Dolphin 650 noise? And Most quiet sump pump? Vote!

[PaSReef1]

HI everyone. I got my Dolphin 650 sumbmersible Pumps last night and they seem pretty loud to me...? some distinct vibrations noticable and fairly loud hum period until and unless foam is used under sump and even under the pump...in the sump... I got them for at a good price (41$ you get what you pay for? hehehe ) and would like to keep them esp if the others are about the same in vibrations and noise...BUT....

I wonder if most smallish sump pumps (NOT INLINE) in this category GPH are similar in sound and vibration...Having nothing to compare this pump to since Im a noob... I'm stumped, so Im turing to the community to vote and give feedback about comparisons.. Esp IF you owned a Dolphin and tried another brand.. Im VERY interested to hear from you, so not only VOTE but post below please and share youre wisdom and insights!

What I want to know is what is the most quiet powerful affordable reliable sump pumpsin your opionions.
RATED at 600 GPH+ and priced below say 50$

Please vote post your experiences and links to buy your quiet PUMP! thanks

Ok now on to my story....

I read some posts about the Dolphin pumps being more jumpy than a Moose on Viagra on top of old faithfull.... and humming felt across the hardwood floor 5ft away or some such thing... I dont thinks its THAT bad but its CLOSE! Again I have nothing to compare.. (mag eheim, quiet one little giant. rio)

My limted experience with the Dolphin 650 is that if I attached PVC directly to the pump housing I got a nasty sound and vibration all the way up into the tank as if the pipe was projecting the sound too. (which it was.)

I got rid of that problem by attaching clear flex pipe to the pump housing to dampen the vibration then going up to the tank with PVC.. Because I will have REF im wondering if I should use clear flex pipe up to the tank completely with these since Algae can grow in the clear stuff esp in the sump where the REF light will be... I prob need a reef safe BLACK FLEX tubing... any ideas on that would be appreciated too!

Anyway please vote and post your experiences with sump pumps

Thanks
Chris

[Snooker]

Well I just got a mag 9.5, it has run very quiet right out of the box

I paid $67 a bigals, including shipping

From what I understand they have very good reputations

[PaSReef1]

hook it up directly to 3/4" PVC piping and run some water through it.. tell me if you get and noise or vibration.. Then try it with flex hose...

Thanks

[ejmeier]

Man do you have a lot of threads going! :eek2:

Anyway, I have a Dolphin 650 in my 20g and it is completely quiet most of the time. The only time I can ever hear it is if my top-off reservoir empties out and the water level drops to where the top of the pump is exposed. Then it is a distinct "hum", but never any excessive vibration.

I really do like this pump, and maybe if you give it a chance it could come around. :) Sometimes pumps take a few days to settle in.

BTW, mine is plumbed with vinyl tubing up only a few inches to a bulkhead on the bottom of my tank. From there it is hard PVC to the returns. Don't know if the rigid PVC is causing your noise problems or what, but I've always used vinyl tubing for my sump returns.

HTH

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I used the suction cup mounts that came with the pump and suctioned it to the bottom of my sump. Don't know if it helps, but it seems like it might quiet it down a little.

[PaSReef1]

ya tried to do this poll so I had to duplicate it since somehow it didnt do the poll even after I checked the box...
:)

yes thats the sound.... a distinct "hum" do all pumps make that sound or are some completly silent in this size group?

Im asking since i have had nothing to compare it too... hum gets transferred up pvc pipe if you connect directly to the pump

[ejmeier]

I have heard that hum with a Rio, Dolphin, and an AquaMedic; and also on a few Maxi-Jets that I have used in nanos as return pumps a while ago. I guess it happens mainly if they are "new" as in just plugged in, or if you unplug them and replug them back in again.

This is just my experience with pretty much all submersible pumps I have used. They are mostly quiet because they are underwater. If you turn it on and leave it on for several days, the noise goes away, at least for me.

With that being said, I have never used a rigid PVC return line directly from the pump, so I don't know if that's the problem or not. To me, vinyl tubing is really easy to use and flexible, so I use it whenever I can.

[PaSReef1]

ya maybe there is a breaking in period with them... It only took me one day to break it in literally! I dropped it broke the mount corner off the pump where the suction cup attaches... lol

Went into the shop picked up my Weldon 4 bottle did a little drippig and melted that puppy permenently right back in place! ahhaa I can see more uses for that glue everyday to not just glue plastic but melt it together...

as for noise I guess time will tell.... I will find out... Im looking at upgrading to Eheim for silent operation if these turn out to be noisy on a continual basis...

I would use the two dolphins to power up my first couple of skimmers that I sell.. (design coming soon)