Upgrade from Mag 24 to Mag 36?

Aren't the Mag pumps terribly inefficient for wattage/flow (at least when you get to the bigger ones like 24 and 36)? Do you have to go internal? Have you considered going with an external pump that's more energy efficient? You would not heat your water as much and reduce your electricity bill. For example...Mag 36 is 300 watts w/ 3600 GPH at zero head. A Reeflo Dart is 155 watts w/ 3600 GPH at zero head. Now I don't know what the head loss curve looks like on these, but you're talking half the electricity to run the Dart.

I don't understand your comment about turning down your return lines to make your skimmer work right. It would seem to me that if your already restricting flow, that upgrading your pump would be counterproductive. I don't know your setup, but I would seriously consider going external with your pump if you do decide to upgrade it.

--AJ

 

I actually have a mag 5 feeding one of my skimmers. The other I just feed through the overflow.

Another thought is to t the return & then you can control how much is fed to your skimmer & the rest can flow into your sump.

 

i didn't think you had that much room under your stand. my pump is pretty long. and i noticed on RC there are designs that dont require you to drill your sump. they are in the DIY part of the forums i think i'm going to use the same design and still use my 55 as my sump.

 

let me know if you want to get rid of your 24

 

Posted By AJ on 07/31/2009 09:32 PM
I don't understand your comment about turning down your return lines to make your skimmer work right. It would seem to me that if your already restricting flow, that upgrading your pump would be counterproductive.
--AJ
That's what I'm saying....
-Eric

 

Posted By gb387 on 08/07/2009 09:14 AM
I am turning the lines that run from my sump to the tank down (restricting flow), to give my skimmer more water flow (my skimmer runs unrestricted). I can run my return lines wide open and get crazy flow in the tank but it cuts down the skimmers flow. Make sense?  Keep in mind I have one pump for the entire system.
So you're splitting the output from the pump to drive both the skimmer and the tank returns?  Gotcha.

What's your skimmer rated for regarding flow? 
What type of skimmer is it?
Others may have advice of the proper pump to dedicate to your skimmer to see if that helps your equation.
-Eric