Jebao / Jebo WP40 Review
I've owned one these for about two weeks now and I'm ready to write about my experience and impressions.
I'd like to start with a list of Pros and Cons so that the "tl;dr" people can still benefit from this review. =)
PROS:
- Price: I paid $85 dollars + shipping for my fist one and 10% less for my second one. I don't know of many pumps with similar performance and flow output in the same price range,
- Power: I have these in a 48x18x21, 75 gallon tank, and just one of these full blast is almost too much. These will provide enough flow for corals that like "strong" flow. They move a lot of water. They're rated 13000 liters per hours which is 3434.2367 gal/h.
- Modes: It is great to have such an affordable pump act as a "wavemaker" of sorts, with a few control options. Each pump has an independent controller that can cycle through: High Flow, Low Flow, Pulse, 2 Ramp Up modes and an "Else mode".
- Construction: this pump looks just as solidly built as my Koralias or any other medium level pump I've seen.
- Low Noise: (!!!) Earlier I had written that they were pretty loud, that they sounded like a loud(ish) buzzing phone. Well, imagine my surprise when I came back from work the other day and I couldn't hear them. They break in! It's been about two weeks and even on pulse, I can't hear them. They push the same amount of water, work just as well, but they're virtually silent. This is great!
- Controllability: I've been reading up on them and a lot of people are controlling them with Reef Angel and Apex Controllers! I can't speak for that personally, but I can tell you they do work with a cheap Variable Powe Supply I bought. Their normal operating voltage is 24V. They will work with full functionality on voltages as low as 15V. Any lower, and the modes don't seem to work as intended. I've been setting them on "High" but toning them the down to 19V and this seems to really give me the perfect "cleaning" flow for my tank. To be fair, I also like them at 24V.
CONS:
- Loud when first bought: the pulse and ramp up modes are pretty loud before they break in. That took mine about 10 days.
- Size: They are not like MP40s, where the motor sits outside the tank. From what I can tell they're the same size as the larger Tunzes or Koralias. I'm not sure they would look good in smaller tanks. They look pretty big in a 75gal.
- No "in between": There is a high setting and there is a low setting. There is no middle ground. The manufacturer pulse mode operates "full blast". There is no low flow pulse. This can be created with a variable power supply, as I mentioned, but it's not a built-in function. This also goes for the ramp up modes.
- No sync: the manufacturer standard controllers would not allow you to sync two of these pumps together. They operate independently. I've read a lot of people having success syncing them using Apex or Reef Angel controllers. This is done by modding the controller box on the powerhead and hooking it up to the Apex or Reef Angel. I'm not familiar with this as I haven't done it myself.
Additional Considerations
I cannot guarantee that everyone's pumps will work exactly like mine. Mine stopped making noise after about a week, I don't know if everyone else's will.
Since my first impressions, I've seen a tank with two MP40s and the owner was kind enough to demo them for me. The MP40s also make quite a bit of noise. I guess I was comparing them to my Koralia Evo 1050s. Yeah, a much smaller capacity pump.
The two ramp up modes make them pump ramp up and down in a fixed pattern. The pump will actually shut off (aka the impeller is not spinning) for a second in these modes. The else mode is more of a random mode and doesn't follow the same pattern over and over. Also, the else mode doesn't seem to shut down. This would be best for a truly random current, well, as far as an artificial environment can allow us to recreate it.
The pulse mode allows you to create a wave. There is a knob on the controller that lets you to set how rapidly the pump pulses, allowing you to regulate the type of waves, based on the size of your tank. Physics!!!From playing around with it, I would say that you can find an optimal setting that will give you a big wave. On one side of this setting, you'll have gentler waves, on the other, faster waves.
I'm experimenting with one pump set to create the big wave and the other on else mode to create a bit of a random current in there too. I've gotten my second pump a couple days ago so I'm still toying with it.
CONCLUSIONS
First and foremost: I am speaking for my experience. Other people may think differently and what works for me, might not work for others.
From what I've seen, these are a great buy. If your tank doesn't have a lot of flow and you can't afford MP40s or a set of expensive high-end pumps with a controller/wavemaker, these are an ideal solution.
They will allow you to have killer flow and some control options which other pumps in that price range just do not have. In my tank, they've made an amzing difference, they blew my Koralia Evo 1050 (with or without Smart Wave controller) right out of the water!
So far, I'm 100% satisfied with these pumps and would recommend them to people with similar views as mine.
Now I will tell you who should probably NOT get these. People who want the same functionality and aesthetics as the MP40s. For 1/5 of the price, those are not reasonable expectations. If you want a Ferrari, don't buy a Toyota.
People with small tanks. Jebao should be releasing a smaller version which would be a lot better for smaller tanks. This thing will blow your sandbed all over the place in a small tank.
People who already own MP40s or similar. I don't think they would be satisfied with this product as they might view it as "a step down".
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