Okay...this story got really long, hang up now if you are in a hurry ;)
We had to replace our 3 year old pump early this spring, it was just going off intermittantly and then it would come back on. Sometimes it would stay off for only 10 minutes, other times an hour. Finally, it went off for good. We thought it was a fluke or a cheap pump. I thought they should last longer than that. We bought another one for around $90. Our pond is about 5 X 5 and has some areas that are 2 feet or so and some that are more shallow, like shelves. I'm not sure how many gallons that is. Anyway, we bought this pump in the spring and it did the exact same thing, starting a couple of weeks ago. Kaput yesterday. We do have rather skanky water, really. It clears a little, then gets skanky again. We barely feed the fish. We clean the filtering system, but I admit sometimes it goes a month without maintenance. Usually, every two weeks or so it gets cleaned. We do have algae, but not the string type. Some of it's filamentous, but it's not the stringy kind I have seen posted on DG that people have problems with. When I clean the filter, I never see the filamentous algae in there. I just put a bid on ANOTHER pump on ebay (this pond is getting expensive!), this time I hope to make it last. I took the current pump apart to putz with it, I couldn't get the impeller out to clean it, are they not removable on large pumps the way they are on small fish tank pumps?
Any ideas? Is this pump salvageable? Should I do something special to maintain a pump that I'm not doing?
bad luck with pumps
Yes, the impellor should be removeable but it may have a strong magnet.
1) you may have "gunk, debris" getting in the impellor or clogging the hose to the pump. no matter what pump you use this may continue to be a problem.
2) you didnt mention what kind of pumps you are buying. a $90 pump should be good quality, more likely than not the debris is messing up your pump. You need some type of filter before the pump.
I have a retro fit skimmer, its a pain in the bee hind but it keeps most of the trash out of the pump :)
We do have a filter before the pump. It sits in a tub with a layer of meshy stuff over it, with plastic doo-hickies that provide surface area for bacteria down inside the tub under the mesh. The pump stays nestled within those doo-hickies. I even used pliars to try and pull that impeller out. I knew its magnet must be large because the pump is very heavy. But alas, I couldn't budge it. Thanks for replying.
Try to contact your pump manufacturer, most of them have a website.
Good idea. If I can find any paperwork on it.
Our old pump did that all last year and finally died this spring. We bought a Lil Giant 1450 gph pump at a pond store and the owner told me to save my receipt & box cause it had a year warranty. If you bought it at a store & still have the box & receipt you may want check if there is a warranty.