CW's Back Yard Water Garden Begins!

[combatwombat]

So, I'm realizing I'm having the same issue now that I was having when the pump was brand new. There's something weird going on with the on/off button and related circuitry. When I first installed the pump, I could not get it to turn on. Pressed the on/off button 100 times. Tried a long press. Short Press. Really long press. Double press. Triple press. Motor wouldn't start. Got frustrated and went inside to write an email to Advantage to ask them what I'm doing wrong. Went back outside... pump is running. Oh well. Pump was working and buttons were all now responsive, so I forgot about it.

Now I'm having flashbacks. Plugged the pump in on the kitchen counter the other night after drying and reassembling. Let it sit for a few minutes while I did some chores. Came back, hit the on/off button, and it fires right up. Let it run for a few seconds, shut it down, unplugged it.

Next morning, hook it back up to pond plumbing, and the on/off button doesn't start the pump. Wait 15 minutes and try again. Still nothing. Wait until this morning, come back, still nothing.

I know the logic board is registering a click because the LCD display changes when I press it, but no response from the pump.

Since the pump fired up the other day and sounded fine, I think we can rule out an issue w/ the motor. It has to be something with the controls, right?

Now I'm starting to suspect there was a pre-existing problem with the controls straight from the factory, and I just let it go because I got it running and didn't run into that issue again.

I called Advantage again this morning and brought this up as a possible issue. Of course, now that I've gotten it wet, they don't want to hear about it.

They're willing to poke around the warehouse and see if they have another control board they can sell me or give me a discount on a new pump.

But from what I can tell, the pump is now behaving similar to how it was when I first bought it, but I wasn't astute enough then to press the issue.The

 

[combatwombat]

Very Nice is that the plastic wood decking trex like material? I did not think to use that I haven't started on my bridge yet but I am trying to think of materials that will hold up well outside. my bridge will be arched though.

Yep, Trex. Picked up a bunch of it for $0.50/ft at Habitat Restore last year.

I’m kind of winging it in the design, so I’m using
the ugliest color I have on hand to see how it goes. If I mess it up, can just toss it and start over with little lost.

 

[GBBUDD]

Don't span more than 16 inches without some sort of support in the middle, and in short lengths id probably shorten the span to 12 inches

 

[combatwombat]

Don't span more than 16 inches without some sort of support in the middle, and in short lengths id probably shorten the span to 12 inches

12” is the plan.

 

[Jhn]

12” is the plan.

Good plan anything more than that and you will see waves in the deck and it can flex abit when stepped on. Watch that stuff when wet though it gets extremely slick even the supposed non skid stuff.

 

[combatwombat]

Good plan anything more than that and you will see waves in the deck and it can flex abit when stepped on. Watch that stuff when wet though it gets extremely slick even the supposed non skid stuff.

I believe it. Have heard the same about scorching in the heat, too. The stuff I have has a 3D profile for the cap and a kind of sanded texture to it, but will be mindful of that.

 

[GBBUDD]

You and the kids running around the yard will like ipe much better it silvers out in time and will outlast your kids living there , even if it takes 30 years. It's a heck of a lot less slippery no it's not cheap but for a little crossing like that your talking less than 100 bucks

 

[Lisak1]

Now I'm starting to suspect there was a pre-existing problem with the controls straight from the factory,

Ugh - that's annoying! I don't know electrical at all, but it definitely sounds like something isn't connected right... the best device of any kind can stink it up if the controls don't work right. We had that issue with our variable speed pump - great pump, but the control panel stopped responding. So our variable pump became a single speed pump. And the design flaw - the control panel was wired in to the electrical cord... no way to replace it without replacing the entire pump. Dumb.

 

[combatwombat]

Ugh - that's annoying! I don't know electrical at all, but it definitely sounds like something isn't connected right... the best device of any kind can stink it up if the controls don't work right. We had that issue with our variable speed pump - great pump, but the control panel stopped responding. So our variable pump became a single speed pump. And the design flaw - the control panel was wired in to the electrical cord... no way to replace it without replacing the entire pump. Dumb.

Yeah, bad design overall. So much designed today to either save space or save time/money that leads to an expensive piece of trash when a small, otherwise serviceable piece of it breaks down. You have to do a lot of homework to avoid that because you won't learn about that from the marketing materials.

In my case, the whole control system pops off the pump and could be replaced. However, Advantage says they're not making this pump anymore and they don't have any parts to offer. It's less than a year old and you can't get parts for it! Not a good look for the manufacturer. And that's beside the fact that the app that runs the controls remotely is hopelessly broken and Advantage says they're not going to fix it—just moving onto a new model.

Ok, I'm done griping. Back into solutions mode!

 

[GBBUDD]

Advantage says they're not making this pump anymore

The advantage to spending the money on a top brand name product. but no guarantees there either.
The disadvantage to bells and whistles. @Lisak1 had similar issues with her variable pump.

 

[combatwombat]

The advantage to spending the money on a top brand name product. but no guarantees there either.
The disadvantage to bells and whistles. @Lisak1 had similar issues with her variable pump.

Every manufacturer eventually stops making something. Very few stop making something after just a year. And just a tiny fraction of those stop carrying parts for their discontinued models the moment they discontinue them. Those manufacturers go in my "do not do business with" bucket.

 

[combatwombat]

Oops, I said was going back into solutions mode. Positive note: I've had a fun, lazy Sunday learning all about different motor types and how to drive them. I think there may be a simple-ish way for me swap the control guts on my pump for a home-brew board that can both function better and live somewhere out of danger.

 

[GBBUDD]

Your not the first nor will you be the last to have an unforeseen issue at the pond.
I had a edge get backed up by plants and I lost a lot of water emptying the catch pool killing like 5 fish

 

[Landman]

I know the pump I got ( HELIX )was not cheap but it's a very high quality pump already been shut off at least 5 times after losing water pressure or something else tripping the gfci and I thought for sure it would die on me. I know it's not good on the pump to keep doing that, fortunately it hasn't happened again since 2 weeks ago or so. It was happening about a week in each time but I think I solved something there.

 

[combatwombat]

Well, after one last call to Advantage, the pump is on its way back to the manufacturer for warranty service. I confirmed with a local motor shop that the motor has an open winding, though, so pretty sure they're going to have to replace it because the design does not really allow it to be rewound.