Eco-Sphere Pump with Controller 5400GPH with 33 ft. Cord

I’ve owned many Alpine ponds pumps and have have had mostly good success. I bought this pump because of the high output and adjustable pump controller. After receiving the pump I disassembled it and realized it was necked down less the 1.5 inches internally. I replaced an internal fitting to at least have a 1.5 inch output which I adapted to a 2 inch pvc adapter. I had run the pump a little over a year and decided to clean the impeller and housing this fall. I removed the impeller and found it to extremely scored and worn. I had a replacement impeller even though this pump has a 3 year warranty, I’m always prepared when you have expensive livestock in a pond and can’t quit running a pump and filter while waiting for a warranty replacement. After carefully replacing the impeller ( I’ve had many years of experience with pond pump maintenance) I notice the wattage increased greatly. The pump draws way more wattage with the new impeller and will actually shut off if you increase it over 60-70% of rated output. I plan replacing it with another variable output mag drive pump. Other negatives, one of the pump body clips snapped off the first time I disassembled it, the labeling on the pump controller became faded and illegible after less than a year in sunlight.

As with some other reviewers, this purchase was to upgrade from a smaller pump. There is, however, misinformation in the specifications. A big factor in our purchase decision was the stated 2" outlet. After upgrading tubing and filter to 2", it was a rather unpleasant surprise to find the pump has a 1.5" outlet. It does come with an eccentric 1.5"-2" adapter but then the largest diameter section of the hose barb adapter stops things back down to 1.5". Luckily, the threads are compatible with indoor plumbing and a 2" PVC thread to tubing adapter was easily found. Next up is that the red collar holding the ball to the pump is much thinner than the plumbing part. We ended up having to take apart the casing, loosen the internal 1.5" collar, and then screw the pump onto the 2" plumbing piece to keep everything lined up and fitting courtesy Alpine's own eccentric adapter. Once you make it past all that, the pump works great and the controller is a real boon. It doubles as a Watt meter so you can see how much the pump uses. That brings up one more deviation: the spec states the pump uses up to 200W but with the controller at 100%, ours tops out at about 170W. I don't know if that means the pumps have become more efficient, or if it can't run at max. speed. (And it is a normal 110V appliance. Not a 440V one as Home Depot's website claims.)

Very pleased with the pump

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

The pump works well! We had a pump that was putting out about 250 gph and replaced it with this one since we needed 1500 gph to keep the algae growth down. Even though this pump has over 6x the flow (for our setup with ~10 ft of head), it actually uses about 20W less than our previous pump! The only issue I have is the adjustable nozzle that gets screwed on doesnt quite fit in the hole. You have to move the plastic body around to make it work. It doesnt seem to affect the operation though.

I could of misinterpreted the description but the picture is not what it is. It shows four outlets and only has one. The controller is great but it would be better with a timer. Lastly the item came with the outlet not centered out of the hole. Even though it swivels I couldn't get it centered through the hole. I had to remove the screws from pump and turn the body of pump slightly to fit the outlet hole center. Very disappointed about that. Poor quality control. Besides that, it works good and is strong enough to power 2 waterfalls.