Magnetic Pumps and Power Consumption

[Goldstripe]

I have an Iwaki MD70 RLT that will used as a return pump on my system. It is a pressure rated pump, 1500 @ 4' head. My question to the experts out there is power consumption increased or decreased by adding head pressure (ball valve or T'ing off). I'm getting conflicting information about this. In order to slow flow thru my sump I was planning on splitting the output to feed my skimmer and fuge, seperate "T's" each with their own ball valve.

I'm not sure what the power consumption is on this pump as I'm sure it varies depending on your plumbing setup. Am I drawing more wattage or amperage by T'ing off this thing?

Another example, no T's at all, just a ball valve on the outlet. If that is halfway closed, is it using more power?

Thank you in advance for any help.

[Geoff]

a lot of pump manufacturers actually publish the current ratings along with their flow ratings. i will see if i can find one for the Iwaki's. it would surprise me if they do not.

from the few charts i have seen it seems that the highest draw tends to be at 0' of head. have no idea why for sure. it then settles down and does not change much at all for the rest of the pump curve.

G~

[Goldstripe]

That's exactly what a fellow club member was saying. It has to do with the flow curve and also the hp curve and where they intersect? Something like that.

But I was talking to someone at Marine Depot today about it and he said the opposite which didn't make sense to me. Thanks for looking for me. I really appreciate it.

[Twitterbait]

mmmmmm... Power... Geoff is right. you should be able to find all the stats online.

[Geoff]

finding the amp curves are proving harder than expected.

G~

[Goldstripe]

Glad I'm not the only one having trouble finding it. On another note, I bought one of those kill-a-watt devices today that measures wattage, amperage, kw/hr, etc. Should be interesting albeit scary to test.

[Geoff]

that would work also. i keep meaning to get one of those also.

if you are really curious you can start pumping up different head heights and seeing what the draw is.

G~

[Goldstripe]

exactly what I'm going to do. I'll be testing everything in the house!!