What's going on with my cord?

[Jmason95]

The cord on my powerhead is twisted now - why? I assume this is not good? I have two powerheads in my sump - one of their cords is starting to twist up a good 3-4 inches starting at the powerhead. It still works, but I'm concerned this could become a hazard?

 

[rvitko]

Was it ever cleaned in strong acid or hot water? That is what I have seen cause that as the cord material is deformed by the heat or acid.

 

[Smokey Stover]

Could the motor be turning inside the housing? As if a little lastic tab that holds it steady has sheared off? That would put some stress on the wires connection to the motor.

 

[Smokey Stover]

Or the whole thing is turning/winding from the centrifugial force of the motot spinning. My best SWAG.

 

[Jmason95]

Was it ever cleaned in strong acid or hot water? That is what I have seen cause that as the cord material is deformed by the heat or acid.

No, no acid or hot water - but, both powerheads are in the sump in close proximity to heaters (as you can kinda tell from the photo). They don't hover though over the actual part of the heater that generates the heat.

I'm mostly concerned that the pump will malfunction and cause a short. I've pulled it from my sump. Not sure if this is a defect that happens sometimes with these pumps - it's a 6015.

I have a second 6015 in my sump and it's starting to do the same thing.

Or the whole thing is turning/winding from the centrifugial force of the motot spinning. My best SWAG.

This might be what's going on - it appears the wires within the housing are starting to twist.

 

[rvitko]

The heat is the cause if it is close to the element ends of the heater. The twist is normal, the plastic insulation is swollen and deformed. The wires are twisted as this creates a shielding effect to reduce magnetic fields, it adds cost as more wire is needed for the same cable length, normally you cannot see the twist. The motor is only an electromagetic, it does not and cannot spin. I have seen this a few times and in past cases the cause was always a long soak in muriatic acid or similar strong acid or running them in a small amount of water that got very hot. How old are they? I would agree that they are not safe to run, the PVC insulation is swollen and soft and could be breached.

 

[Smokey Stover]

Yea, Zooming in on your photo it appeares the wires insulation has been discolored, softend, swollen a bit. May be from the heat, If there's enough slack length in the wire I would probably cut that last 6 inches off and rewire/reroute it.

 

[Jmason95]

I've been using the pumps for about 1 1/2 years. Thanks for the response guys. My main concern was safety - the heaters must be causing the condition, so I may just have to replace the pumps occasionally when this starts to happen.

Thanks again!

 

[rvitko]

I would think if you just moved the cord away from the business end the heater it should be fine, you can get just the motor and cable as a part, give me a call- 512-833-7546