Burnt out pump, what I need for new 1.

[dinsey]

Hi I am new to this forum so be gentle.

I left my outside pump on for 2 days by accident (barrel empty) and I think its burnt itself out.

I have a own water souce fountain, barrel with pump at bottom, power supply from the house.

I inherited this system from the previous owner, so dont know anyting about cables etc.

What I am asking is can I just buy a new pump and replace the old burnt out one, wiring I assume is done outside the barrel, but will it be same connections?

 

[breezer]

yes you can, try and get the same pump as the one you had as it would make life easier.

BUT make sure it is switched off first.

Incidentally you can not join cables out side unless in a weather or water proof box, but that said most pumps have a 10 m cable, so you may not need to.

 

[dinsey]

Thanks for the reply,

I appreciate that pumps have a long power cable but its about 30ms to the main switch in the house. But there is a junction box attached to the fence that runs on the side of the garden, which would appear less than 10M, so the original pump must run to this then to the house.

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

You can get a waterproof cable connector for around a tenner.
Allegedly submersible although I've never tried that, prefer to hide them under stones than throw in the pond and watch the fish dance !!!!

 

[breezer]

where? water resitant maybe, water proof .............hmmm, be interesting to see, i need one soon

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

Funnily enough breezer my favourite shop, P&2 (or any good aquatic /hardware retailer).
They 'click' together and have an 'o' ring or two, with sealing grommets round the two cable ends, but I don't trust them to be waterproof, weatherproof maybe, waterproof no.

Incidentally dinsey check your fuse(s) before condemming pump. I've done that before.

 

[dinsey]

guy i apoligise for sounding like a amateur, but truely i am lost.

Scoby_Beasley , where would the fuse be m8?

maybe i need to explain better guys. here is my poor attempt:

i have a summer house which is about 60m from the house, this has power sockets for tv, lighting inside it, bar lights etc, which all comes from the house.

The same line which comes from the house drives also the pump and garden light that are situated on the pathway to the summer house. (i suspect some T juction was added to split the orignal line from the house).

inside i have 2 normal switchs like light switchs in the house, one is for pump other is the lights in the garden.

below this i have a fuse box which when cut kills all power to outside which includes summer house and pumps/ lights. Its more like a power breaker thing.

so where is the fuse for the pump?

The installation was done by a proffesional outfit so i think no short cuts were taken.

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

If done by a pro bunch, I apologise. I was assuming that you had a plug on end of pump cable into waterproof socket, then second plug/fused connector in the house.
Only thing now to suggest is you dis-assemble pump (round rotor end) to clean out the s@@t if any, re-try, then bin it !!
P.S. If you got bar lights in ya summer house, can I get an invite !!

 

[dinsey]

I have a patio type slab, with a huge barrely in ground under it, the slab has a small hole in it about size u can get 1 hand only in, am assuming i can get hand down there and pull pump up, anything i need to know before i try and take pump up, me hopes cable goes up side of the barrel and out to surface.

wouldnt know the front nor end of a pump, i will turn power off etc,

 

[breezer]

it has been known for "sump pumps" in particular to get jammed with grit, and either burn out or the cut out takes over and stops it from working, either way it should still have a fuse ............some where, follow the cable as best you can and there should be some "box" with a fuse in it

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

The rotor end will have the grill over it, where the "up" pipe comes out should rotate to take it off, be careful, there are rubber/plastic bearing runs in there (small).
Some pumps (the small ones) open like an oyster shell, down the middle, clear out any crap you might find, then condemn.
In answer to your original question, if the pump is mains voltage, it has L,N & E just like any other appliance so it's just a case of changing brown for brown etc. etc..
Best of luck dinsey.

 

[dinsey]

thanks for reading my posts and replying guys,

will check in the morning, for fuse inside house, might even check in summer house,

but had a thought if i do get a new 1 i will pit it on 2 bricks in the barrel so it dont get clogged up at all.

 

[breezer]

most "sump pumps" will handle "small solids" but the bricks are a good idea,