3152 ato pump issues loosing suction

[AdamNC]

It seems constantly my 3152 ato pump seems to be loosing its suction when in the reservoir. I have to shake the pump and/or flip it upside down to release air bubbles trap in it. The pump is in a 5 gallon bucket full of ro/di water constantly and has never been out of the water while running. The out take of the tubing is about 1/2" from the water surface. The unit itself works as I can hear the pump working and as I said once I shake the pump it starts pumping out water into the tank.

 

[rvitko]

When you flip it upside down, do air bubbles always escape from it? It would be normal to have to do this if the pump ran dry but not otherwise.

 

[AdamNC]

Yea every time. The out tube should be above the surface of the water and not dipped down in it right?

 

[rvitko]

Correct, if it was dipped down in it water would siphon back from the tank. Is the reservoir below the tank? How high do you have to pump?

 

[AdamNC]

Tank is on a standard height stand, 30" I believe and the reservoir is on the floor next to the stand in a HD white bucket. I imagine the pump has to go about 4 feet or so to get into the tank. This just started a few days ago and I've had this ato since Feb 19th bought from BRS. The one that I won on the other forum is still in the box waiting for my second tank to get set up.

 

[rvitko]

It is a mystery based on what you describe. I would try this, next time it is running, tip it upside down and slowly oscillate it side to side back and forth and lets get all the trapped air out, as long as it does not run dry and their is no source of bubbles in the bucket, it should not happen again. The only other possibility I can think of, is that the source water is cold, cold RO water, when it is warming up in the house, the dissolved gases are escaping (bubbles forming on the sides of the reservoir) and these are getting in the pump. This is common if the water is very cold because cold water can dissolve more gasses than warm water. Besides that, if it persists, I can only guess something is wrong with the pump and we have to replace it.

 

[AdamNC]

It's been good today, I'll watch it for the next week or so. I'm wondering if when I refill the bucket, air is getting trapped in the pump even after I turn it to get all the air bubbles out as if air is somehow getting trap in the fill tube.

 

[rvitko]

This could be, if the water is being poured in so their is a lot of splashing that can definitely be a cause.