Durability and performance are two separate things.

Mark me down as another Mag Drive fan. Parts are easy to come by and affordable if needed. 

Formula 1 cars are high performance, Honda’s are durable, see the difference?

As far as why mag drives are considered to be poor performance, high watt draw, high heat and excessive noise come to mind.

You consider a Formula 1 car to be a high performance vehicle based purely on its ability to achieve a high speed and sustain it. The thigns you listed as making a mag drive a poor performance pump also apply to the F1 car. It gets awful gas mileage, excessive noise, and a large amount of emmisions.

Because the pump is widely commercially sold on the market so it makes more sense to sell the unit and its repair parts than to try and sell one iwaki pump a year? I must be foolish for wanting repair parts easily on hand…..

I think that the arguments that happen after this point are due to this assertion that durability and performance are two seperate things.  I would contend that durability is an aspect or category OF performance.  If we consider other products where durability is the most important aspect, say, bullet-proof vests, football helmets, etc… then performance and durability are considered by many to be the same thing.  If we look at a race car, then performance has less to do with durability.  So the term “performance” can take on different meanings.  Durability and reliability should also be split up into seperate terms… when I think durability, I think of the ability to withstand damage, either from abuse or accident.  When I think reliability, I think of how long it will last under normal operating conditions. 

I would consider the Mag-drive 1200gph to be reliable, but not very durable (the 2400 and 3600′s are neither).  It is also not very efficient.  If you use a Mag-drive in the 1200 gph range the excess in electricity that it uses compared to the Iwaki will mean you pay for the Iwaki in 3 years or less (at a rate of just $.10/kwh which is low, so maybe in just 2 years), and from that point on, the Mag-Drive ends up costing you more… $70 or MORE.  When it comes to something that runs 24/7, 365 days a year, I really wonder why people dont invest more up front for what will end up being the cheaper solution in the long run. 

Well put, much better than my example.

I have run the Iwaki jap motor, it was way to loud for me. Good on power though. I have used Mags for many years, but they are always problematic for me (impellers wear out fast). My Mag5 the impellers last about 12 months before I have to knock it around to get it started, Mag7 lasts about 18 months. This is with about a decade of use on them now, so besides the constant need to replace the impellers, and excess power consumption/heat, they do last a very long time. On another system I run an Eheim 1262, and IMO it is by far the best pump I have ever owned. Dead silent and has worked flawless for well over 3 years, never 1 issue restarting, and it is lower power than a Mag 9.5. 

I have been running an MP40w for well over 3 years and never had to make any adjustments to it and it has never failed on me once. Best powerhead I have owned. 

As a side note: +6dB is a doubling in sound pressure level (as measured by instruments). +10dB is a doubling in loudness (as perceived by humans). 90dB would be loud in a quiet living room. 

As a side note: +6dB is a doubling in sound pressure level (as measured by instruments). +10dB is a doubling in loudness (as perceived by humans). 90dB would be loud in a quiet living room.