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#1
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Darren needs help with an air leak in his system
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 |
#2
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Darren needs help with an air leak in his system - I MADE IT!
Ha! I have finally made it on to pond.moderated ... I used news.aioe.org.
One question for you folks ... I am probably just going to take my pump out and and redo all the piping around it (especially the intake part). I want to use a "quick release" type system as well. Ron sent me a link on the ones he uses (can't seem to find it now - can you send me the URL again?). What else do people use? My PVC from the pump is a 1.5" pipe but it goes to a 2" PVC pipe to the top of the pond. Currently, I use a PVC "collar" type fitting. Sorry - long tired day, so I can't remember it and can't seem to find it online. But it basically is a threaded PVC pipe that allows you to take your pump out etc without gluing up PVC pipe to it. The bad thing is that if you tighten too much it leaks ... tighten too little it leaks. It is hard to tighten because it gets slippery etc. Thanks Darren "Phyllis and Jim" wrote in message ups.com... 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 |
#3
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Darren needs help with an air leak in his system - I MADE IT!
On Thu, 3 May 2007 23:02:05 CST, "Darren"
wrote: Currently, I use a PVC "collar" type fitting. Sorry - long tired day, so I can't remember it and can't seem to find it online. But it basically is a threaded PVC pipe that allows you to take your pump out etc without gluing up PVC pipe to it. The bad thing is that if you tighten too much it leaks ... tighten too little it leaks. It is hard to tighten because it gets slippery etc. Teflon tape cures leaking through the thread. Regards, Hal |
#4
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Darren needs help with an air leak in his system - I MADE IT!
For some reason, I thought you weren't supposed to use teflon tape when
dealing with threaded PVC piping ... Darren "Hal" wrote in message ... On Thu, 3 May 2007 23:02:05 CST, "Darren" wrote: Currently, I use a PVC "collar" type fitting. Sorry - long tired day, so I can't remember it and can't seem to find it online. But it basically is a threaded PVC pipe that allows you to take your pump out etc without gluing up PVC pipe to it. The bad thing is that if you tighten too much it leaks ... tighten too little it leaks. It is hard to tighten because it gets slippery etc. Teflon tape cures leaking through the thread. Regards, Hal |
#5
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Darren needs help with an air leak in his system - I MADE IT!
On Thu, 3 May 2007 23:02:05 CST, "Darren" wrote:
Ha! I have finally made it on to pond.moderated ... I used news.aioe.org. Welcome! :-) One question for you folks ... I am probably just going to take my pump out and and redo all the piping around it (especially the intake part). I want to use a "quick release" type system as well. Ron sent me a link on the ones he uses (can't seem to find it now - can you send me the URL again?). What else do people use? My PVC from the pump is a 1.5" pipe but it goes to a 2" PVC pipe to the top of the pond. I'm not Ron.... but.... These are the quick disconnects I used on my filter/pump connections: http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/...etail/iid/8104 female http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/...etail/iid/8161 male Other parts and parts list can be seen on my website below listed under Demo Pond Filter. The page numbers are not correct, but the parts numbers are still usable. One has to click on the title to the right of the part to see all the sizes. HTH's, ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us |
#6
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Darren needs help with an air leak in his system - I MADE IT!
On Fri, 4 May 2007 12:36:37 CST, "Darren"
wrote: For some reason, I thought you weren't supposed to use teflon tape when dealing with threaded PVC piping ... I'm not aware of any. A quick look did find a comment not to use Teflon tape in PVC pipe joints, not threads. I don't glue my pump in place, but simply slip the pipe joints together so they will come apart for cleaning. I do wipe a finger of sandstone dust on the (Actually ABS instead of PVC.) pipe before inserting it into the mating part so the plastic takes the abrasive charge and provides some friction to hold the parts together. Teflon wouldn't work here, but it would make it easy to take apart. Regards, Hal |
#7
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Darren needs help with an air leak in his system - I MADE IT!
In article , "Darren"
wrote: Ha! I have finally made it on to pond.moderated ... I used news.aioe.org. One question for you folks ... I am probably just going to take my pump out and and redo all the piping around it (especially the intake part). I want to use a "quick release" type system as well. Ron sent me a link on the ones he uses (can't seem to find it now - can you send me the URL again?). What else do people use? My PVC from the pump is a 1.5" pipe but it goes to a 2" PVC pipe to the top of the pond. Currently, I use a PVC "collar" type fitting. Sorry - long tired day, so I can't remember it and can't seem to find it online. But it basically is a threaded PVC pipe that allows you to take your pump out etc without gluing up PVC pipe to it. The bad thing is that if you tighten too much it leaks ... tighten too little it leaks. It is hard to tighten because it gets slippery etc. I use plumbers tape (that really thin white plastic) for threaded pipe when I need a foolproof watertight fit. Cheap and always works. Thanks Darren "Phyllis and Jim" wrote in message ups.com... 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 -- To reply by email, remove the word "space" |
#8
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Darren needs help with an air leak in his system - I MADE IT!
In article ,
Hal wrote: On Fri, 4 May 2007 12:36:37 CST, "Darren" wrote: For some reason, I thought you weren't supposed to use teflon tape when dealing with threaded PVC piping ... I'm not aware of any. A quick look did find a comment not to use Teflon tape in PVC pipe joints, not threads. I don't glue my pump in place, but simply slip the pipe joints together so they will come apart for cleaning. I do wipe a finger of sandstone dust on the (Actually ABS instead of PVC.) pipe before inserting it into the mating part so the plastic takes the abrasive charge and provides some friction to hold the parts together. Teflon wouldn't work here, but it would make it easy to take apart. Regards, Hal Yes, I use the teflon tape (not plumber's tape, I mentioned in my other post) all the time for this. It's thin enough that it won't hurt the PVC threads, which is the only reason I could think of that someone would suggest not to use it. -- To reply by email, remove the word "space" |
#9
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Darren needs help with an air leak in his system - I MADE IT!
snip
I use Gas PTFE tape - its thicker than the normal plumbing tape and gets a good seal on the pond screw fittings Cheers Gordon |
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