Simply Koi and More Koi

I am going to upgrade my water pump, how should I store the superfish pump I remove?

Thanks

Russ

Hi Russ. I guess a question like that is bound to attract the proverbial "how long is a piece of string" reply. There's no definitive answer and what you decide to do will depend on how fanatical you want to be. If it's worth a few bob and you're looking to flog it for a good price then its condition is important. Same applies if you're looking to use it again at a later date, but if it's seen better days and you're not likely to need it again then giving it a complete overhaul before sealing it up for years only for the kids to bin it when you depart this mortal coil seems a bit unnecessary.

Now I'm a tight get (but rubbish at technical stuff like stripping a pump down) so I might give it a damn good clean and properly disinfect it to start with. If I was really looking to do the job properly I'd risk stripping it down in accordance with the operating manual and make sure all those bits you're allowed to get to were in decent nick and replace any that weren't at this stage (spares might be an issue when I get round to recommissioning it). Assuming it went back together ok and was now gleaming (and bone dry), I'd find a suitable box, one of those silicone gel come moisture absorbing packet things, some foam packing/bubble wrap (or better still, dry newspaper if you still get them delivered) and make like Christmas before storing it somewhere dry and not prone to big temperature swings - somewhere in the house ideally.

Who am I kidding? What I'd actually do is just jet-wash the bugs off, give it a wipe down with an old rag and stick it in the pond-spares box somewhere in the garage. You know the one, it's the one with that old bit of airline and two spare inch and half tank connectors with a big crack in it over by the Superfish pump box................oh, wait a minute.

Cheers, M

Russ, there isn't much you can do other than empty all the water out, clean it and dry it in a warm place for a few days then store it away somewhere dry. If you have high KH/GH/TDS water and/or a thick biofilm build up inside it then that may harden around the impeller over time so it may not start first time and you may have to manually turn the impellor to loosen the accumulation.

If you want to strip the pump so that you can clean the impeller and the volute (the impeller housing) then it will certainly start first time in the future without manually turning the impeller to get it started but that's an OCD thing that you may not want to do but, if you do clean it, then test it to make sure you have correctly reassembled it before drying it and putting it away.

Or you can just remove it then chuck it in a shed and forget it and hope that it'll work if you ever need it again.

I do not think you will be.