Lifetech return pump: Scotty, I'm losing power!!

Quinton

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I got home today and my return pump looked as if it had failed! On further inspection, the pump is running, but just not able to achieve the required head (of about 1.5m).

I've removed the pump and tested that it seems to working pretty well in a tub of water (high volume throughput with zero head). But as soon as a provide any resistance (e.g. stick my thumb over the outlet) there appears to be hardly any pressure.

Any ideas? Is this easily fixable? I'm not yet as far as having taken the pump to pieces yet.

Q
 
Quinton - this happens sometimes with my Boyu 26000 l/hour pump..... Sometimes it sucks in something that EITHER get's stuck in the pump itself, or get's stuck in the piping...

My solution is one of the following (I have a gate valve on the outlet of my pump).
- I close the gate valve while the pump is running
- I loosen the piping just where it goes into the top of my tank, and then apply pressure on the outlet pipe itself... (close it with my finger)....

One of these 2 actions usually resolves my problems.....

This pump is such a monster, that it sucked in plastic pegs that I had used in my sump before (they fell down - I did not know about it until it was too late).
The pump chowed these plastic pegs (washing pegs) into JUST about a thousand tiny pieces and blew the pieces through my piping, into my tank... I was fishing out tiny pieces of plastic peg everywhere ;-)

Try one of the two options - see if it helps at all....

Good luck mate!

BTW: you have been "missing" for a while.... I presume you have been keeping very busy with work and life? :)
 
Ditto Jacques.
I have complete faith in Lifetech. Have used them for many years.
On my 600 cube, im running the 2500lph as a return pump and it blows the substrate all over the place. Havent bothered even installing any other pumps for circulation.
 
OK, so I've dismantled the pump:

IMG_3758-1.jpg


... and it turns out that this little thingy, which looks as if it's designed to prevent backflow into the impeller, has partly broken:

IMG_3759-1.jpg


I wonder whether this is the problem?

Anyone know where I can buy a spare?

Q
 
With these pumps, the impellor is designed to run in either direction (got to do with the phase of electricity), so that little "flap" acts as a "moving shroud" to increase performance, with it like that it would definitely not perform properly, you must get a new piece, it could have broke from water flowing back into the pump from the piping?
 
Cool, thanks lighty. I must confess I don't quite understand how the flap is supposed to work. Is it intended to be bent at 90 degress like in the picture. Or should it be straight, pointing at the inlet?
 
the valve (red) with pump off should be in the middle, and either up or down, Depending on the direction of the flow, probably not quite 90deg, should flick back to middle position with no flow, it looks like it as gone too far back and jammed.

39248d174d6de1f1.jpg

http://www.marineaquariumsa.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=4646

If the water was flowing in the direction of the "blue" in the picture, the flap valve would be in the upper position, allowing the water to pass through the lower "section" and causing the right hand site of the flapper valve to create a part of the round housing.

IF THE PUMP RUNS ANTI CLOCKWISE

39248d174885b868.jpg



IF THE PUMP RUNS CLOCKWISE

39248d174b8bde69.jpg
 
Hey Quinton
You have to teach how to post such big pictures and even draw on them wow I'm impresed. I'm serious if you have the time & inclination drop me a PM. I might be able to return the favour some time.

Thanks
George
 
Hey Quinton
You have to teach how to post such big pictures and even draw on them wow I'm impresed. I'm serious if you have the time & inclination drop me a PM. I might be able to return the favour some time.

Thanks
George

Hi George. I didn't do anything special to get large pics. I always resize my pics to max 1024 pixels before uploading them to photobucket. It's possible that if you upload bigger ones they resize them smaller, but that's just a guess.

As for the drawing, lighty did that, not be, but I do know that you can use just about any painting program to do that. GIMP is my tool of choice GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program. But just about any image touching program (like photoshop) will do the trick.
 
Same AP5800 failure

Hi
I have had the same failure with worse consequenses. The plastic flap broke the impeller.


the valve (red) with pump off should be in the middle, and either up or down, Depending on the direction of the flow, probably not quite 90deg, should flick back to middle position with no flow, it looks like it as gone too far back and jammed.

39248d174d6de1f1.jpg



If the water was flowing in the direction of the "blue" in the picture, the flap valve would be in the upper position, allowing the water to pass through the lower "section" and causing the right hand site of the flapper valve to create a part of the round housing.

IF THE PUMP RUNS ANTI CLOCKWISE

39248d174885b868.jpg



IF THE PUMP RUNS CLOCKWISE

39248d174b8bde69.jpg
 
Pretty sure the cause of my problems was a reduced diameter return pipe. I recently dismantled all my plumbing (done by the previous owner, and found a pesky 15mm insert in an otheriwise 32m return pipe. The back pressure must have been horrendous.

Might be worth checking...
 
Quinton
All my pipes are 25mm. I think it's just age. I was told that the plastic flap was not avaiable as a spare and that I had to make my own. I did some modifications and fitted a s/steel flap. To me the pump has lost some power so I am trying to source
some spects on the plastic flap so I can trim or alter my s/steel plate.

The plate can rotate in the throat of the pump.

Thanks for the input.
 
Tag along

This thing also happened to my RESUN PUMP.. Pump is running but failed to send water back to display tank...:whistling:
 
Tag Along

Did you find out why the pump was not delivering?
I found a piece of my broken impellor stuck where it was making the
best blockage possible. I am still looking for an AP5800 pump that is no longer
being used or damaged

 
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