Reef Octopus VarioS-8 - Flow vs Height test results

[mcarroll]

May just be bad luck

I suspect so. They are dead silent when running.

Most pumps are very nearly dead silent when running unless they are installed weird or they are defective in some way (assembly?). This get's a little less true at very high GPH since the water moving at that rate makes a fair amount of noise on its own, but the pumps themselves shouldn't.

I don't know where the DC pumps got this myth of being extra quiet. They're no more quiet than a regular AC pump in my experience...which makes sense since DC and AC are the same kind of pump but DC has a controller cabled into it. (“AC and DC Pumps” – Internet Reefer’s Decoder Ring)

You can't get more quiet than quiet, after all.

In a case like yours, definitely either check the assembly of the pump, try a different type of installation, or exchange it as a defect. No pump "normally" makes sounds like that.

(FWIW, when I unplug my Quiet One 2200 while a decibel meter is running (Decibel X app), I only lose 1-2 dB off the overall noise level of the room and the system noise combined.)

 

[Skep18]

Tested the voltage on the power supplies. I think I must've had a loose test probe connection on my DMM. voltage this time checked good. I compared the Reef Octopus VarioS-8, Reef Octopus VarioS-6S, Jebao DCP-10000 and a HP laptop power supply.

 

[Skep18]

I got my Jebao DCP-10000 pump. It's rated for 10000lph or 2640gph, just under the VarioS-8 rating of 2700gph. They should test similarly. Maybe not the exact same but close-ish at least.

Here's the Jebao DCP-10000 Flow vs Head curve. If we just call the 2in pipe @ 6ft tall creating 6ft of head, or roughly 2m, the curve says it should flow 5000lph or 1320gph.

In the test below, if we conservatively call it 2sec to fill the gallon, that's 30gpm or 1800gph. SIGNIFICANTLY higher than the VarioS-8. Visually you can see the thicker exit stream cross section.



If everyone recalls, the VarioS-8 generated a flow rate of 327gph in my test. That's 5.5x's less flow than the similarly rated Jebao...

 

[BZOFIQ]

Also, just tested the DC voltage coming out of the power supply. It settled down at ~40V. The brick says it's rated for 36V. Not yet sure but the 40V sure seems out of spec. That said, it's not on the low side which one might expect from an underperforming pump.

Did you test that under load?

 

[BZOFIQ]

I just read and "watched" the whole thread and find your results deeply disappointing. I really wonder if you have a defective pump indeed. The only way to find out would be to plug another one of the same model in, and see if the flow changes.

Outside of CoralVue response about visual interpretation blah blah, did they want the pump back to see if anything is off with it?

 

[Skep18]

Did you test that under load?

No. Under load voltage should only drop some if anything. I would like to see current draw but these connectors don't lend themselves well to being spliced into. Too close quarters.

I just read and "watched" the whole thread and find your results deeply disappointing. I really wonder if you have a defective pump indeed. The only way to find out would be to plug another one of the same model in, and see if the flow changes.

Outside of CoralVue response about visual interpretation blah blah, did they want the pump back to see if anything is off with it?

No, not yet at least.

I displeased with all this but in respect to the vendor and in hopes they hear my pleas, I'll refrain from subjective judgement. I really like their other products. I hope to get a pump that flows sufficiently so I can love this product as well.

 

[dragon99]

Clearly the Vario8 is not operating at at it's expected potential. Hopefully they work out a fix for you soon.

 

[mcarroll]

Can you not just take this back to the LFS as a defect?

 

[Skep18]

Clearly the Vario8 is not operating at at it's expected potential. Hopefully they work out a fix for you soon.

+1. I'm in discussion with the vendor. It's looking like they might have some troubleshooting ideas in mind. I'll be sure to update everyone as soon as i know more definitive information.

Can you not just take this back to the LFS as a defect?

I bought it online. I've reached out to the vendor who's been nothing but great, but as of now it looks like the OEM is coming through with some ideas.

 

[mcarroll]

I bought it online. I've reached out to the vendor who's been nothing but great, but as of now it looks like the OEM is coming through with some ideas.

Not as easy as a trip back to the store, but hopefully it works out the same!!

 

[BZOFIQ]

+1. I'm in discussion with the vendor. It's looking like they might have some troubleshooting ideas in mind. I'll be sure to update everyone as soon as i know more definitive information.



I bought it online. I've reached out to the vendor who's been nothing but great, but as of now it looks like the OEM is coming through with some ideas.

Hopefully a solution is found soon. As mentioned before, I have the 8 and the 6 on hand for the new build and I am finding these recent reports rather disappointing.

 

[wangspeed]

Hopefully a solution is found soon. As mentioned before, I have the 8 and the 6 on hand for the new build and I am finding these recent reports rather disappointing.

I'd try it first before assuming you have something wrong. I love mine. They are seriously quiet, and have no notable vibration either, and I get plenty of flow.

 

[Skep18]

Well, to get to the point, my unit does appear to have been defective and it looks as if a replacement controller corrected my issue. My supplier and the manufacturer both provided excellent customer service throughout this process.

In discussions with Reef Octopus/CoralVue, once we were on the same page that something indeed might be wrong, they sent me a new controller to try out. I acknowledge these controllers are likely more than just a setting selector on these DC pumps, if we're being honest, I didn't have much hope that this would resolve the issue. Let me just say, you could knock me over with a feather. I was wrong. The new controller made a difference, 100%. Now the flow out of my unit flows much like the Jebao pump. I didn't run it in the kiddie pool but did run it in a 5gal bucket.

Below are two videos comparing the old and new controllers.

Old Controller:


New Controller:


Its hard to really count but with a full bucket, the pump seems to fill 1gal in (very roughly) 1.5sec. That's something around 2400gph. This number is completely within reason considering head losses, etc. Unfortunately with this method and the variable overhead water height its hard to compare these numbers to my old test setup. In this setup, the pump drains the bucket so the overhead water height is dynamic. And I will say, I was able to do two counts before the bucket water level got low and I felt there was a difference between the two, albeit slight.

Out of respect to the vendor, I am going to remove their product name from my video uploads as to not inadvertently misrepresent their product for any future viewers.

 

[wangspeed]

Glad it worked out. Very similar to my Varios 8 pump. It's awesome! I actually just changed my return nozzle configs. I removed the two Y sections and flat nozzle, and gained 50 GPH with no changes on the controller side. So 750 GPH on setting 2 through all my plumbing.

 

[wangspeed]

Also, a quick suggestion, since lots of people never make it to the end of a thread. You may want to put a note in the first post that it's been resolved.

 

[Skep18]

Glad it worked out. Very similar to my Varios 8 pump. It's awesome! I actually just changed my return nozzle configs. I removed the two Y sections and flat nozzle, and gained 50 GPH with no changes on the controller side. So 750 GPH on setting 2 through all my plumbing.

Yea, this is why included 5 outputs on my original return plumbing. I honestly want 100% throughput of the return system and am not looking to it whatsoever for added tank flow, at least from a prioritization viewpoint.

Also, a quick suggestion, since lots of people never make it to the end of a thread. You may want to put a note in the first post that it's been resolved.

Yea, I thought about that. I will need to contact a mod for that.

 

[wangspeed]

Yea, I thought about that. I will need to contact a mod for that.

You should be able to just use the “edit” button if you’re the poster. This usually works. Sometimes it will lock if you edit too much

 

[Skep18]

You should be able to just use the “edit” button if you’re the poster. This usually works. Sometimes it will lock if you edit too much

As a not (yet) supporting member, I can only edit for a certain time period.

 

[Skep18]

I've updated the videos which include the original faulty controller by removing references to Reef Octopus, Varios and/or CoralVue from their title and description (with exception to the included R2R url). Again, the manufacturer was very fair in this interaction and I just want to be sure not to leave any negative light on the product which might be misleading based on bad hardware.

 

[roberthu526]

I would think a volume/time or weight/time calculation is what you would use to calibrate a flow meter.

I do not understand why any pump is on the market without a flow curve. How do you design a system without that information?

Sounds like the manufacturer is trying to find excuses to me. Fluid density or whatever they say doesn’t matter to me, all I want is enough water getting pushed back in the tank. I don’t see at all how the OP’s test is flawed. Isn’t what he did exactly what we are looking for from a return pump?