Help me solve a mystery!

[Lisak1]

So I got up on Christmas Eve and, like I do every morning, I glanced out at the pond. Waterfall is off... what the heck? And of course on the coldest day of the year so far. So I grab my coat and head out to see what's up. Yup. Pump is off. Check the outlet. Seems fine. Unplug, plug back in. Nothing. Move plug to different outlet. Nope. This is a variable pump so there's a box that you point the remote control at to make it go on and off or faster and slower. NO CLUE WHAT YOU CALL THAT THING! haha. Anyway, I checked that connection as well and played around with the remote. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Several hours and a few degrees warmer I decide to go try one more time. Go through the same routine, but this time I pick up that box and flip it over (it's mounted about 8 inches off the ground on a stake) to double check the plug. That's when I realize - the switch on the bottom is turned off!

I wish I could tell you what the switch is called, but I'll describe it. It's a rocker switch, one side has a "--" and the other has an "0" to indicate on and off. Then there's a clear rubber-y cover over the switch. To turn it on or off you have to press the rubber cover hard enough to push the switch.

So my question is - other than someone actually turning off the switch, is there another way that would have gotten switched off? Would a power surge do it? It's plugged into a GFCI outlet which was not popped. I suggested maybe a small animal crawled under it and managed to switch it off. My husband has been looking at me funny ever since!

Any ideas?

 

[JRS]

My first guess would be the same as yours-a curious varmint.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Same here. My first thought was some critter managed to push it while crawling under.

 

[Ronfire]

Think A critter was looking for the warm area under the pump

 

[j.w]

Had to be a Hippopotamus

 

[brokensword]

I second j.w; I've heard of pond hippos causing trouble before...

 

[Mmathis]

I used to have hippos in my pond!

 

[GBBUDD]

I wish I could tell you what the switch is called,

? SWITCH. ?

some motors do have a thermal kill switch now you said it was coldest day thus far . Any chance your ice started to back up and cause the pump to heat up ?

Santa or one of his elves tried on the switch.

Maybe the Grinch did it !!!!!!!

Anyone for the reindeer was munching on watercress and his horns hit the switch. ?

 

[poconojoe]

Darn gremlins...

At least you found the problem and you know where to look if something like that happens again.

Is there any danger of the pipes/pump or other plumbing freezing if there's no flow? Hope not. That could be bad.

I would put something there to block access so it doesn't happen again. Some stones around it or maybe a small scrap of pond netting across the area.

 

[brokensword]

Darn gremlins...

At least you found the problem and you know where to look if something like that happens again.

Is there any danger of the pipes/pump or other plumbing freezing if there's no flow? Hope not. That could be bad.

I would put something there to block access so it doesn't happen again. Some stones around it or maybe a small scrap of pond netting across the area.

...something that can trap hippos...

@j.w got any hippo gifs?

 

[GBBUDD]

Gremlins are banned its a world wide no fly zone at x mas

 

[j.w]

...something that can trap hippos...

@j.w got any hippo gifs?

Well yes of course I do, why wouldn't I

and many more!

 

[sissy]

I have a switch similar but it is on my well pump and had a bee get inside the seal of it .I guess the chewed the rubber seal behind where it connects to the box it is mounted in .They rubber over the swtch just protects the switch from water .Mine is mounted inside and ground box to keep it from getting wet .I saw the door on the outer box was open a little so guess that is how the bee got in there .It was all full of a mud nest .Really just an emergency shut off switch for the pump for the outdoor spigot for watering the lawn or whatever so I do not have to send that water through my whole house filter .

 

[Lisak1]

? SWITCH. ?

Funny man... I meant WHAT KIND OF SWITCH. Like not a light switch or a sliding switch. A rocker switch I guess you would call it. It just seems unlikely that it would flip on it's own.

Any chance your ice started to back up and cause the pump to heat up ?

Nope. The pump is under six feet of water - nothing heating up down there. And the ice has just barely started to form. But in any case our water just keeps flowing under the ice.

This switch is on the remote control receiver box. The pump plugs into the box and the box plugs into the outlet. The box is completely exposed to the elements, so it definitely didn't overheat. Too cold might make sense but I still don't think that switch could just flip itself. It's so low to the ground that something getting under it seems unlikely and if it did, it would just lift it right off the mount... at least I think it would.

Still perplexing! But thanks to all you funny folks for making me laugh. My husband is still laughing AT ME and my nutty theories!

 

[JamieB]

Grimlins. When things go wrong and there’s no way they should have, no reasonable explanation, Grimlins. And if it’s electric, it was Sparky from Grimlins 2.