fsn77
06/14/2006, 10:26 AM
Can frequent power outages, which cause a return pump to turn off and then back on, damage it? I'm not sure how old our pump is since we got it used with everything else. It's a submersible pump -- the only brand markings on it are CA 2200. I know that certain brands of powerheads aren't recommended for on/off wavemaker applications because it causes them to wear out more quickly, but I don't know how on / off conditions affect a return pump.
We had a series of brief power outages last night (storms), and it didn't sucessfully start pumping once the power came back on. Once I realized it, I cleaned it, thinking that some calcified build-up in it was the problem, but nothing in it except a very small amount of sludge around the edges. It still had a rough time starting up after the cleaning.
I fear it may be time to replace this return pump, if not now, soon. Are there return pumps that perform better under on / off conditions like certain brands of powerheads? We'd be looking for one that pumps 500 - 600 gph after 55" of head.
If nothing else, I'm feeling better about the multiple powerheads we have in our tank for extra circulation -- at least they all came back on after the power outage.
We had a series of brief power outages last night (storms), and it didn't sucessfully start pumping once the power came back on. Once I realized it, I cleaned it, thinking that some calcified build-up in it was the problem, but nothing in it except a very small amount of sludge around the edges. It still had a rough time starting up after the cleaning.
I fear it may be time to replace this return pump, if not now, soon. Are there return pumps that perform better under on / off conditions like certain brands of powerheads? We'd be looking for one that pumps 500 - 600 gph after 55" of head.
If nothing else, I'm feeling better about the multiple powerheads we have in our tank for extra circulation -- at least they all came back on after the power outage.