# Vintage air pump



## Leeatl (Aug 8, 2015)

I think it will be fine , but if you are that concerned just fill the tank and run the sponge with it and see .


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## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

It won't be overkill because you can adjust the output with the dial on top.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

Old Whisper 800, I'm not sure if you can still get diaphragms and flapper valves for those still. They're a decent, if a bit dated, airpump.


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## Leeatl (Aug 8, 2015)

You can still get parts . Amazon for one comes up in a search .


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## Slim64684 (Oct 24, 2015)

I've tried turning the dial from all the way up to all the way down and really can't tell the difference. But I guess if I can't overdrive a sponge filter I will just go ahead and use it


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

Slim64684 said:


> I've tried turning the dial from all the way up to all the way down and really can't tell the difference. But I guess if I can't overdrive a sponge filter I will just go ahead and use it


What little humming you can hear should get louder when the rheostat is turned clockwise. Otherwise the contact and possibly the wound wire variable resistor may need some cleaning up, as they do suffer some corrosion if used near saltwater tanks. This will require taking the base off and removing the diaphragms and valve bodies from inside the pump body. Might be more trouble than you'll want to tackle.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Generally it's about a wash to buy the new parts and fix them. I've got a few of the old Whispers and did try to fix them. The plastic housing had become very brittle and fell apart in my hands. Thankfully before I spent any money on parts.


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## koiboi (Sep 4, 2011)

Hope it works after you went through the trouble of time traveling to 1985 to buy it in the first place!


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

THIS is a vintage aquarium air pump.. you are making me feel too old..
https://youtu.be/10_7oxlzp6M


















EVERY LFS had those green ones minding the store.. 
Just my own FYI:
https://www.nwgsupply.com/elemental...gle_shopping&gclid=CJ3S4eajoc4CFY9ffgodRLEGEA


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

If the dial doesn't work you can get a valve that goes on the airline to constrict/open the flow. I use one.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

jeffkrol said:


> THIS is a vintage aquarium air pump.. you are making me feel too old..
> https://youtu.be/10_7oxlzp6M
> 
> 
> ...


 @jeffkrol,

lol, you make me laugh.....some of these folks have no idea what a 'vintage' pump is! BTW, they both work and have been in service in the last 30 days. I think I have piston envy!

Marvel Single Piston pump and Silent Giant (both USA made)


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Since I was a young lad I've despised diaphragm pumps.. My dad would try to fix the ripped diaphragms (they always ripped) w/ the new wonder compound "silicone". worked briefly. 
Never could find parts back then either.. except sometimes straight from the company.. 
They were/are cheap and functional though..
Well..not that new.. 


> Corning Glass in a joint venture with Dow Chemical formed Dow Corning in 1943 to produce this new class of materials. As the unique properties of the new silicone products were studied in more detail, their potential for broader usage was envisioned, and GE opened its own plant to produce silicones in 1947 (now Momentive Performance Materials). Wacker Chemie also started production of silicones in Europe in 1947. The Japanese company Shin-Etsu Chemical began mass production of silicone in 1953. The companies mentioned above are now still the main competitors in the oligopoly that comprises the silicone industry.


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## Slim64684 (Oct 24, 2015)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> @jeffkrol,
> 
> lol, you make me laugh.....some of these folks have no idea what a 'vintage' pump is! BTW, they both work and have been in service in the last 30 days. I think I have piston envy!
> 
> Marvel Single Piston pump and Silent Giant (both USA made)


You and jeffkrol went way past vintage and into antique


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

My first pump.. 

http://www.terapeak.com/worth/1960-...r-pump-model-no-81-used-working/221986019568/

This is antique:








http://golden-library.com/pet-suppl...ven-nepture-rotaerorator-steam-engines-detail











1933:










> An ad for the Marco Pump
> Aquarium magazine - 1933


1959:
















fine line..


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

WOW..this is really personal and o/t but this is almost exactly my first tank, slate bottom and all.. Just add the Hush one which would be the correct Metaframe pump btw:












https://www.vintagetoys.com/toys/classified/129


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## Olskule (Jan 28, 2010)

OK, y'all are gonna cause me to go to my storage and dig out that footlocker full of my mom's old aquarium hardware! I'm pretty sure I still have one or two of those old piston style pumps (somewhere), and I know my mom had two of the Silent Giants, and they should be in that chest with all the clear and green plastic in-tank box filters (I hated those ugly things!) and her "fancy" (for that era) bubble-powered hang-on-back external filters. She even had an external hang-on filter that was powered by (brace yourself) ELECTRIC MOTOR!!! It was basically the same motor/magnetic disc drive that the later green Metaframe power filters used, but it was a syphon-fed, powered-output design similar to the big old Danner Supreme filters, but smaller. I think Metaframe bought the design, because it would slide right onto the newer Metaframe filters and work perfectly. (I remember her saying that it wasn't for constant use, it was used from tank to tank, just for polishing the water.) I should still have all that stuff, somewhere, but I don't recall seeing it in a long time. Oh yeah, and see that picture I use for my avatar? Look closely; when was the last time you saw glass fiber filter material? That was in that footlocker of stuff.

Man, how far we have come.

Olskule


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Yea moved up from the in tank boxes to the airstone powered pia HOB's.. Don't remember the brand, but had 2 at one time.. 
Oddly were about the same difficulty to prime as a current Eheim classic.. 
Gave up on glass wool when I found the large bags of "filter floss" (poly I believe)
Here is the motor driven that your mom probably has:









bubble type:








70's had these, guess you could say the more "industrial" ones..:


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## Olskule (Jan 28, 2010)

Yep, those are the ones! But my mom's was green and didn't have Metaframe ID molded into the plastic, it was some other company. But it was the same, even down to the on/off turn-switch you can barely see in the pic (white knob, lower left). And the Slim Jim's, I remember the box & name, exactly. And isn't that a big Danner Supreme in the bottom pic? We had one of those in a pet shop I worked at.

That was back in the day when fishkeeping was as much an art as a science, experiment and luck. Nowadays you just buy what you're told you need and follow the basic steps, and you can keep most fish healthy and happy. I guess that's why the aquarium hobby has gone forward to reef systems and planted tanks, because simply keeping fish is no longer a challenge. I wonder if some of the old "tech", like UG filters, will ever come back en vogue for some newly realized need. Better to remember all this old stuff and why we left it behind, in case we may realize that there were more beneficial things going on with the old ways than we knew about then, and we might need to rethink what we left behind and perhaps use it in new ways. Maybe not often, but now and then.

Just a thought, but maybe those old Slim Jim HOB bubble filters would be perfect for a smaller (one gallon or so) " nano" tank? Hmm, I've never been interested in having a nano aquarium, but if I can put the 50 year old vintage stuff back to good use....? 

"What's old is new again."

Olskule


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi All,

Wow, this thread is like a time machine! Yes, I had a Dynaflo filter....the plastic ball the impeller rides on always wears out! Also had the old Metaframe heater, brass air valves, and slate bottom tanks!

Was the filter with the 3 input tubes and motor on top the 'Supreme' filter?


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## DaveK (Jul 10, 2010)

I see all these pictures of vintage equipment, and over the years I have used the same piece of equipment. The pictures sure did bring back a lot of memories. Some of the gear was state of the art at the time, and really not too bad. Some of the other items were close to being junk. 

The pictures sure do make me appreciate the equipment available today. In almost all cases I'd choose the equipment available today, it's just that much better.

I'd say that if you want to keep the old gear because as a collector item, and maybe even use it if it still works, then ejnoy it. However, if your want to maximuze your chance of success and keep costs down, use the new gear.


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## Olskule (Jan 28, 2010)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Wow, this thread is like a time machine! Yes, I had a Dynaflo filter....the plastic ball the impeller rides on always wears out! Also had the old Metaframe heater, brass air valves, and slate bottom tanks!
> 
> Was the filter with the 3 input tubes and motor on top the 'Supreme' filter?


I looked closely at the photo, and I think the label on the motor says "Danner", so I'm pretty sure that is the "Supreme" If it isn't technically the "Supreme", it looks just like it. I'm not sure if Danner made any other models, all I know of is the "Supreme". Hey, it was enough, and nothing at the time could touch it or even come close!

Olskule


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

jeffkrol said:


> Yea moved up from the in tank boxes to the airstone powered pia HOB's.. Don't remember the brand, but had 2 at one time..
> Oddly were about the same difficulty to prime as a current Eheim classic..
> Gave up on glass wool when I found the large bags of "filter floss" (poly I believe)
> Here is the motor driven that your mom probably has:
> ...


While I still have my Dynamaster dual piston pump it is so loud I never use it. My Pondmaster AP 100 does that job now. And it's quiet. In the house the tanks are on Tetra pumps. 
The Dynaflow had two models IIRC. One would pump the water out of the filter box so you used J tubes to fill the box. The other was more the predecessor to the Second Nature Whisper filters. The impeller brought the water into the box and it cascaded out. Your picture is the one that requires the J tube.
I've got a couple of each that still work but it makes little sense to use them since they draw a lot of power. 
The Supreme Aquamaster filters were great. So were the Aquakings. I've still got two of each that work. Again they are power hogs. YOu have the newer version of the Aquaking I believe.
I've got three 55 gallon Metalframe tanks. Two are setup in the house. 
I've got a 20 gallon I need to seal. The glass is good so I won't remove the asphaltum and redo that.
I've got 3 10 gallons. I've totally refurbed one with the other two on the slate for refurb along with another empty frame I got for $5.
I picked up a 7.5? gallon that just needs sealing and another that needs a refurn. A 2.5 and a 5 that are on tab for refurb also. All but the frame i bought were free and all have the slate in good condition.

I went back to Lee's economy corner filter for $1.87 each in most of the tanks in the fish house though. And I've got a couple of air driven filters from the early 80's that still work grandly. 

There is a lot to be said good about the older stuff. It usually lasts a lot longer than the "latest and greatest" crap out there now.


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## flipperfeet (Dec 1, 2011)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> @jeffkrol,
> 
> lol, you make me laugh.....some of these folks have no idea what a 'vintage' pump is! BTW, they both work and have been in service in the last 30 days. I think I have piston envy!
> 
> Marvel Single Piston pump and Silent Giant (both USA made)





jeffkrol said:


> Yea moved up from the in tank boxes to the airstone powered pia HOB's.. Don't remember the brand, but had 2 at one time..
> Oddly were about the same difficulty to prime as a current Eheim classic..
> Gave up on glass wool when I found the large bags of "filter floss" (poly I believe)
> Here is the motor driven that your mom probably has:
> ...


Man, I must have sold at least of hundred of these when I worked in the LFS as a teenager.



Seattle_Aquarist said:


> @jeffkrol,
> 
> lol, you make me laugh.....some of these folks have no idea what a 'vintage' pump is! BTW, they both work and have been in service in the last 30 days. I think I have piston envy!
> 
> Marvel Single Piston pump and Silent Giant (both USA made)


A pump in a can surrounded by sand. No one has offered as simple or as effective a solution in the quest for a quiet pump since the demise of the Silent Giant.


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