Water Pump On The Fritz

[sacramonel]

Hello all,

My area of New York was hit with power issues. Not a complete black-out but the power is very very low. When the power went low I began hearing a rattling noise in my sump pump and no output from it as well. I assumed that it was due to the low power and the pump trying to do its job. Has anyone else had this an issue like this, and will the pump be back to normal once the power is full again.

PS Am I correct to assume that the fish and coral will be ok due to the live rock. I have 80lbs in a 75 gallon tank.

Thank you ahead of time for any help you can offer.

 

[SkiFletch]

Were you down in the bad flooding areas around the catskills and delware river? If so, I hope everything has been ok for you, that was some nasty flooding. As for the livestock, they will be fine for a while as long as there are powerheads running in the tank to keep water circulating. The LR will do the job for sure. You may get some algae blooms depending on how much you rely on your sump for nutrient export, but nothing should be in imminent danger in the display.

As for the pump, rattling noises could be a number of things. I assume we're talking a centrifugal pump of some kind here? What make and model is it? And when you say your power was low, do you mean your house was supplied with less than 100VAC? A low voltage could have caused the pump to fall off its pressure curve and cavitate and rattle. If that was the case, then it SHOULD start up normally once sufficient AC power is restored. The rattling may have damaged the bearings on the motor and it might be a lost cause though. Either way you wont know until you get that 110 back

Are you sure nothing got in the pump? A snail or piece of large hard debris can really wreck the fins on a centrifugal pump. Even if one is bent just a little tiny bit, the blades will be off balance and the pump will rattle. Ultimately the rattle will likely become worse until the pump or the pipes it attaches to rattle themselves to pieces.

Given what you've mentioned, here's what I'd do. Get a volt meter and make sure that 110 VAC has been restored to the house. Simultaneously, if possible, I'd remove the pump from the system and inspect the pump half of it. Most pumps can be taken apart for servicing by removing the face of the inlet. If you pull the case off, and everything looks fine in there (no bent fins or scrached internal housing faces), then I'd put it back together and fire it up. If you find damage, try to post a pic here. The pump may be too difficult to remove from the system, and if so, just start it back up once the tank is full of water and power is restored. Any damage (if any has occured) has allready been done, so there's no extra risk in starting it. If it does make sounds, try to get a good handle on whether they're coming from the electric motor or the pump portion.

Hope that helps