The Waveline DC-5000 is a DC water pump that made a showing at the Global Pet Expo last week in Orlando, Florida. The new Waveline DC pump will push out up to 1,320 GPH (5,000 LPH) that is adjustable to six different speeds controlling the RPMs of the pump at a pretty efficient clip, sipping only 40W at the maximum speed.
There are a few huge benefits with the Waveline DC-5000 and other DC pumps. DC pumps can run more efficiently, can run directly off a battery or solar source without conversion to AC, and allow you to regulate flow by reducing the RPMs and not restricting the output flow of the pump. A simple controller can also be used to control the pump speeds.
Manufactured by H2O Systems Inc., the Waveline DC pump got a quick scout at Global Pet by Reefs and the pump reportedly runs cool to the touch, which is good news for many hobbyists. The Waveline controller allows you to select up to six speeds or enable a 10 minute feeding mode for the system.
We are sure a pump like this could be controlled by a more robust aquarium controller to tap into more features like running it as a closed loop pump and creating more random flow, gyres and bursts of water to mimic various ocean conditions.
Another possibility is using the Waveline DC-5000 pump or smaller iterations on the company’s line of protein skimmers. The DC pumps would allow an easy way to dial in pump flow and adjust your skimmate output, have a feeding mode and not worry about pump restart issues and chatter normally associated with AC pumps.
We’ve seen other DC pumps like the Seio Wave, Coralife DC wavemaker, Hydrowizard and DC Red Dragon pumps but the Waveline pump could hit a good part of the market. With an affordable pricetag, a controller and the ability for more uses gives it more allure over simple DC wavemaking systems that are still taking up valuable real estate and are generally not that great to look at.
The Waveline DC-5000 DC pumps should be available on the market in the next few months. No word on prices but we can expect it to be more affordable than the Red Dragons. Hopefully it will be in line with some of its AC competition in the mid-market price range.
