Troubleshooting Your Pond Pump

A sudden freeze hits your backyard pond, cracking your old submersible pond pump. This is not uncommon when you have an older unit that has been in your pond for several years. But, the after-effects can sometimes seem catastrophic for your pond.

So, how can you find these types of issues before it’s too late? 

If you are noticing problems with your pond pump, you might want to consider troubleshooting. Ensuring your submersible pond pump is actually broken before you replace it will help save you money and a lot of labor.

Some things to try when troubleshooting your backyard pond pump:

1.    Check the circuit breaker on your electrical panel that supplies the power to your pump. Try resetting the power or switching between “on” and “off” positions to see if this corrects any issues.

2.    If your submersible pond pump is plugged into a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter outlet, you can test the breakers to see if there is an issue. Unplug your pump and press the reset button on your GFCI. Then, plug your pond pump back in and see if this solves your issue.

3.    Completely unplug your pump and test the water level. If it has dropped to expose too much of the pump housing it could have tripped the thermal protection device. Refill your pond and wait for your pond pump to cool down. After some time, plug it back in and see if this corrects your issue.

If you can’t seem to find out what is wrong with your pond pump, it’s probably a good time to start shopping for a new submersible pond pump. 

Always choose a magnetic drive pond pump or one that does not use oil, especially if you have fish. This will ensure that if something ever does happen, you will not be left with an entirely contaminated backyard pond. 

It’s always better to keep your pond in proper working order than worry about trying to fix a broken pump by yourself. If you have any questions, contact us at Pondliner.com and we will troubleshoot with you!