[Cathar]

This is a collection of posts I made over at OCAU:

Originally Posted by Cathar

Hooked it up and ran it at 12v. Emits a non-quiet hum, and then started rattling, which I can only assume is the impeller. Put my finger over the end of the outlet and the rattling noise went away, so clearly it needs some back-pressure on it, which is hardly unsurprising as most of these higher pressure pumps aren't designed for no-load conditions.

Noise-wise I'd say its just a little quieter than an MCP600, but still noisier than an Eheim 1250. For the silence freaks, this is still perhaps a little disappointing. At 7V it is about as loud as an Eheim 1048, and pushes about as much flow as one as well. In wide-open mode (unrestricted) I measured 8LPM, which is about what I saw with the Eheim 1048 when I had one.

Hooking it up to the Cascade-without-base-plate jet test it was still pushing a very admirable amount of flow at 7V.

Vibration wise, at 12v, about as vibrational as an Eheim 1250, or an MCP600. At 7v, about as much vibration as an Eheim 1048. i.e. as awlays - if you stick the pump against something that's going to rattle and make noise, then it will be annoying, but this is true of every pump I've tried.
Will continue testing....

Originally Posted by Cathar

Very rough 12v flow test would seem to indicate that the rated peak flow is perhaps a little pessimistic. Was easily seeing around the 13LPM mark. Will need to test this again, but it is definitely significantly higher than the stated 10.5LPM peak.

Just letting the pump run for a while and it is quietening down. Obviously just needs a little time to "bed in".

Originally Posted by Cathar

I pulled the pump apart about an hour ago. Internally it's the same sort of design as a Swiftech MCP600, with the spinning magnetic armature. I ran the armature motor without the wetted-end body, and by itself it is very quiet. Apparantly spins at around 4000RPM, and has a LOT of gyroscopic torque.

The magnetic armature and impeller magnet are tiny though. Perhaps around 2/3's the overall size of the MCP600, with the impeller magnet being about 1cm in diameter, and the magnet armature cavity not even large enough to fit my little finger inside it.

The impeller itself is basically a near exact look-alike of an Eheim 1048's impeller. A basic 4-post straight impeller design. One can only imagine the pump's pressure capability with a closed impeller design.

Measuring power-draw, very, very impressive low power draw.

At 12.00v, acting against a moderate pressure drop as would be somewhat typical of a full cooling loop, I measured a current draw flipping between 0.66-0.67A, or about bang on 8.0W.

Am steadily growing more impressed with this pump. Quieter than an MCP600 (and much quieter than an MCP650). 8W vs 12W power draw in comparison to the MCP600. Sealed and submersible for those who want that.

Oh, I just realised why this pump here is pushing more flow than as rated. These pumps are meant to have 3/8" OD outlets on them, and the pump I have is a 1/2" OD outlet, being significantly less restrictive, hence the much higher unloaded flow rates.

I now need to measure the peak static pressure head, and once done, I'll start gathering system flow-rate data.