Pond poump

[JohnM2001]

I have a small pond, 800 gallons, with small waterfall. The other day, my Laguna Max Flo 600 pump crapped out. I ordered a different brand, 1050 GPH, for around $50. Whren it arrived, I realized it uses 275 watts of power! Too much, the Laguna uses around 35, so I'll return this one, and get something else, maybe another Laguna, with 3 year warranty for n$85.

 

[HARO]

A new impeller would probably fix the problem with the Laguna. About $15! Just saying.
John

 

[JohnM2001]

Have you replaced an impeller, is it difficult? Maybe I'll check that out. There was a bunch of debris inside the intake pipe of my filter, when I de-installed it. I had to scrape it out, then rinse, and was hoping the pump would work afterwards, but it didn't, so I'm not sure if a new impeller would help, or if the cloggage burnt out the motor. This pump has the stock plastic cage around it, but some leaves apparently still got in to clog the intake. Do folks here also use those filter bags around the pump to prevent debris getting in? My pump sits about 12" off the bottom of the pond, screwed inside a plastic milk crate.

 

[HARO]

Have you replaced an impeller, is it difficult?

I ran a small pond department in a local garden center for about 15 years. During that time I replaced probably around 50 impellers, some require only a few minutes, while on other (larger) pumps you may have to remove/replace a few screws, taking a bit longer. The Laguna MaxFlo has 4 slotted yellow plastic "screw heads" around the edge. Push these down with a screwdriver, and give them 1/4 turn. This releases the two clamshell halves. Open them, and remove the pump. Pry off the front cover (may need a screwdriver or knife blade to persuade it) and put it aside. Rotate the round gray part slightly counter-clockwise, and pull it off. Your replacement impeller comes with a small wire hook; use this to pull out the old impeller. Clean, insert the new one, and put everything back in reverse order. It takes 5 or 6 minutes, up to 20 if the owner insists on watching!
BTW, of those 50 pumps, 48 were repaired successfully, while 2 had internal electrical problems, so it's worth a try.
John

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[JohnM2001]

Thanks so much! Still mulling over whether to also use a barrier bag. I've heard you need to clean those periodically during the season. Previously, I've never needed to pull the lump during our 7 month season for cleaning, although we did have a pretty heavy Spring dump of maple tree helicopters and oak tree tassels this year.