Varios 6 losing flow

[jschultzbass]

I have a Varios 6 as my main return pump. I run it at 100% and only change it during feeding. I have it run through a Neptune Apex flow meter and when first installed it got over 500 gpm of flow. Previous to the 6 I had a varios 4 and it did this exact same thing. As you can see from the graph, the flow continues to deteriorate. I take the pump out, clean it, clean the piping, clean the flow meter and I never get back to even close the original flow I got with it. The deterioration of flow the meter shows is correct as I have to keep closing off my drain valve to keep the water lever up to the emergency drain. Is this normal? I've had two varios pumps do it now. Thoughts?

 

[jschultzbass]

@Jeremy@CoralVue

 

[CMO]

I've had similar issues with all my varios pumps. But what im seeing is that upon a power cycle they settle at a different max flow. At first I thought it may be errors in the flow meters but I can confirm that the flow meters are accurate since I need to re-tune my herbie drain when the flow changes.

Upon power cycle does your flow ever increase back to the prior max or is it just always a constant decline? Mine seems to be random and +- about 30 gph but holds constant at whatever max the power cycle resulted in.

This issues seems to be even worse when using the 0-10v cable.

 

[jschultzbass]

After a power cycle mine just goes back to where it was. I tried a different outlet, taking it off 0-10v cable, nothing works

 

[Fritzhamer]

I experienced this as well, not just the difference in flow at restart but the gradual decline as well.

 

[jschultzbass]

Anyone have any thoughts?!

 

[Jimbo662]

Maybe this is what I'm experiencing. Every couple of days I have to adjust my drain because I've either got a waterfall that's deafening or hear gurgling down my emergency drains.

 

[Ecvernon]

I have a Varios 6 controlled with 0-10v and Apex. I experience something similar with my herbie overflow. I removed filter socks and strainers and anything that could impede or change flow through my sump and tank. I find myself always having to adjust and close my gate valve to get it silent. I don't have an idea why though.

 

[rockskimmerflow]

Not surprising at all to me. Any of the jebao motor block DC pumps tend to lose steam as they age. Turns out it's actually pretty technically challenging to build a DC pump with consistent performance AND longevity. I doubt Coralvue can do anything for you besides replace the pump or the controller or some item to try and solve the issue. It's not like you haven't tried the easy fixes such as cleaning it out or resetting it. Not sure what could be done beyond replacing.

Try an AC pump like eheim 1262 or Fluval SP4 - you won't have these kinds of issues - and you'll have a much longer service life of the pump.

 

[ksed]

Not surprising at all to me. Any of the jebao motor block DC pumps tend to lose steam as they age. Turns out it's actually pretty technically challenging to build a DC pump with consistent performance AND longevity. I doubt Coralvue can do anything for you besides replace the pump or the controller or some item to try and solve the issue. It's not like you haven't tried the easy fixes such as cleaning it out or resetting it. Not sure what could be done beyond replacing.

Try an AC pump like eheim 1262 or Fluval SP4 - you won't have these kinds of issues - and you'll have a much longer service life of the pump.

Is this a proven fact or an isolated instance.
Is this issue coming from the controller, power supply or the pump?

 

[Jimbo662]

Not surprising at all to me. Any of the jebao motor block DC pumps tend to lose steam as they age. Turns out it's actually pretty technically challenging to build a DC pump with consistent performance AND longevity. I doubt Coralvue can do anything for you besides replace the pump or the controller or some item to try and solve the issue. It's not like you haven't tried the easy fixes such as cleaning it out or resetting it. Not sure what could be done beyond replacing.

Try an AC pump like eheim 1262 or Fluval SP4 - you won't have these kinds of issues - and you'll have a much longer service life of the pump.

I was going to redo my drains thinking that raising my emergencies higher might stop the constant adjusting. I may try changing pumps instead to test this.

 

[BZOFIQ]

That's not good, following along as I invested in 2 for the new build.

 

[BZOFIQ]

That's not good, following along as I invested in 2 for the new build.

 

[jschultzbass]

Not surprising at all to me. Any of the jebao motor block DC pumps tend to lose steam as they age. Turns out it's actually pretty technically challenging to build a DC pump with consistent performance AND longevity. I doubt Coralvue can do anything for you besides replace the pump or the controller or some item to try and solve the issue. It's not like you haven't tried the easy fixes such as cleaning it out or resetting it. Not sure what could be done beyond replacing.

Try an AC pump like eheim 1262 or Fluval SP4 - you won't have these kinds of issues - and you'll have a much longer service life of the pump.

I had a 1262 and replaced it with this one because the 1262 was so loud. The varios is dead silent. I understand losing steam as they age but this pump is only a few months old so it's losing steam fast. Hopefully Jeremy will chime in and let us know if this is a known issue for them.

 

[rockskimmerflow]

I had a 1262 and replaced it with this one because the 1262 was so loud. The varios is dead silent. I understand losing steam as they age but this pump is only a few months old so it's losing steam fast. Hopefully Jeremy will chime in and let us know if this is a known issue for them.

1262 was 'so loud'?? I've run them in sumps with no vibration damping even and they're near silent. Maybe something was off with your 1262 or the plumbing connection that caused vibration. I've never had one make any noticeable noise in situations I installed them. And yeah I hear you on the frustration with a newish pump already losing steam, but again, it doesn't surprise me. Some will last longer, but at the end of the day I think the only fix is new components. That's the risk you run with a chinese made DC pump, no guarantee of long term consistency of performance.

 

[rockskimmerflow]

Is this a proven fact or an isolated instance.
Is this issue coming from the controller, power supply or the pump?

I'm coming from the commercial side of the industry and within a year of their debut I'd seen enough of the chinese DC pumps weakening due to cheap, thin conductors and overall quality. Hard to pinpoint if it's the controller or the pump as it can be case dependent IME. Not a knock on them, they are absolutely priced fairly for what they offer. It's just IMO if you want long term dependability go AC, or if you must DC then red dragon or Abyzz. I only use AC because there is no beating it in terms of dependability and when you have oftentimes 10k+ invested in systems it just doesn't make sense to me to go with anything but a proven product for reliability in a return pump.

 

[CMO]

As mentioned previously, my return pump seems to randomly reset to differing top speeds on power cycle but I've also seen the pump on my chiller steadily decline over the course of a month or so, only to have it recently reverse course and is now hitting new top flow rates. I figured this seemed pretty normal as the chiller built scale but now that it completely reversed the decline I don't know what to think (the decline was over 20 gph on 300 gph of flow so pretty material IMO).

I wonder if input voltage fluctuations have anything to do with it? I've notice my input voltage fluctuates on my Apex dashboard, and even dips below 110 on occasion when loaded up. Anyone know if a UPC with voltage regulation might help with flow consistency on these pump?

I've run 3 different Varios pump over the course of 5 months now and all 3 pumps have demonstrated fluctuating flow (of somewhat material levels but not terrible). The only time i found the fluctuations unacceptable was when using the o-10v cord. Based on the flow fluctuating both positive and negative I'm not sure what to make of this.

Here's an example of a power cycle flow increase of about 20 gph. This is without 0-10v and simple power on off with no changes otherwise.

 

[JonJ]

I run a Varios 6 on my RO Elite 220 skimmer and a Varios 8 for my return pump. I have recently noticed a drop in flow though my sump (easy to see with the Red Sea Reefer Sump layout) and I have also had to adjust my skimmer air intake to get the same water level that I used to. These pumps have been rock solid for 9+ months and I would hate to think that the flow will continue to degrade over time. These pumps are too expensive to be disposable.

 

[gcarroll]

If you get rid of the flow meter, the problem will go away!

 

[CMO]

If you get rid of the flow meter, the problem will go away!

IMO, flow meters are one of the best additions to my tank. First, I wouldn't not know whether my drain went out of adjustment (making noise) due to a change in flow vs. partial drain clog. Also, I would have no clue that my varios 8 is only putting out ~800 gph when rated for 2700 (which is particularly important these days for those running Triton or other systems requiring high turnover), nor would I know when carbon is starting to clog, chiller building scale, flow rate through manifold vs. return (interestingly total flow increases pretty significantly when diverting flow through my manifold) etc etc.

 

[rkpetersen]

I have experienced gradually decreasing output from a VarioS 6 over about a year, as controlled by Apex through the 0-10 V port. About 2 weeks ago, I hit the feed mode as usual, which should take the pump down to 13% output, but the pump just stopped instead and would not restart thereafter. Fortunately I had a spare pump. Took the dead one apart, found that the impeller was frozen stiff. No obvious calcium buildup, but I soaked it in vinegar for a few days, without improvement. Looks like the bearing on the impeller just failed. CoralVue does offer replacement impellers for the VarioS line. I got one and the pump works fine again, but they should last longer than this.