Marineland maxi jet is loud, any suggestion?

[catfish2]

I may have made a mistake and bought a marineland maxi jet 1200 the other day. I'm using it as a circ pump. It pushes a lot of water, which is good, but it is so loud it bugs the crap out of me. Anyone have experience with these and know how to quiet them down.

It sounds like the prop is hitting/rubbing on something. I pulled the prop out and adjusted it to try and make sure it was seated properly, but that made no difference.

Thanks for any help. (I'm afraid the best answer is going to be, return it and spend more money on a nicer pump)

[Micah]

The best way to fix this is to get rid of them. They are great utility pumps, but only if you don't mind noise and I wouldn't consider them a full-duty pump. I use them for water changes and the such. Granted, I have one running a media reactor, but... only until I get my new manifold plumbed.

 

If you are using this for flow inside your tank, I have a couple of koralia's in a box that I'd gladly trade for a mag 1200 or even just give to you. Would that solve your problem?

[catfish2]

That'd be great! I'd be happy to trade. I'm in Corvallis, but I'll pm you next time I make a trip to Portland and if you still have em, great. (I'm assuming that's where you are based on the fact that it says Portland under location for you.) Thanks!

[Micah]

I do indeed live up here.

 

So.... I just went to pull them out and couldn't find them. Then I realized that a couple months back I gave them to another member. Grrr!!! I feel like a jerk. What I do have left is a Koralia 1 (400gph). It doesn't put out the flow of a MJ1200 in circ mode, but it's definitely quieter. I also have exactly three koralia nano's I can give you. All of these pumps together would still be less loud than a mj 1200 powerhead, more reliable and less risky. They also will give you better coverage of flow to scatter them around. There will just be more cords. Let me know if that's cool and I'll put these aside with your name on them.

 

--Micah

[Higher Thinking]

Hey Ken, I'll be seeing Micah this weekend so I could pick them up for you (if you decide to trade for them)

[PeteRock]

Check to make sure there is no air in the pump. IE. when its underwater, turn it all sorts of directions to get any air out of any sections. Also make sure the housings are attached correctly and the prop pin is in the guides. I had 4 maxi jets on a wave maker for a couple years and they would "click" on on and off really loudly, but once running they should be relatively quiet.

[PeteRock]

Also, I would always hang them from the rim with the little hanging kit but still use the suction cups as a vibration damperer. The cups never hold the pump up on their own, but work great as a muffler.

[badxgillen]

If you can't get it to run smoothly I might end up returning it for another if you can. I run several and none of them are loud. There was one that I have that did make some noise but I utilized some of the spare parts from another unit to fix whatever it was that caused the noise. The way I see it is a circ pump making noise is a pump that wont last long do to the friction/failure.

[earthbound]

I have one it makes a hell of a racket on start up but then you can just hear a soft hum once its going

[catfish2]

Micah, thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass just because I don't want that many pumps in my display if they're not getting me more flow. I really do appreciate it though.

Andrew, thanks for offering to make the swap with Micah for me, but as you can see that won't be necessary.

PeteRock, thanks for the input. I tried everything you suggested and nothing really helped.

I think I'll just return it and save up for something a little nicer.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone!