quietest return pump

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by mr.wilson

Red Dragon pumps are quiet, but not worth paying $900 for. It's a $10 wholesale Laguna pond pump with a custom volute (shroud & impeller).

They fall short on pressure, but would work fine for a sump return. The motor is designed to be water cooled, so you may have excessive heat transfer and subsequently a shorter pump life.

While the motors are made by Hagen, they are made specifically for RD, they are not standard Laguna pumps, they just have the same motor housings for obvious reasons. All that custom stuff is what you're paying for; they put in things that other pumps simply don't have like carbide bearings, titanium shafts, de-liming bypass (which reduces heat and lime build up on impeller), and high efficiency motors. Last time I checked water cooled was better than air cooled and these pumps certainly don't run hot, at least 50 degrees cooler than the Darts I previously owned. In addition these pumps can be run internal which no other pump of the same flow rating can do.

It's certainly not cheap but it's not a rip off either, if someone could make these for what some assume, I assure there would be a few more competitors on the market. These pumps are not for everyone but for some the extra money is justified.