Vortech MP40W ES Firmware Upgrade to 1.6

[mike31154]

Hi Mark, if your ES is 10 months old, chances are it will benefit from/require the firmware upgrade. The issue with the original firmware is that the night mode start time loses about 15 minutes a day so over the course of a few days, instead of starting at 7 pm, night mode will start at 8 pm. Consequently, if you intend to use the night mode and wish to keep a handle on this time shift you have two choices, or actually 4;

1. Manually reset the night mode start time every few days. The night mode needs to be set up at the precise time you wish it to start, so you have to be home at the proper time to do this;

2. Get the firmware upgrade. Currently the only way to do this is find someone locally (the reason I started this thread) who has the latest (1.6) or mail your driver in to J&L (closest vendor for us) and have them flash it for you. See my post #3 on this thread about my first experience trying to have J&L update my firmware. Apparantly they do have the technology now, but I still wouldn't plan a trip to the coast for the sole purpose of doing this;

3. If you have one of the fancy controllers that can talk to your VorTech, do the firmware update through that;

4. Do nothing, i.e. don't use the night mode or let the time shift run wild.

I posted to a thread on the EcoTech forum of RC voicing my concern about the lack of alternative methods to upgrade firmware particularly for their international customers. They are 'working on it'. I'm a great fan of the VorTechs but continue to be puzzled that they haven't moved more positively to resolve this particular issue. Not a big deal, but for all the innovation and technology behind these pumps (plus the hefty price tag), you would think that something as simple as an accurate clock inside the driver or a firmware upgrade via bluetooth from your cell phone or whatever, would be on their priority list of things to do!

I started with a single Gen 1 MP40W and when I purchased a Gen 2 a year later, was able to update the firmware to 2.2 with the new driver. The night mode was introduced with the Gen 2 firmware and suffered from this issue from the getgo. Don't think they have a fix for them since they're discontinued by the introduction of the ES driver. I recently upgraded to the ES drivers expecting the night mode issue to be resolved. It wasn't. Why they never bothered to fix the night mode with initial release of the ES drivers is beyond me. Fantastic customer service, but they really seem to have dropped the ball on that one.

If you don't intend to use the night mode, then you don't really need the firmware update. Personally, I like the night mode option, more as a power saving feature than to replicate any kind of real world calming of the sea, which probably doesn't happen anyway from what I've read. It also lowers the sound level overnight.

To check what version of firmware you have, see page 37 of your ES manual. You can perform the procedure without installing the pump on your system. Separate the wet side from the dry side (if connected), connect the power supply to the driver and have at 'er. You need to hold the OPTION/PWR button on the driver while plugging the power supply into the wall receptacle. As you're doing this watch the pretty coloured light flashes and count them. It goes fairly quick so you need to be ready. First is a red blink (boot up), followed by green, then blue. I checked mine yesterday, one red, one green, four blue. This means my firmware is 1.4. The latest firmware for the ES drivers with the night mode time fix is 1.6.

For some reason there's not that much info regarding this on their web site, probably because they know they screwed up. There's better info on the RC EcoTech forum on the subject, including a voluntary recall for their battery backup cable. The night mode subject reappears there every so often as well, they can run but they can't hide...

PS EDIT: Any W ES driver can be used for the firmware update, that is an MP10W ES driver is able to update a 40W ES, 60W ES and vice versa.

[mike31154]

Hi all, thanks to 2pts who took one of my drivers to J&L during his trip to the coast, I now have updated firmware (1.6) on my two MP40W ES drivers. Anyone in the Okanagan needing or wanting to update their drivers, shoot me a request and we'll see what can be done. If your ES driver/pump is older than 6 months, chances are you will want this firmware update which fixes the night mode time shift issue.