Something is chewing on my pump electric cord?

[azlavender]

Hi Everyone,

I am a total newbie on garden pond. Have been a proud natural pond owner for a month now.

Today, I discovered something strange on my pump electric cord that is laying under the water.

I have been using the FP-1750 ProEco Filter Pump for about a month now with happy results.

However, I discovered these strange wear marks on my pump electric cord, it is not located where there could be any abrasion, so I am curious is this is due to UV ray damage, which is strange for just one month, or if there is any other cause that you are aware of from previous experience.

Can it be the fishes or snails are chewing through the rubber? I was expecting this type of product to be able to withstand any pond condition… please help.

Please review the photos attached of the electric cord in question. Thank you all in advance.

 

[Marshall]

that looks more like aging... You may have bought the pump a month ago but that does not say when it was made... Looks like a shock hazard to me

 

[HARO]

Some electrical cords have a very thin plastic coating over the rubber to protect it. It looks like this is cracking, since there are no signs of chewing, such as teeth marks. And unless you have a pond full of piranhas, you shouldn't have a problem!
John

 

[Marshall]

Some electrical cords have a very thin plastic coating over the rubber to protect it. It looks like this is cracking, since there are no signs of chewing, such as teeth marks. And unless you have a pond full of piranhas, you shouldn't have a problem!
John

piranha pond... hmm... nah my better sense got the best of me lol Pass

 

[Big Lou]

Due to the somewhat pattern I believe the cord exterior coating is faulty. Recommend you return the pump. I would not be surprised if the replacement eventually has the same fault. Good luck.

 

[azlavender]

Thank you all for such prompt feedbacks! I will contact the retailer to see if I could get replacement or upgrade.

 

[Dave 54]

Do you have any plecos in your pond azlavender ?
I'm wondering if one of them may be rasping away at the cord takig off any growth of algae going right through to the insulation ?
It may be fair wear and tear and as such you should contact your retailer .

Dave

 

[sissy]

I put a long length of shrink wrap cord protector over my cords and just shrunk it up with a hair dryer and used it on my cord for my air pump .I was more worried about the part out of the water than in the water .But as said since it is new it could be a defect .I would contact the people that produces it and send them pics of the cord

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Certainly appears to be cracking of the insulation. Definitely a safety hazard.

 

[azlavender]

Dave54, nope. I don't currently have any plecos in the pond.

sissy, that is interesting. I might look into the shrink wrap idea. I sent an email with photos to both the retailer and manufacturer.

Meyer Jordan, I agree. I am a little afraid that it might harm the fish... I hope to hear from the retailer and manufacturer soon. I do have a backup plan to just purchase a new pump from a local shop to replace this.

 

[azlavender]

So, the mystery is solved!

During this troubleshooting, I contacted both the retailer and the manufacturer, both responded to me within 2 hours! Very professional and even offered to mail me a brand new unit.

After talking to the technician from the manufacturer, we figured out that it was a film deposit that was caused by some sort of organism. My best guess is one of the variety of snail that is in my pond since there are lots of snail eggs on the cord.

I use my fingernail to scratch on the white line pattern really hard to see if the rubber comes off, and a semi hard "film" came off instead and leaving the perfectly like new black rubber cord underneath. So nothing is wrong with the product itself.

I have learned from this experience that this forum is awesome with lots of helpful fellow ponders, and both staff from pondliner.com (retailer) and ProEco Products (manufacturer) are extremely responsive and helpful!

All and all a great experience.

Thank you all for chiming in and I am looking forward to learn from everyone here!!!

 

[Dave 54]

Dave54, nope. I don't currently have any plecos in the pond.

sissy, that is interesting. I might look into the shrink wrap idea. I sent an email with photos to both the retailer and manufacturer.

Meyer Jordan, I agree. I am a little afraid that it might harm the fish... I hope to hear from the retailer and manufacturer soon. I do have a backup plan to just purchase a new pump from a local shop to replace this.

@azlavender if you had a leak in the pond you may start to see a kinking of your fish , we had a lightening strike on the pond this year that left three fish damaged two with kinks one with a hole in its head

Dave

 

[azlavender]

@azlavender if you had a leak in the pond you may start to see a kinking of your fish , we had a lightening strike on the pond this year that left three fish damaged two with kinks one with a hole in its head

Dave

Thank you Dave. At the moment, there is no sign of leaks in the pond and no kinking of fish. Turns out the power cord was not defective, the white crack pattern was formed by some sort of organic form, so false alarm. However, I am now curious about what animal might be responsible for coating the power cord with the pattern, even though there is no visible harm done to the cord once I scratched the white lines off.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Thank you Dave. At the moment, there is no sign of leaks in the pond and no kinking of fish. Turns out the power cord was not defective, the white crack pattern was formed by some sort of organic form, so false alarm. However, I am now curious about what animal might be responsible for coating the power cord with the pattern, even though there is no visible harm done to the cord once I scratched the white lines off.

I thought that the white line cross-hatch pattern on the cord was put there by the cord manufacturer. I have seen this pattern on electrical cords before. The gash in the insulation however certainly looked like insulation deterioration (dry rot) to me.

 

[azlavender]

I thought that the white line cross-hatch pattern on the cord was put there by the cord manufacturer. I have seen this pattern on electrical cords before. The gash in the insulation however certainly looked like insulation deterioration (dry rot) to me.

I thought the same thing at first, but when the manufacturer offered to mail me a brand new replacement unit tomorrow, I went ahead and did a closer inspection and unplugged the pump to see if I can figure out what it might be.

Then when I looked along the whole length of the cord that has been underwater, there are lots of areas with this pattern, but there are also lots of snail eggs on the surface of the cord. So I scratched harder to try to feel if the rubber comes off, then the white pattern came off like a thick layer of transparent skin/film.