Sicce Syncra Silent pumps 3.5, 4.0 and 5.0: The Total Comparative Test

Let’s continue to speak about return pumps, following the introduction that you can read here: Return Pumps: tests and real measurements compared, and the test done with Eheim pumps: Eheim pumps 1048, 1250 and 1260: The Total Comparative Test, small Sicce Pumps: Sicce Syncra Silent pumps 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5: The Total Comparative Test and medium Sicce Pumps: Sicce Syncra Silent pumps 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0: The Total Comparative Test now we continue to analyze the biggest Sicce pumps: the Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5, 4.0 and 5.0.

Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5

His technical characteristics are:

• Pump Output: 2.500 l/h
• Delivery Head: 3,70 m
• Power Consumption: 65 w
• Dimensions: 173x99x118 mm

here with all the pieces that compose it

This is the first Sicce pump we cas use as a return pump, so definitively worth a test, to compare it with all other pumps.

Our test began literally in my garage, where we tested all pumps we have received, not only this, in a single session.

Delivery Head Test

The first test we did was to measure the delivery head. The test is very simple to accomplish. We dropped the pump into a bucket full of water, we connected the pump to a garden hose plastic held vertically, and we measured the height reached by the water column from the ground. We then removed the height of water in the bucket, given that the delivery head is the distance between the two levels of water.

Let me point out that, contrary to what one might think, the level in the pipe was not fixed, but fluctuated noticeably.

So for Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5 we read 408 cm – 19 cm = measured delivery head 389 cm (370 cm declared)

Pump Output Test

Measure the pump output is however very complex and the result was only approximate but still useful for comparing similar pumps. Placing in fact a pump in a container, its output was affected too much from the prevalence present in the bucket itself, and thus the decreasing the water in the container fell also the output. In any case, we measured the time it took each pump to fill a 12 liter tank, and run 3 measures was averaged, and then we divided the time obtained by 12 liters, resulting in a capacity not perfect, but significant, especially for the comparison.

To fill the tank up to 12 liters to Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5 took an average of 19,8 seconds.

The output with this simple  calculation reported a flow rate equal to 2.177 l/h (against the 2.500 declared). As mentioned in the introduction, this number is misleading because the test was conducted in an unscientific manner, but we will measure everything with a calibrated instrument, as we report later in the article.

Test of Power Consumption

During the test of delivery head we also measured the power consumption with current clamp, but as it was also impossible to measure the power factor, the offset between the real and apparent power, the result is only and exclusively as a curiosity.

Consumption at maximum delivery head: 0.506 amps or 111 watts versus 65 watts declared.

At this point we wondered if we could do more, and for this we came to meet the Sicce, thanks to Federico Carraro, has made ​​available all its instruments of measurement.

I and AndreaNegu then loaded all our pumps in the car and we went to Padua to make the measurements.

We should note however that all the measurements made in Sicce were performed with a supply current at 230V as standard of measurement in Europe, so keep in mind when you read these results.

But we have to point that we have tested all pumps with all their protections like they’re in the first picture, if we take out the protections, we have better values

Measured delivery head: 377 cm (declared 370 cm)	Measured output: 2.910 l/h (declared 2.500) at 5 cm

Power Consumption at maximum delivery head: 79.9 watt (declared 65 watt)	Power Factor = 0,562	Absorbed current: 0,62 A

Please note: the measured head has to be corrected by adding 20 cm which is the value read by the system when pump is off.

Output measured at 150 cm of delivery head: 2.149 l/h
(please note: the measured head has to be corrected by adding 20 cm which is the value read by the system when pump is off)

Power Consumption at 152 cm: 70,8 watt	Power Factor = 0,513	Absorbed current: 0,60 A

 

Sicce Syncra Silent 4.0

His technical characteristics are:

• Pump Output: 3.500 l/h
• Delivery Head: 3,8 m
• Power Consumption: 80 w
• Dimensions: 173x99x118 mm

here with all the pieces that compose it

This is the first Sicce pump we cas use as a return pump, so definitively worth a test, to compare it with all other pumps.

Our test began literally in my garage, where we tested all pumps we have received, not only this, in a single session.

Delivery Head Test

The first test we did was to measure the delivery head. The test is very simple to accomplish. We dropped the pump into a bucket full of water, we connected the pump to a garden hose plastic held vertically, and we measured the height reached by the water column from the ground. We then removed the height of water in the bucket, given that the delivery head is the distance between the two levels of water.

Let me point out that, contrary to what one might think, the level in the pipe was not fixed, but fluctuated noticeably.

So for Sicce Syncra Silent 4.0 we read 409 cm – 21 cm = measured delivery head 388 cm (380 cm declared)

Pump Output Test

Measure the pump output is however very complex and the result was only approximate but still useful for comparing similar pumps. Placing in fact a pump in a container, its output was affected too much from the prevalence present in the bucket itself, and thus the decreasing the water in the container fell also the output. In any case, we measured the time it took each pump to fill a 12 liter tank, and run 3 measures was averaged, and then we divided the time obtained by 12 liters, resulting in a capacity not perfect, but significant, especially for the comparison.

To fill the tank up to 12 liters to Sicce Syncra Silent 4.0 took an average of 17,3 seconds.

The output with this simple calculation reported a flow rate equal to 2.495 l/h (against the 3.500 declared). As mentioned in the introduction, this number is misleading because the test was conducted in an unscientific manner, but we will measure everything with a calibrated instrument, as we report later in the article.

Test of Power Consumption

During the test of delivery head we also measured the power consumption with current clamp, but as it was also impossible to measure the power factor, the offset between the real and apparent power, the result is only and exclusively as a curiosity.

Consumption at maximum delivery head: 0.496 amps or 109 watts versus 80 watts declared.

At this point we went to Sicce, where, thanks to Federico Carraro, we have had ​available all its instruments of measurement.

We should note however that all the measurements made in Sicce were performed with a supply current at 230V as standard of measurement in Europe, so keep in mind when you read these results.

But we have to point that we have tested all pumps with all their protections like they’re in the first picture, if we take out the protections, we have better values

Measured delivery head: 380 cm (declared 370 cm)	Measured output: 3.709 l/h (declared 3.500) at 6 cm

Power Consumption at maximum delivery head: 94.0 watt (declared 80 watt)	Power Factor = 0,617	Absorbed current: 0,66 A

Please note: the measured head has to be corrected by adding 20 cm which is the value read by the system when pump is off

Output measured at 153 cm of delivery head: 2.788 l/h
(please note: the measured head has to be corrected by adding 20 cm which is the value read by the system when pump is off)

Power Consumption at 153: 81,6 watt	Power Factor = 0,571	Absorbed current: 0,61 A

 

Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0

His technical characteristics are:

• Pump Output: 5.000 l/h
• Delivery Head: 3,8 m
• Power Consumption: 105 w
• Dimensions: 103x60x78 mm

here with all the pieces that compose it.

This is the biggest Sicce pump we tested, so definitively worth a test.

Our test began literally in my garage, where we tested all pumps we have received, not only this, in a single session.

Delivery Head Test

The first test we did was to measure the delivery head. The test is very simple to accomplish. We dropped the pump into a bucket full of water, we connected the pump to a garden hose plastic held vertically, and we measured the height reached by the water column from the ground. We then removed the height of water in the bucket, given that the delivery head is the distance between the two levels of water.

Let me point out that, contrary to what one might think, the level in the pipe was not fixed, but fluctuated noticeably.

So for Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0 we have read 400 cm – 21 cm = measured delivery head 379 cm (380 cm declared)

Pump Output Test

Measure the pump output is however very complex and the result was only approximate but still useful for comparing similar pumps. Placing in fact a pump in a container, its output was affected too much from the prevalence present in the bucket itself, and thus the decreasing the water in the container fell also the output. In any case, we measured the time it took each pump to fill a 12 liter tank, and run 3 measures was averaged, and then we divided the time obtained by 12 liters, resulting in a capacity not perfect, but significant, especially for the comparison.

To fill the tank up to 12 liters to Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0 took an average of 16 seconds.

The output with this simple calculation reported a flow rate equal to 2.702 l/h (against the 5.000 declared). As mentioned in the introduction, this number is misleading because the test was conducted in an unscientific manner, but we will measure everything with a calibrated instrument, as we report later in the article.

Test of Power Consumption

During the test of delivery head we also measured the power consumption with current clamp, but as it was also impossible to measure the power factor, the offset between the real and apparent power, the result is only and exclusively as a curiosity.

Consumption at maximum delivery head: 0,479 amps or 105 watts versus 105 watts declared.

At this point we went to Sicce, where, thanks to Federico Carraro, we have had ​available all its instruments of measurement.

We should note however that all the measurements made in Sicce were performed with a supply current at 230V as standard of measurement in Europe, so keep in mind when you read these results.

But we have to point that we have tested all pumps with all their protections like they’re in the first picture, if we take out the protections, we have better values

Measured delivery head: 371 cm (declared 380 cm)	Measured output: 4.795 l/h (declared 5.000)

Power Consumption at maximum delivery head: 107.2 watt (declared 105 watt)	Power Factor = 0,663	Absorbed current: 0,70 A

Please note: the measured head has to be corrected by adding 20 cm which is the value read by the system when pump is off

Output measured at 151 cm of delivery head: 3.350 l/h.

Power Consumption at 153 cm: 87,3 watt	Power Factor = 0,599	Absorbed current: 0,63 A

And finally here is the summary data of Sicce pumps:

Delivery Head

pump	delivery head	garage test	laboratory test	average	deviation
Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5	370	389	377	383	104 %
Sicce Syncra Silent 4.0	370	388	380	384	104 %
Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0	380	379	371	375	99 %

The measure of delivery head ​​has given us very positive values for all the three Sicce pumps, since all pumps are very close to declared values, with two of them with 4% more.

Output

pump	declared output	laboratory test	deviation
Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5	2.500	2.910	116 %
Sicce Syncra Silent 4.0	3.500	3.709	106 %
Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0	5.000	4.795	96 %

The output rate has given us very impressive values, as two pumps have a better results than declared, 16% and 6% more, the 5.0 lose only 4%. We must say however that the measurements were performed with all the protections over the pumps, as in the photos, while removing them we have verified that the performance would increase a lot, a good advice in case of use in sump.

Power Consumption

pump	declared power consumption	laboratory test	deviation	Annual cost (0,26€/kwh)
Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5	65	79,7	123 %	181,52 €
Sicce Syncra Silent 4.0	80	94	118 %	214,09 €
Sicce Syncra Silent 5.5	105	107,2	102 %	244,16 €

The measure of consumption was not been so positive, since two of the pumps exhibited a power consumption higher than declared data, and the 5.0 very close to declared data.

Measured data at 150 cm

pump	delivery head (cm)	declared output (l/h)	Power consumption (w)	Annual cost (0,26€/kwh)	efficiency (liters for euro)
Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5	152	2.149	70,8	161,25 €	13,33 litri
Sicce Syncra Silent 4.0	149	2.788	81,6	185,85 €	15,00 litri
Sicce Syncra Silent 5.5	153	3.350	107,2	244,16 €	13,72 litri

The measurements made at 150 cm are indicative of a range that we have in our tanks, both as regards the output, the power consuption and the cost, calculated here at 0.26 euros per kwh, everyone can divide that value by 0.26 and re-multiply for the value we currently pay.

The last column then returns a value indicative of the efficiency. That is how many liters a day we can move with one euro of electricity per year. Therefore the higher the number the better the performance.

Better efficiency is from 4.0, with the others very close . But we are in the average of the sumps.

Correspondence with declared data

Finally, just as a comparison, we give a matching value compared to data reported by the various pumps

pump	delivery head	output	Power consumption	Average
Sicce Syncra Silent 3.5	104 %	116 %	123 %	99 %
Sicce Syncra Silent 4.0	104 %	106 %	118 %	97 %
Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0	99 %	96 %	102 %	98 %

We can therefore say that all three Sicce pumps are suited to the data declared. I do however note that in the power consumption column, lowest numbers assure better performance, because they show a lower consumption than data declared.

We have to note the great performance in delivery head and output of the 3.5, but with more power consumption.

We can only promote to honors all three pumps in test that you see in the next image in a compact formation.

Many thanks to Sicce for providing us the pumps subject of tests and for the provision of the laboratory where the tests were performed.