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12v vs AC pump

Top Nurse

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Nov 4, 2003
Messages
7,346
Any advantages to having a 12v pump? Problems in having unshielded AC in case?

I am currently setting up for an Eheim 1046 with an Asetek pump relay and the AC spliced in from the PSU.
 
DC pumps are more energy efficient than the common aquarium pumps. The only EM risk with AC pumps is CRT monitor image distortion, and a couple feet of separation cures that.

It's a matter of preference and convenience, really.
 
i guess that other possible benifit of using AC vs DC is that you save load on you computer PSU.............although no one who is OCing should be close enough to their output limit for that matter, anyway.
 
There is really no inherent advantage to DC or AC either way.

Coincidentally however, the DC pumps do tend to have much higher head pressure than any of the AC pumps and therefore often times perform better in watercooling loops, but that is of no result of AC vs DC.
 
Somewhat due to the AC vs DC. The synchronous-AC motors you find in aquarium pumps run either direction -- the direction is chosen randomly at each startup. That means the pump chamber has to be left-right symetric, which doesn't produce as much head as a volute.
 
HeThatKnows said:
Somewhat due to the AC vs DC. The synchronous-AC motors you find in aquarium pumps run either direction -- the direction is chosen randomly at each startup. That means the pump chamber has to be left-right symetric, which doesn't produce as much head as a volute.

Very interesting, didn't know that.
 
Good info, I'm swayed to get a dc pump for my w/c setup that I'm building. Another difference is the cost though. The dc pumps I find are usually $70 to $90. That kinda kills my budget. The ac pumps are more in the $50 range. What is the best for cost/performance? Any recommendations on specific pump models for a 2 block setup? What kind of gph is minimum?
Also, what is a good watercooling online shop?
Thanks.
 
i normally suggest that people go to an aquarium specialty store to compare various flow vs. head curves and select the cheapest with enough flow at the head they expect to run at, however you being in alaska and all................

i'm using a supreame magdrive 700 GPH that gets about 400 GPH at my level of head. i'm running thermoelectrics, though, and need higher flow than you probably do.

what say about 300 GPH at you system's level of head? anyone else want to comment on that number?

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ lots of fans, some of everything else that you need. mainly fans, though.
 
The best aquarium pumps are the via aqua 1300, eheim 1046/1048/1250, perhaps hydor l30, also danner mag3 looks good but I haven't seen any firsthand experience of it.
 
yeah, but the supreme is cheap, and the dude at the aquarium store dragged out a unit that has been feeding a bank of display aquariums for something like 5 years of continuous opperation.
 
Ok, thanks DFI. I went to a pet shop and they have a via aqua 2300 all the way to a 3600. Should do me fine. Erasmus, I've heard the mag3 leaks, so I'll stay away.
 
Thanks all for the info! If I use the 1046 I get to modify my PCP&C supply for some AC action as I didn't like the rinky dink Asetek way of getting AC from outside the case. The Asetek relay device is cool though so that's a keeper. So the plan was to install pump to relay and bring AC power from the PSU. Any problems with picking up 60 cycle hum if I run the pump cord near any data lines?
 
SATA cables are more sensitive to it than others...............might be a though to get shielded cables all around, though.

that, or sleeve the AC cord in metal mesh to cut off the source of the interference.

good luck to the both of you.
 
Where can I get real shielded SATA cables? Need something around 2 1/2 to 3 feet long. Also could use a source for some shielded IDE cables for my optical drives?
 
sorry top nurse, i just did a quick look around my regular (canadian) sources and came up dry for pre-done shielded SATA cables. IDE and floppy were no problem, but they had skint for SATA.

it would probably just be easier for you to shield your pump and AC feed for the pump. lets here if for aluminum backed tape(thanks for the idea blaze http://www.alienhax.us/uploads/MVC-008F.JPG) and wire mesh sleeving.................whee..........
 
I kinda doubt you'll need to shield. 60 Hz is so slow compared to IDE and SATA signals that i's just not going to be picked up. CRT monitors are all that ever gets bothered (especially when the refresh rate is near 60 Hz...).

Just use small diameter lamp-cord (available at the hardware store in a variety of styles and colors) for you wiring. The closer the two conductors are to each other, the less EMI produced.
 
it might or might not have been a problem in the cables, however i was having some corruption problems in my raptors prior to shielding my pump and supply line. now, my pump is close to the drives themselves, so it could just have been the magnets in the pump messing with the magnetic media inside the drives, but either way, shielding my pump did me some good, and i don't think that reducing EMI is ever HARMFULL....................
 
it would probably just be easier for you to shield your pump and AC feed for the pump. lets here if for aluminum backed tape(thanks for the idea blaze http://www.alienhax.us/uploads/MVC-008F.JPG) and wire mesh sleeving

Well it just so happens I think I got a couple of rolls of aluminum or stainless tape about 4" wide IIRC. Didn't really have a use for them at the time, but thought I might find a use someday and they were the right price of only about $10 a roll.
 
Just to let you know that it didn't shield the pump completely. It did reduce the amount of EMI so I was able to keep the computer on the desktop about a foot away from the CRT. I'm still working on shielding the whole pump were the picture shows the front bare. Likely causing the rest of the EMI problems. Also remember to use a ground wire.
 
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