Jebao Powerhead/Wavemaker - Running on 12VDC?

saltyfilmfolks · Sep 20, 2018

chipmunkofdoom2 said:
Yeah I mean the pumps clearly do run on 12VDC. Almost every guide you see online about Jebao battery backup feeds 12VDC straight into the controller. There also have been mixed reports of pumps failing when running on 12VDC continuously(something some users attempt to do on a long-term basis to throttle them). But, it's hard to say if these pumps were just destined to fail anyway or if the 12VDC caused it.

From a cost perspective, it would definitely be nice if they could run on 12V indefinitely. Complexity would also be reduced if I could feed 12V directly into the controller. It would also make the system more robust if there was no 12V > 24V step up circuit to potentially fail.

I just don't know if for the sake of longevity it's good to run these pumps on 12VDC.

No. IMHO , they just fail from time to time. I’ve had them for long enough to know. The little power supply is woefully under built for one. The quality control is horrible , same date of purchase , one fails not the other one.
I switched to much larger amperage 24v supplies and get better performance and fewer failures.
But still, they slow down.
I’ve actually been contemplating the same backup problems for the long term.

It’s honestly just easier to make the backup 24v. Or a 12v and buck up if you need. Pretty much choose a standard for the tank use and a supply. I’m pretty much all 24v dc now and each tank runs on one supply.

For me Two batteries and a 24v Charger in ac. When the power goes out it runs off the batteries. Seemed too simple but it is.

I have no need for ac in my tanks (light and heater ) so no large inverter needed. San Diego gets “cold “ for three months.

We talked a bit about it here.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/d...ckup-for-your-reef.366009/page-8#post-5017016

Buzz171 · Sep 21, 2018

Are you sure you are not dealing with a BLDC motor and driver? While not jeabo, i am running my dc pump & maxspect gyre from a seperate driver and a plc. I threw away thir controllers. I wanted to control them outside of their controllers canned cycles

chipmunkofdoom2 · Sep 21, 2018

Buzz171 said:
Are you sure you are not dealing with a BLDC motor and driver? While not jeabo, i am running my dc pump & maxspect gyre from a seperate driver and a plc. I threw away thir controllers. I wanted to control them outside of their controllers canned cycles

Nope, I'm not sure

I don't really have any idea how Jebao's controllers turn the 24V input into pump movement. I'm pretty sure the control signal is 5V, but that's all I think I can say for sure.

Brew12 · Sep 21, 2018

Buzz171 said:
Are you sure you are not dealing with a BLDC motor and driver? While not jeabo, i am running my dc pump & maxspect gyre from a seperate driver and a plc. I threw away thir controllers. I wanted to control them outside of their controllers canned cycles

All of the hobby level DC pumps are BLDC, which is just a fancy way of saying AC reluctance as I'm sure you know. The only possible downside to what you are doing that I can see is that some pumps may run a little noisier. I doubt even that would be noticeable on anything other than the Ecotech Vortech pumps.
If you don't mind my asking, are you using a square wave or are you filtering/shaping it at all?

Steven Garland · Oct 3, 2018

I ran my rw4 on a 500mah power supply for a year before selling it with no issues.

Flippers4pups · Oct 3, 2018

They sell a 12v to 24v conversion box.

https://www.fish-street.com/12v_to_...__fs__wp-60_wp-40_wp-25_wp10_replacement_pump

But I don't think it's 12v in though. It's probably acts like a walwart.

Carlon · Oct 3, 2018

Brew12 said:
Because you aren't my wife so I don't fear the repercussions of speaking the truth!

you have my vote for best post of the month;Writing

MaccaPopEye · Oct 5, 2018

I have the coral box battery back up, it was recommended to me by Fish-Street to use with the Jebao pumps.

As I was told to use it with the Jebao pumps I didn't realise it was 12v so I contacted them to ask why the pump power drops so much when the battery backup is on. They explained it was only a 12v battery compared to the normal 24v supplies and that it was completely fine to run all Jebao the pumps off of it.

It's up to you if you trust the word of Fish-street or not but I would say for blackouts it won't be a huge issue, just maybe don't run them off of 12v all the time.