The Ripple FLOW is an interesting pump developed out of Australia which caught our attention for a number of reasons. While the pump body and volute is highly reminiscent of the AquaMedic EcoRunner pumps, the controller has some very useful features we’ve not seen widely available on this class of controllable DC pumps.
While the volute of the Ripple FLOW might be transparent like the EcoRunner’s, it’s important to note that it is secured with thumbscrews instead of twisting on. This adds slightly more reliability to the Ripple FLOW pump while used in external application, and while it might be practical to have a clear volute you can see inside, remember this also means that light can get in, causing algae to grow inside this important part of a water pump.
It appears that Ripple is also working on a needle wheel version of the FLOW and it’s in this image that we get a much better look at the pump’s controller box. There’s obvious flow speed adjustment and a pause button, but you won’t be locked into five or six flow speeds, and hopefully it’ll also be more than ten – 5% increments is kind of the sweet spot, especially for dialing in a match between the return and drain flows for maximum silence.
Some other neat features of the Ripple FLOW’s controller are optional add-on accessories like a protein skimmer overflow sensor, presumably for the needle wheel version, and an auto top-off sensor. Ripple is making their new DC pump in three sizes ranging from 6,000 to 12,000 liters per hour with fairly respectable performance and efficiency for their class. [Ripple]
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