Darren posted this on rec.ponds as rpm was unavailable. Could anyone
help him?

His address is darrengeathotmail.com

*** I don't have rec.ponds.moderated in my newsgroup listing so, I
just have
to go here ... ***

I have a stream between two ponds with a Sequence pump pumping the
water.
For a long time (several years) it was working fine but then I noticed
my
water flow reducing to about half of what it normally does. I thought
the
pump was going out, but if I turned off the pump and turned it back
on
again, the water flow would increase back to normal. Then it kept
getting
worse (reduce quicker and wouldn't recover as much). Then a few
months ago
my pump went out. It would stop and just hum and nothing would pump.
I
took it out and everything is locked up ... just dead. I replaced the
pump
with a new Sequence and it works for a while but within a few hours
the flow
reduces.


When I turn off the pump, the water in the pipe runs back down into
the
primer pot and leaks out the top a bit. I talked to a pond place and
they
said the pot shouldn't leak at all and so that is the place the air
could be
getting in. I put a silicon caulk around the seal and it sealed it so
when
I turn it off, the water comes down and doesn't leak out at all.
However,
now turning it off then on doesn't help any more. If I remove the lid
and
let water flow out to the top of the pot and put it back on, then it
runs
fine for a few hours again.


Couple thoughts:
* When it was leaking out in the past, it was also pushing out the air
when
it pushed out the water
* I can fill the primer pot to the top (and seal it), but once I turn
on the
pump, there is about an inch gap from the top of the water to the lid
- is
that normal?
* I think it is safe to say it isn't leaking air in from the top of
the pot
... so where else could it be? If there was a crack in the primer
pot, it
would leak water and I would see it (plus visual inspection had the
pot
looking ok).
* I don't think it is the pump, but maybe it could be. Is that a
common
symptom with pumps?


Any help on this would be great.


Thanks
Darren