Powerheads with cable on dry side other than EcoTech MPs?

[BeanAnimal]

I would also add - that I never understood why (for the premium price) that this assembly was not self aligning. Even slight misalignment of the wet and dry side has to create significant radial loading on the bearings.

OK, but how is that materially different than all the other knock offs ....

I don't want to delve into the philosophical or political here but China steals IP for several reasons. Part of it is financial and part of it is strategic.

Ignoring the strategic/psychological component - the financial is about opportunity cost. What will it cost to copy and produce vs how many can they sell. In other words, if that same effort is applied to a different product that produces more revenue (or has a strategic advantage) then that is where it will be applied.

unless copying a Vortech is even more costly and fraught with potential quality issues

See above - I don't think it is about quality (they don't care) - is opportunity cost.

I know lots of people seem to have issues with their Vortech pumps ... which is a bit odd to me because across the many I have owned and operated (more than a dozen), other than a few age-related wet side replacements, I have not had any problems. Suggests, in many cases at least, user error, which makes knock offs even more problematic.

I think there are some QC issues for sure, but would imagine that most issues are due to misalignment putting undue radial stress on the shaft bearing and motor bearing. Also, glass that is too thin will result in unwanted axial stress on the motor bearings.

This too goes to cost - an autoaligning mechanism would be somewhat trivial, as would the addition of a thrust bearing (or strong thrust bearings) - but engineering is a trade-off between cost and expected life. It only need to last long enough to make the average person happy, why spend more to make it last until the next ice age? You lose sales that way!

 

[Idech]

What's the thought on dry side magnets in water? I may try to put a wavemaker on my overflow box but the magnet would need to be submerged.

I think Tunze magnets are the same whether they are dry or wet side. They have very strong ones too. The only thing is they are expensive.