cleaning inline return pumps. do you do it?

[fungia]

my pumps havent been serviced since i plugged them in, do i have to clean the pumps? what do you guys do? i have an iwaki 40 and mag 9. the iwaki is inline (of course!) and the mag 9 is submersed.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes you should clean them. I have a PanWorld Blueline (similar to Iwaki).

I run it on a closed loop.

I shut the pump off when I do water changes.

After about 6 months of running, after one water change the pump would not restart.

I opened the pump and it had allot of calcium deposits. I soaked it in vinegar for about and hour, cleaned with a toothbrush and was back in business.
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[fungia]

thanks!

i forgot to ask: am i safe to assume iwaki do not oiling? i hear some pumps do but i have not heard of people oiling their iwaki or mags.

 

[Anonymous]

You will have to checl the manual or contact the company for the iwaki. Mags are sealed and do not require any oiling. Be carfull if you pull the housing off of the mag the shafts are not the strongest. Vinegar work real well.

 

[Anonymous]

LG need oiling. Iwaski is sealed, so you can't oil it without breaking the pump to useless junk.

But you do need to periodically clean the scale off with vinegar.

 

[Len]

Yep, no need to oil Iwakis or most modern pumps. I use white, unflavored vinegar once a year to reduce hard buildup. If you hear excessive noise from your pumps, it's telling you it needs to be cleaned.

 

[shellshocked]

Definitely you should occasionally clean your return pumps. Like the advice above take them apart and soak the parts in vinegar - the cheap kind that comes in a gallon jug at the grocery. Mix about half and half with water and let them sit for a few hours. You can scrub it with at tooth brush but it just takes soak time to get rid of the deposits. Also I also have filled a 5 gallon bucket with water and vinegar and just let the pumps run in the bucket for a few hours (be careful about the water shooting out of the bucket). This clean the entire pump body and is easier than dissassembling some pumps.