Pump won't turn on

Garg

I just tried to get my Reserator powered up again after it's been off for about 2.5 weeks, but the pump isn't turning on when I flip the switch. I opened up the inline switch on the cord to make sure everything was OK inside; it was.

Any ideas on what could keep the pump from switching on after lying dormant for a little while? As far as I know, it's not shorting out. It hasn't tripped a breaker, set off any alarms on the UPS, or shocked me yet.

The Reserator uses an Eheim Compact 300 pump, but I've switched mine out to the 600 model. Same idea, though. I'm using the Zalman G200 coolant additive in distilled water. My Reserator tank was pretty badly corroded before I recently refurbished it, but I doubt corrosion has been able to restart yet in the presence of the additive.

shwaip

can you open up the pump and make sure that the impeller isn't stuck? If something is jamming it, it wouldn't spin up anymore.

muddocktor

Corrosion is still a possibility, Garg. Or it might just be a case of nasty green crap (algae) growing even though you have the additive in there. Have you tried priming it up or anything? With it sitting still for 2 1/2 weeks there is the remote possibility that the pump airlocked from dissolved oxygen breaking out and airlocking the pump. Priming would cure this.

Garg

Thanks guys!
I'm not sure how to prime the pump. The pump is submerged in the tank, and it doesn't have an input line. Maybe if I just shake the whole assembly violently to free air bubbles?
(I see a comical emergency room visit in my future, explaining what the Reserator marks are on my face. )

Disassembling the pump would be kind of a pain, since it's at the bottom of the tank, and I'd want to save all that fluid that has the $20 additive in it. I'll do that if I have to, though.

Here's a pic of what the base of the setup looks like, before I slipped on the tank and filled it up. The silicone tube is a return line to the top of the tank.

shwaip

Is the reserator sealed? I'd suggest rotating the entire thing a couple times to move any stuck air around. shaking it might also help

shwaip

edit - looking at the picture, it looks like it might be possible for water to get into the electrical system of the pump up through the cord - is that properly sealed?

muddocktor

I think the best way to check for pump prime would be to use something like a turkey baster and inject some of your high dollar coolant in the discharge side of the pump through the tubing with it unplugged and then try turning it on and see if the pump responds. That way you should be able to get rid of any air bubble inside the pump itself. If that doesn't work, then I would say for you to try to drain your coolant into some clean water jugs or something and then start doing some troubleshooting with plain old water away from the computer.

Garg

shwaip wrote:

edit - looking at the picture, it looks like it might be possible for water to get into the electrical system of the pump up through the cord - is that properly sealed?

I was worried about that too. I dabbed some silicone caulking around where I opened up the cord, but I'm not sure that the caulking was a proper long-term solution. I should have left more of the cord inside the tank, because before I split it, it fit around the two wires pretty snugly.

muddocktor wrote:

I think the best way to check for pump prime would be to use something like a turkey baster and inject some of your high dollar coolant in the discharge side of the pump through the tubing with it unplugged and then try turning it on and see if the pump responds. That way you should be able to get rid of any air bubble inside the pump itself.

Good idea! I'll try that and the shaking method tonight.

Garg

Victory!

Tried shaking first, then kneading the output tube with the pump off (and input tube too, for good measure), then kneading the tubes with the pump on. The pump finally started moving water after I turned the pump off and then back on after kneading the tubes while it was on. I'm guessing that all three steps probably paid their part.

If that wouldn't have worked, I was planning on using tube clamps on the input side, so that all of the pressure I applied onto the output tube would have gone back up through the pump.

Thanks guys!

muddocktor

Glad to hear it, Garg. I figured the pump was actually just air locked and not bad.