Pump Maintenance

[FleeVT]

I've had my system running for about six months now. Both the skimmer pump (Mag 7) and the return pump (mag 9) were purchased new. I noticed today that the skimmer isn't doing what it has been in the past. Upon closer examination, it looks like the that mag 7 isn't generating nearly the amount of flow it did 6 months ago. So, I soaked the pump in water/vinegar solution, took the cap off and cleaned out some algae on prop magnet, prop, and housing, then reassembled. No change detected.

Is there any other maintenance that I should perform? 6 months doesn't sound right for the degradation in performance I'm seeing. Subjectively, I would say it's between 50% and 60% of what it was.

 

[scubasteve247]

what kind of skimmer are you using, ive taken quite a few apart to find anything from pvc glue, snail shells, plastic parts etc inside the venturi's or small bottlenecks in pipework to skimmers. with you main system, not sure why that would not be working properly if the pumps were cleaned the way you stated.

but i ask, are you by any chance running a mag drive externally? they tend to over heat that way, possibly damaging the internal coil

 

[FleeVT]

Hi, it's a Bermuda (BPS-3C). I'll check that next.

The mag drive is running internally. I may need to pick up a flow meter to see what it is putting out.

 

[rawbomb]

i had the same skimmer and in my case it was a small shell that had cause a build up of debris right before the venturi.