10 days shy of 5 years, I have to announce a retirement...
by
, 05-06-2010 at 10:13 PM (2482 Views)
My return pump has chugged along for 1,815 days in a row, running 23.5 hours a day. Every night for about 30 minutes, the return pump is turned off while I feed the tank, then restarted once they've had their feasting period.
The Little Giant - OPGW-46, tired and wailing:
Over the past month, it didn't always want to restart. I tried spraying some silicone lubricant on the shaft, and chipped away at salt buildup in that same area. Last night, it started howling and I knew it was time to pull out my back-up return pump, a Sequence Dart that I bought a long time ago for this day.
Matter of fact, I've had to loan it out to a couple of people when their pumps were broken. So I'll be shopping for a new backup soon.
As you know, I like a little light math, and determined that the Little Giant has pushed over 149 million gallons in the past 5 years - 149,283,750 gallons to be exact. I'd have to say I got my monies' worth. At a mere 141 watts of power, I might add.
The new pump was identical is shape, style, and even the inlet / outlets matched. So a little swapping of some plumbing fittings, and about 45 minutes later the tank has flow. I'm still going to watch for any drips over the next couple of days.