here is some onformation for those looking into cole parmer pumps to feed their calcium reactors. first and i have to say most importantly look for the deals, the deals can be found if you open yourself to parts or repair units but with a caveat ( do NOT buy any brushless or digital unit used)
look at OLDER units ( you know the brushed models) and the reason i say this is they are older, cheaper and actually are easier to work on and repair/replace parts. another thing is they are indeed made in the USA whereas newer digital and brushless units are only ASSEMBLED in the USA ( basically every part is made in asia/china then assembled here in the usa.
now i know people will say but they are great quality well this may be but i can tell you i see more parts or repair digital brushless units than i do brushless units and that is saying something, i know of several people still rocking cole parmers from like 1984 and havent even had to change the motor brushes on them yet so in my honest opinion they older brushed units are where it is at, also search online for deals on parts do not go to cole parmer directly unless you have no other choice because you will definatley pay a huge premium.
now i can say cole parmer customer service is top notch, i myself have contacted them regarding manuals and they have some old photocopy scans of units discontinued/replaced in the late 80's and early 90s and were also able to confirm SOME of the parts for the old units was still available however an anecdote revolving around uranus and shards of glass popped into my head when they quoted the prices for such items LOL.
in conclusion, if you see someone selling an older cole parmer masterflex in good working order i can say it is definatley worth the price especially the old brushed motor units but i will say this, from what i have seen is that teh more expensive ones have been gone through checked out and repaired and the seller is trying to recoup at least some of the moeny they put into the unit and to me i say that is fair but if you arent willing to pay extra buying from someone that has done the work and repaired it to make sure you are getting a good working unit, just stick with the fixer uppers but at the end of the day a non working unit in really rough shape could set you back up to $150 + shipping and then probably tax as well depending on the site/seller. on the other hand a good working units in nice lookign condition with an easy load head on average will set you back up to $350 + shipping and tax form sites, $350 plus or minus shipping ( dependant on seller and buyers location) so a good rule of thumb is to find a local seller to you if possible and a reputable seller will gladly show you the unit in operation prior to you buying it.
what brought me to make this topic was the fact that i have been looking at these for months now on ebay and seeing the condition of units, descriptions of units and then communicating with the sellers ( on ebay of course) and i have found most of them really dont know if the units actually work or not, they merely plug them in, see it has power and says it works however there are a few that will say it powers on but that is all they really know about it.
anyway, hope this info helps anyone that may be looking into getting a used cole parmer pump for feeding their calcium reactor/denitrator/whatever. and again, regardless of what you might think the older analog brushed units are actually the way to go as there is far less that can go wrong with them and if something does you can repair most of the unit pretty cheap without paying a huge markup on parts there are some exceptions to this but the main thing would be if a motor fails although i have yet to see a cole parmer brushed motor fail in a saltwater application, i have seen circuit componants go bad but some basic soldering skills and a visit to a place like mouser will get you back up and running unlike digital brushless units which are usually sm componants on the circuit boards and humidity ( like under our tank stands) will get into a brushless motor and fry the motor.
look at OLDER units ( you know the brushed models) and the reason i say this is they are older, cheaper and actually are easier to work on and repair/replace parts. another thing is they are indeed made in the USA whereas newer digital and brushless units are only ASSEMBLED in the USA ( basically every part is made in asia/china then assembled here in the usa.
now i know people will say but they are great quality well this may be but i can tell you i see more parts or repair digital brushless units than i do brushless units and that is saying something, i know of several people still rocking cole parmers from like 1984 and havent even had to change the motor brushes on them yet so in my honest opinion they older brushed units are where it is at, also search online for deals on parts do not go to cole parmer directly unless you have no other choice because you will definatley pay a huge premium.
now i can say cole parmer customer service is top notch, i myself have contacted them regarding manuals and they have some old photocopy scans of units discontinued/replaced in the late 80's and early 90s and were also able to confirm SOME of the parts for the old units was still available however an anecdote revolving around uranus and shards of glass popped into my head when they quoted the prices for such items LOL.
in conclusion, if you see someone selling an older cole parmer masterflex in good working order i can say it is definatley worth the price especially the old brushed motor units but i will say this, from what i have seen is that teh more expensive ones have been gone through checked out and repaired and the seller is trying to recoup at least some of the moeny they put into the unit and to me i say that is fair but if you arent willing to pay extra buying from someone that has done the work and repaired it to make sure you are getting a good working unit, just stick with the fixer uppers but at the end of the day a non working unit in really rough shape could set you back up to $150 + shipping and then probably tax as well depending on the site/seller. on the other hand a good working units in nice lookign condition with an easy load head on average will set you back up to $350 + shipping and tax form sites, $350 plus or minus shipping ( dependant on seller and buyers location) so a good rule of thumb is to find a local seller to you if possible and a reputable seller will gladly show you the unit in operation prior to you buying it.
what brought me to make this topic was the fact that i have been looking at these for months now on ebay and seeing the condition of units, descriptions of units and then communicating with the sellers ( on ebay of course) and i have found most of them really dont know if the units actually work or not, they merely plug them in, see it has power and says it works however there are a few that will say it powers on but that is all they really know about it.
anyway, hope this info helps anyone that may be looking into getting a used cole parmer pump for feeding their calcium reactor/denitrator/whatever. and again, regardless of what you might think the older analog brushed units are actually the way to go as there is far less that can go wrong with them and if something does you can repair most of the unit pretty cheap without paying a huge markup on parts there are some exceptions to this but the main thing would be if a motor fails although i have yet to see a cole parmer brushed motor fail in a saltwater application, i have seen circuit componants go bad but some basic soldering skills and a visit to a place like mouser will get you back up and running unlike digital brushless units which are usually sm componants on the circuit boards and humidity ( like under our tank stands) will get into a brushless motor and fry the motor.