Bermuda pondivac question

[Jmac]

Hi all.

I've recently bought the Bermuda pondivac from my local garden centre. It's taken a couple of days to get it working well consistently after each tank drain, however I do have one issue. The cone shaped in the vacuum barrel has a small pool of water in it after the main body is filled with water and it does not drain away with the rest of the water when I drain the unit. Once the water is in the filter the vacuum will not suck up water again until the water is removed from the filter.
So my question is has anyone else experienced this?
There are no obvious holes in the filter bag save for the microscopic ones already present to allow for air passage when the motor is running.
It means that instead of the process simply being switch on, switch off, drain, switch back on it's now become switch on, switch off, drain, remove vacuum head/motor, drain filter, replace filter, replace vacuum head/motor, switch back on.
Believe me these extra steps have left me really frustrated at what is otherwise a decent unit (once learned) and i'm really tempted to take the whole unit back for a full refund as surely it's not working as it's supposed to.

Thanks in advance.
J

 

[GBBUDD]

not familiar with that unit but if it is not placed on level ground that can cause issues

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Sorry, can’t help you with that brand: I have an Oase Pondovac. Mine cycles off and on for the vac cycle and the discharge cycle. I don’t have to do anything in between. Haven’t used it in a few years, but I do recall that it sometimes cuts off when something (like a snail or tree branch) gets stuck (somewhere in the bowels of the tank). Then, I have to shut it down and take it apart to get at the obstruction. I don’t recall any problems, though, as far as holding water (is that what you are talking about?). As @GBBUDD suggested, the unit does have to be above the water level for it to drain/discharge properly, so I would usually place it on top of the tote I used to store it. There was a major learning curve with mine. Maybe you could contact the company, or go over the directions again to be sure you’re not missing something.

Oh, and one of the things I learned was that it didn’t happen as much when I used an attachment with a smaller diameter. IOW, the diameter was small enough to suck up gunk, but not big enough for a snail to fit.

 

[j.w]

@Jmac
I have no vac and can't help ya. Sorry.

 

[Jmac]

Thanks for the replies.
Maybe I didn't explain myself well though as no one has touched on my issue.
So from inside the barrel of the vacuum (bottom to top) you have:
1) space to hold the water
2) near the top, the cone shaped filter. Finely perforated to allow air to be sucked in but not water.
3) Inside th cone filter is the sponge protecting the motor itself (I'm guessing as I haven't removed the sponge yet but I think I'm correct in that.
What's happening with me is that when I turn on the vacuum no.1 area fills up with water.
It reaches no.2 (filter cone) which instead of keeping all the water out allows some to get through.
The vacuum continues as it should until cut out and I can drain the water from the hose at the bottom.
However, once water is trapped inside the cone area the vacuum will not restart until I remove the water from the cone. Then it's all hunky dory again.
I think it is the sheer power of the vacuum motor which is sucking the water through the perforations of the cone and I think that it shouldn't be doing this.
I've checked for rips and tears but can't see any.

Hope that helps clarify... and helps someone to help me

 

[Mmathis]

Sorry, again, but I can’t help. My vac is the kind that automatically cycles on and off (suctions from the pond then discharges the dirty water, then cycles back to suction again, etc.). All I can say is have you read the instructions very thoroughly, and checked to be sure all parts are correctly and securely fitted? I know I hate it when my hubby asks me, “did you turn it on?” “did you reboot it?” or “is it plugged in?” but it’s the best way to have redundancy. Other than that, all I can think of is to contact the company. Mine is an Oase, so have no way of knowing how similar it might be to yours. Please let us know what you find out.

 

[Jmac]

Thanks MMathis.
In fairness I haven't used it since as I did get almost all of the pond bottom removed before giving up due to the frustration of the routine I mentioned in my first post.
When I plug it in again (which will be soon) I'll definitely post the fix if I find one.
Oh and yeah, I did read the instructions, several times over

 

[Mmathis]

Thanks MMathis.
In fairness I haven't used it since as I did get almost all of the pond bottom removed before giving up due to the frustration of the routine I mentioned in my first post.
When I plug it in again (which will be soon) I'll definitely post the fix if I find one.
Oh and yeah, I did read the instructions, several times over

Mine had a learning curve and it was frustrating until I figured it out.

 

[Jmac]

Just wanted to add that my issue is resolved.
I found that there was a thin tear in the cone shaped filter after all which was allowing water in.
My Pondivac is now performing as it should.
Thanks for all of your replys.

 

[addy1]

Wish I could have helped, have never used a store bought filter.