Oh No! Pump wasn't running this morning!

[JenH]

Got up this morning and came out to check on everything and my waterfall and pump were not running. It clearly had rained last night, but I have no idea how hard or how much. Pulled the pump outta the pond and brought it inside to plug it in and check it. It worked! Ok great, but it is not working plugged in outside. So right now I have it attached to an extension cord running in through my kitchen window and plugged in inside. Temporary fix to get everything running. But obviously can't leave it that way! Can anyone tell me what may be wrong with my outside outlet? There are 2 separate outlets outside on that side of the house. Neither of them seem to be working. I checked our fuse box and nothing was out there but I reset both outdoor breakers anyway and that did nothing. I have no idea what time the power went out to the pump. my waterfall rocks still looked very wet. Do you think all of my bacteria has died at this point? My water was looking great now its back to looking like a mud puddle!! Also should I add some of this rapid clear stuff to help clear it up or just let it run through everything.

 

[taherrmann4]

Check and see if one of the outlets is a GFCI outlet, it will have a reset button and a test button on it, sounds like this may have tripped. Just hit the reset button and see if that doesn't give you power.

 

[koidaddy]

You might have tripped a GFCI breaker. Check every plug receptical and see if they have a reset button an them. It will be red in color. sometimes it can be at the begining of a outlet run so all outlets are GFCI protected.

 

[taherrmann4]

GFCI outlet will look similar to this.

 

[JenH]

The fuse was labeled [nook & outside] There wasn't any reset buttons on the outside outlets, but one of them in my breakfast nook does. That worked! Thank you! I would have never thought to check inside for that.

Is it likely that my bacteria all died though this, should I add some more to the pond?

 

[koidaddy]

Glad to here its on again. It sound like yours was protected at the begining of the run. Your bacteria sould be ok if its been in water since this happened at night. How long do you guess it was off?

 

[JenH]

I don't have a clue. It hadn't been raining when I went to bed, and it was still running. That was around 1:30am. I went out there at 8:30 this morning. Plus its been cloudy and overcast all morning, so no sun to dry things out. It must have really taken a lot of rain because its rained before and this is the first time this has happened. Maybe a few hours. The water in my waterfall biofilter drains backwards into the pond though when the pump isn't running. I guess its a gravity thing. So that was empty. The main rocks that create my spillway have really developed a nice slimy carpet of bacteria, and it was still quite wet and slimy still when I got it back up and running so I hope that is an indicator that all is well. I ended up adding a scoop of bacteria to help things out just in case. After running for about an hour my water was back to about 50% clear, but I went ahead and added some Aquascape Rapid Clear. Just to speed things up a bit. (I have a huge problem with patience) Whew! I'm so relieved it wasn't my pump!!

 

[addy1]

Glad you were able to recover! Ours trips our bathroom gfi on the other side of the house.

 

[taherrmann4]

Jen the rain you got over night was here in the morning, very heavy rains and winds up to 60 mph. This storm was coming from the North East out of Indiana, we needed the rain but now the pond is littered with leaves and debris.

Glad to hear you got it up and running.

 

[addy1]

Jen the rain you got over night was here in the morning, very heavy rains and winds up to 60 mph. This storm was coming from the North East out of Indiana, we needed the rain but now the pond is littered with leaves and debris.

Glad to hear you got it up and running.

Send it here, we got a whole .06 inches so dry here corn is dieing in the fields just like last year.

 

[KennethO]

You should try to find out what caused it to trip. Does the outside outlets have full weatherproof covers? Since the pumps are plugged in 24/7 make sure its a full cover one. Like this.

Also make sure your cords have drip loops to prevent water from draining into the outlets/box.

 

[addy1]

nice electrical work kenneth