I found a replacement for my Tunze 6045s that is way nicer and less expensive

[bbyatv]

I have been running 2 Tunze 6045 powerheads in my 150 for years.  During that time, they have been a PIA to maintain and keep running.  The impellers constantly lock up and the steel shaft they they spin on just sucks. Recently I had one fail for good when the steel shaft finally broke in half and left part of the shaft in the powerhead itself that I could not get out.  Needles to say, it was done.

 

I decided to buy another one and when I saw the price, I had sticker shock (again).

 

While on the Amazon page, I saw other options and one of the was this Jebao PP-8 Wavemaker\Powerhead with Controller.  The price was only $54.98.  I was thinking this was probably cheap junk from china but after reading the reviews, they sounded okay.

 

I decided to buy two PP-8 models and one PP-20 ($75.99) model.  I received them in a couple of days and I am blown away.  The quality of the construction is great.  The design of the impeller is way better than the Tunze and it has a super variable controller that can change the speed, timing, and period of the impeller.  The impeller design is what I am most excited about.  There is not rod running through the impeller to get corroded or have junk build up on.  The impeller is part of ceramic shaft that rides in two ceramic receptacles on each end.  Lots easier to clean and maintain.  The powerhead itself is so nice.  Easy to take apart, all joints have rubber mounts.  These things are so cool and so cheap.  Programming the controller is super easy.  I have my set for sinusoidal wave patterns at about 80% power.  My tank has crazy water flow.

 

Anyhow, I just thought I would share my new found\inexpensive solution to water movement.

 

Bruce

[dpassar12]

Hey Bruce,

 

I loved these powerheads. I had/have 16 ranging from pp4 => pp15. They move huge amounts of water and the price is great. However 13 of them are in now sitting in a bucket in my storage room. Approx 8-9 months in one by one they started to lock up. The issue with these pumps are the 2 ceramic bushings that the ceramic impeller inserts into. They fuse to the shaft and lock the pumps. You can buy a replacement impeller which is great, but it does not come with the bushings. The bushings are the real problem and I could not find them for sale anywhere. There was a "fix" for this on one of the other reef sites that said you could cut a piece of hard tubing that matched the size of the bushing and good to go. That made sense to me I tried that and the heads worked for a few days and then locked again. I went so far as to design an acrylic replacement and had it printed online. I got them and they were an exact match to the ceramic bushings. They worked for a few days until the pumps locked again. I still have 1 pp4, 1 pp8, and 1 pp15 running. Not sure how long they will last. I have always balked at buying high end pumps like MP40s etc etc. However I have been slowly purchasing used MP40s in the $175 range. The only downside to these pumps for me  is the size of the dryside is to thick to place in certain parts of my tanks. 

[YHSublime]

The only downside to these pumps for me  is the size of the dryside is to thick to place in certain parts of my tanks. 

 

I've always had good luck with the MP's, but this has been a recent discovery for me, dry side is pretty bulky and hard to place in some areas.

[phlynamjax]

Jebao products have some reliability issues. I have two return pumps stop working. I can't say for wave makers.

[bbyatv]

Interesting.  I really liked the ceramic impeller/bushing design.  I will have to see how long they go before/if they lock up.  I will report back if and when they do.

 

Bruce

[khh27]

So far I have been lucky. I have 2 rw8's, dct6000, dc3000, dc1200, pp4 and a sw4 all fine no problems longest I've had are the 2 rw8s and dct6000. 3/4 years. I've heard of power supply issues and the occasional controller but I've had no complaints.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[madweazl]

I've had a few Jebaos the past four or so years and I really cant complain much. I've tried an WP-25 and some PP-8s. I think the WP was fine but I did have one PP-8 fail. For the price, I cant fault the product much even though the one that failed wasn't very old (six months or so best I remember but that may not be accurate). After the PP-8 took a digger, I replaced it with another but a few weeks later I decided it was time to try the Vortechs. I replaced the PP-8s with MP40s and I've been quite pleased; the controllers are outstanding and are certainly worth a premium. I have a gerzillion tiny snails running around right now and they've climbed into and bound up the pumps a bunch (few times a week and sometimes daily) so I've had to do a lot of maintenance as of late (wouldn't have happened with the Jebao design).  

In an effort to save a little money, I'm seriously considering trying the Coral Box quiet series on the back of the 150g build. 

[Origami]

So far I have been lucky. I have 2 rw8's, dct6000, dc3000, dc1200, pp4 and a sw4 all fine no problems longest I've had are the 2 rw8s and dct6000. 3/4 years. I've heard of power supply issues and the occasional controller but I've had no complaints.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I've only had the WP (not the PP) series and, generally speaking, they're lasted a year or 18 months before failing. Most of the time it's been either a power supply failure or a controller failure. The wetside was never the first to go. For Wavelines, I've only had issues with the pump in the early Waveline 5000's (when in a skimmer installation out of the water) and with the power supply on the DC6000 (for which I was able to find a better replacement). The PP series has been around a while. So, hopefully, they've got a lot of the kinks worked out of them. Keep us posted in the long term.

[madweazl]

So far the Waveline DC6000 has been working great (19 months and counting), knock on wood. 

[treesprite]

Bruce, are those the compact/low profile ones? I almost bought a set (14 units and one controller) off of e-Bay, but can't remember the model number. I think there is an older version with the same number but is not the lower profile.