Got me one of them Vortech do-dads!

[Anonymous]

I've been contemplating how to get some much needed circulation in my 6 foot long tank, that's only 18" x 18" wide/tall and been pondering between Tunzes (6100 series) and Vortech.. they were about the same in price, Vortech lacks a controller which might be nice down the road but who knows maybe they'll get approval down the road, although apparently I'll need the wireless driver to use said controller. Anyways stopped by a LFS asked if they had it, they did, asked how much it went for knowing the MSRP, and got quite a deal on it so I had to get me one... probably would have gotten two if they had two.

Well I'm with the jetsons now with my nifty pump Although I don't see the stuff people claim like a "monster undercurrent" although they most likely have shorter tanks as well.

 

[Len]

At MACNA, Ecotech showed their upcoming controller and wireless board. The video is impressive: http://youtube.com/watch?v=rLPmea2II-A

Watch it all the way through. It gets really sick.

The new wireless controller will have pulsing built in, so I think it's a worthwhile upgrade when it is available (for a nominal fee ... you are supposedly able to swap the driver boards out yourself).

 

[Anonymous]

Rich, I can't find that video you shot of the seiche wave. Wanna link it?

 

[Anonymous]

that is simply amazing 8O

 

[Anonymous]

The way the ecotech handled the wireless controller upgrade really turned me off to the company (my vortechs work fine though).

First they announce back in like Feb. that when the new controller comes out, existing vortech owners would have first shot to upgrade. For $50 you would get the new driver and an extended warantee. I thought great! I'll one of these.

This last summer they said that the new driver would be available soon and they will contact existing vortech owners when it becomes available so they can get first shot at the upgrade and get the warrantee extension.

It became "available for order" mid-August, to be shipped on Sept. 1st, only they did not tell existing vortech owners as promised. You had to check their sponsor forum on RC. The first batch was offered through Aquarium Speciality exclusively and sold out very quickly. Lots of angry vortech owners wondering why they were never told the upgrade was available.
The ones that did manage to get in on the first batch of orders discover that Aquarium Speciality charged everyone's credit card as soon as the pre-orders were made (a big no-no, there is a reason companies charge when they ship). On top of that, the shipping charges were outrageous. More angry vortech owners.

It gets better, the wireless driver has not yet gotten FCC approval. So, all those people who were charged paid for an item that ecotech knew may not actually be available anytime soon.

Now they are saying that they are not going to honor the upgrade offer that they have been talking about for the last 9 months, and will only honor it for the people who managed to get in on the first limited pre-order batch (despite telling people about the upgrade that last winter to encourage them to buy the first gen product).

Its incompetence at best.
Again, my pumps work fine, but I'm not going to deal with the company again.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow that sucks.

Although one of the pushing points for me was the DIY mods to make your own controller (non wireless too!) for the thing. --> here's a wave! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNe7QgF8juk

Now me, I'm kind of turned off to the concept of wireless when it doesn't have to be wireless. My tank at 6 feet long isn't so huge that the cords could not reach. However it seems like there's no port to plug a wireless bit in, so perhaps making a wireless driver was more out of necessity, easier for the user to swap a driver card out, than swap a card plus drill a hole in the case. The other hand they might simply want to be innovative and be like nothing else out there.

 

[Anonymous]

Thats cool!
Where can I learn more about the DIY mods?
I can see how the wireless could be really handy if you have 8 pumps that you want to synch, but for what I need it would mostly just be a novelty.

 

[Anonymous]

Rich, I can't find that video you shot of the seiche wave. Wanna link it?

Large file, and loud sound

http://stickycricket.com/aquarium/movie ... maker.html

 

[Anonymous]

Rich, I can't find that video you shot of the seiche wave. Wanna link it?

Large file, and loud sound

http://stickycricket.com/aquarium/movie ... maker.html

Nice! So after doing some rough calculation that wave produces a flow of somewhere around 20,000 gph in that 300 g tank. Pretty impressive, and we didn't have to spend $500 on some fancy controller to do it.

 

[Anonymous]

PP: Here's one particular version, this is the no frills version, nice for a little looksie though.. definite potential
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... id=1203099

Here's the one that's a bit more ready to go.. still some DIY stuff
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... id=1207596

Of course this will void any warranty with your Vortech But if you've had it more than a year.. GO FOR IT!

 

[bleedingthought]

The way the ecotech handled the wireless controller upgrade really turned me off to the company (my vortechs work fine though).

First they announce back in like Feb. that when the new controller comes out, existing vortech owners would have first shot to upgrade. For $50 you would get the new driver and an extended warantee. I thought great! I'll one of these.

This last summer they said that the new driver would be available soon and they will contact existing vortech owners when it becomes available so they can get first shot at the upgrade and get the warrantee extension.

It became "available for order" mid-August, to be shipped on Sept. 1st, only they did not tell existing vortech owners as promised. You had to check their sponsor forum on RC. The first batch was offered through Aquarium Speciality exclusively and sold out very quickly. Lots of angry vortech owners wondering why they were never told the upgrade was available.
The ones that did manage to get in on the first batch of orders discover that Aquarium Speciality charged everyone's credit card as soon as the pre-orders were made (a big no-no, there is a reason companies charge when they ship). On top of that, the shipping charges were outrageous. More angry vortech owners.

It gets better, the wireless driver has not yet gotten FCC approval. So, all those people who were charged paid for an item that ecotech knew may not actually be available anytime soon.

Now they are saying that they are not going to honor the upgrade offer that they have been talking about for the last 9 months, and will only honor it for the people who managed to get in on the first limited pre-order batch (despite telling people about the upgrade that last winter to encourage them to buy the first gen product).

Its incompetence at best.
Again, my pumps work fine, but I'm not going to deal with the company again.

That ain't cool at all! :?