or red dragon. If it is a potential issue then it's hard to beat a jebao for the combo of price and quality (that I've used/quality might be hard for you to believe based on your experience) compared to a lot of pumps.

 

[reef.pi]

Thank you for your feedback, I have not touch it since then and it seems fine. I shall try to repeat the experiment sometimes over the xmas break. Noise wise, a little betetr I think, or I have just adapted myself to it.

Ill post more findings in here.