Guest Tmtplyb February 11, 2005 Share February 11, 2005 I have a question, how often do you clean your pumps, and powerheads to prevent ca deposit? I have the little giant as a return pump for one year and it stop working overnight. I almost lost the upper 1/3 of the tank, since the pump is not working all the water drain to the sump. I found out that the ca deposit so hard which prevent pella to turn. Lucky I was able to rescuse ontime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowardofNOVA February 11, 2005 Share February 11, 2005 First of all, not sure how your system is setup, but you need to see if you can make a suction break near current waterline so that your tank doesn't drain out so much on power failures! I drilled a small 1/8" hole right at waterline into PVC in in-flow piping from pumps. When power failure occurs the backflow suction is broken after only a gallon or two has excaped. Second, while the pump is down, do any maintenance and take it apart and clean the rough stuff off you can, check parts for repair. If only Calcium buildup, go to store and buy 1 gallon Distilled White Vinegar and dump into 5g buck or bigger container that you can add enough water to cover and put LID on. Plug in and let run for about 30-60 minutes. Remove, run briefly in bucket of regular water and should be as good as new! Did this a month ago with every pump that I had and they are running like a champ! Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craby February 11, 2005 Share February 11, 2005 If the Little Giant is an external pump, which I think it is, you should probably not put it in the 5 gal bucket w/ vinegar. Just soak the impellar housing & impellar in vinegar for a few days, then wipe off the softened CA deposit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelg February 11, 2005 Share February 11, 2005 My pump siezed up after about 18 months (different type). Same problem. Some vinegar did wonders to clean it up. Some people do regular maintanance yearly. powerheads probably need it more frequently- but are less of a pain to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowardofNOVA February 11, 2005 Share February 11, 2005 wndr Ooops, External?? I suppose, you could be ok if you hook a few feet of tubing with clamps to intake with outflowing circulating back into bucket, that ought to do the same thing without submerging the whole pump? Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xeon February 11, 2005 Share February 11, 2005 I use either White Vinegar or Muriatic Acid. You can get Muriatic Acid from a hardware store and it works faster. I'm sure you know what White Vinegar is, on the other hand Muriatic Acid is Hydrochloric Acid (HCL). Specifically it is a technical grade HCL, which is impure... but good enough for alot of mundane chores. It is also a very soluble substance, ie. it mixes well with water. If you want to try it, I use a 1:4 (acid:water) solution which is potent enough. Of course you want to be cautious if using it, i.e. prolonged contact with skin, splashing it in your eyes, mouth and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tmtplyb February 11, 2005 Share February 11, 2005 Thanks for all of your advices, I did soak it in the vinegar and clean it up. Howard, can you explain a little bit more on your Suction break? if you can make a suction break near current waterline so that your tank doesn't drain out so much on power failures! I drilled a small 1/8" hole right at waterline into PVC in in-flow piping from pumps. When power failure occurs the backflow suction is broken after only a gallon or two has excaped. Any visual pictures thanks My set up 75g one return water from sump to tank and one drain tank to sump. How do I set up the suction break? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowardofNOVA February 11, 2005 Share February 11, 2005 What I mean by suction break is when your pump from you sump for example is pushing water into your tank. If power goes down, the water will start to go back the way it came. Basically will run back through pump until enough air get breaks the water flow enough to stop the backflow into the pump. Now, this could happen either with ALL the water in your tank due to gravity will run out of course overflowing your sump OR you can drill a small hole, 1/8" is enough to break tension sooner. In my case, I have Mag12 pumping water out of my sump into a SCWD which sends 2 hoses with DIY upside down U hooked over tank with an elbow returning water back into tank. On the tank side of the "U" at water level, I drilled this hole. It doesn't interfer with the inbound water, but WILL stop back flow very quickly. Sorry if I drew this out too long? Drawing of my tank/sump setup: If you look at this drawing where the gray hose line is coming out of SCWD over edge of tank and then elbows into tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reverai February 11, 2005 Share February 11, 2005 Howard, wouldn't a ball socket work just as well for when the power goes out to stop the water from draining? Thanks Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowardofNOVA February 11, 2005 Share February 11, 2005 Either way, but the hole is nothing more than a 10 second drill bit project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller February 11, 2005 Share February 11, 2005 I use 1/2 cup 30% muriatic acid to a 5g bucket. Then I run the powerheads for 30mins or so and then dump it and flush with fresh water. I do run piping and run external pumps as Howard suggested and then flush. However, don't drink the stuff, that's what happened to Howards hair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xeon February 12, 2005 Share February 12, 2005 Howard, wouldn't a ball socket work just as well for when the power goes out to stop the water from draining? Thanks Steve It would if you happened to be standing right there.... but that is 99.99% of the time not the case. If you overflowed your sump and didn't have enough water after power came back on... you could have a smoked return pump to add to a soaked floor. The hole drilled at water level simply breaks the syphon. Otherwise the water will drain down to the point where it does start to suck air. The key is the sooner the better... If you have an elbow over the edge of the tank with an outlet just two inches deep in the water... you are talking about 10 gallons or so in a 90 gallon tank. Now if you drill a hole at water level, the "run back" would be minimal, much less than 10 gallons. This is a real safety and easy disaster trick to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller February 12, 2005 Share February 12, 2005 Or you could simply have the return just below the waters surface so it doesn't back flow much before it runs out of water and breaks the siphon. Point being many wet floors were caused by slime, algae or anything else covering the small hole intended to break the siphon in the first place. Heck, an unlucky snail in the right place could be all it takes. Another option if you must have the return several inches below the surface would be to install a good quality swing check valve in the proper direction, but again slime can be a problem. BTW, we ALL assume you have your tank hooked up to GFI protected outlets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryL February 12, 2005 Share February 12, 2005 However, don't drink the stuff, that's what happened to Howards hair. too funny chip. but i wish you would of warned me. my hair didnt start thinning until i got into this hobby [tr] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craby February 13, 2005 Share February 13, 2005 I like the check valve idea. Does anyone know how drastically this valve would reduce flow back to the tank when open? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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