The Ecosmart driver is the latest in a long line of electrical engineering projects which have continued to deliver increased performance and features to the venerable Vortech pump. The original Vortech driver was a simple metal hardware box with no buttons, two indicator LEDs and a pot which only allowed the pump to be ramped up or down. This third Ecosmart driver has a sleek iPhone-esque curved enclosure with three buttons, a rainbow of LEDs, wireless synching and more adjustable water flow programs than we can even keep up with. Before we even put the new Ecosmart driver to real world tests, we thought it would be nice to reminisce about how far the Vortech’s brain has come. Follow the break for many more photos of the Vortech Driver’s heritage.
The ecosmart driver is a little bit larger than the previous drivers but the curved edges makes it appear smaller.The first driver had no instructions (and few features), the second driver had simplified instructions on the back, but the new Ecosmart does way too much to fit on a sticker.Oh yeah, we snapped this picture just to show you we are among the oldest users of the Vortech pump. The driver labeled "Beta release 2005" is one the first 50 that were hand made.The smooth styling of the Ecosmart driver is easy on the eyes, and it's rubberized buttons are more aquarium-resistant than before.The internals of the Vortech drivers have evolved quite a bit over the years as well.Left to right, gen 1, gen 2 and current gen 3 ecosmart driver. We know nothing of electronics, but we count more electro-thingamajiggys in the ecosmart driver than in the others.Hand sodered Beta release driver above made in 2005 compared to the printed circuit board below, manufactured in 2009.This is the second time in 5 years we've been delighted to gift new features into this 5 year old, prerelease vortech pump
Jake Adams has been an avid marine aquarist since the mid 90s and has worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and has been the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com since 2008. Jake is interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest is in corals which Jake pursues in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.
