pump getting very noisy

[jaded]

My seq dart has developed a distinct noise. It's probably about 5 beats a second.

It's actually not odd to hear noise from this pump. My tank is notoriously bubble filled. I think that air builds up in the housing and makes it "whine" at least once a day, but this is something different.

I read the instructions and it says there is no maitenance needed, but is that a reality? I have only had it running about 3 months (tops). I recently had carbon in the wrong spot in my sump and clouded the whole thing up with carbon dust. Maybe this is related.

any help or advise would be greatly appriciated

[Polkster13]

Shut the pump down. Disconnect it using the usions and shutoff valves and check and make sure there is nothing in the impeller that is causing it to make this noise. You could do serious damage to the pump if something has gotten into the pump housing. Don't delay, do it now.

[alexwolf]

Yep. i got a snail sucked into one of mine, and it broke the impeller.

[jaded]

Dang... I wish I wouldnt have read this while at work and powerless to do anything...

[Thunderkat]

Put a strainer on the suction of your pump if you did get something in there to keep objects from going in again.

[jaded]

Im hoping its just carbon buildup... but I'll break it down after work to find out

[GaryP]

Carbon buildup? More likely it scale buildup. I take my pumps apart and clean them with acid every 4 months or so.

[jaded]

well... I mention the carbon becuase its all over everything that has a slime coat... including my skimmer, sump and probably my pump.

the pump is nearly new... thats not to say it couldnt be loads of things, but the carbon powder incident just happened so I'm making a connection because its fresh in my mind.

What kind of acid? Can you give me a little tutorial on the acid cleaning... I'm really short on time today I have only a short time to clean this before I head out to san marcos after work. If the acid thing is fast I'd rather do it right while I have it torn apart. Otherwise I guess I'll just clean it manually and take it down again when I have time for the full maintenance

[GaryP]

Just take everything apart and soak it in vinegar (acetic acid) for an hour or so. You can use muriatic acid (Hydrochloric acid) but its harder to find, harder to dilute, and more dangerous but it works a lot faster. Muriatic is also not compatible with nylon.

[jaded]

then just a water rinse? or do I need to rinse with something special?

[z28pwr]

I had some noise in my Ampmaster and it turned out to be a small piece of rock that was stuck in there, just disconnected the pump and removed the small piece of rock and it was good to go.

[schoeplein]

My return pump (Rio800) in my hang-on sump gets out of calibration and sometimes doesn't have enough watter supply... causes it to get down right ugly, clicking noises trying to pump air. It still pumps the same amount of water, but it is much noisier than it was when it was new.

Any possibility of curing this? It sounds similar to your problem.

[Thunderkat]

Clean the pump and the suction tubes to it. I dont' know if its true but I have heard lots of bad things about Rio pumps. Look up your pump online and see if folks have had similar problems.

[schoeplein]

I simply think when its pumping air there isn't enough resistance and it burns up the motor... I'm just hoping it doesn't die as it would knock out 3 types of filtration :o

[jaded]

Cleaned it and now it sounds just as quite as new... thanks for the help all!!!