I bought this unit last week and had a 1/2 inch layer of ice on my pond but had a small opening where my water moves. I plugged it in and the next day no ice. Now my pond water is up to 50 degree's and it is 7 outside. I thought this shut off once it...
366417
I don't think it has an auto shut of. Mine does not sit off either, so I put a thermostat on the outlet.
2059365
I've had the unit for about 6 months. It can be exposed to weather, but there are consequences. Mine had what was probably a very small leak out of the factory. After a big freeze, even after draining the unit this turned into a large leak. I patched it and am crossing my fingers. In the future when draining it I'll leave the drain plug off and hope that more cracks don't appear. There are a lot of small spaces in the unit where water will remain even after draining, so any deep freeze might be a problem. And I cover it to protect it from direct sun when not in use.
364413
How many gallons you are trying to keep from freezing over and I not sure what wattage you are looking at? I have 2 ponds (2500 and 3000 gals. between 3 & 4 ft. deep) I have the 1500 Watt and just to keep an area open I could have probably gone with the lowest wattage and still had an area that didn't freeze over. The depth of your pond will also determine how quickly it will freeze, the deeper the pond the better and the less wattage needed. I live In Canada just across the border from Buffalo, NY.
1987415
I'm sure it would help! Thanks for the idea! Now I just need to find my hose attachment! I Have opened the side of the unit and plunked 10lbs of ice in the water. .. You can tell the difference
594212
I have used ice twice. Didn't notice much difference from just using water. This is a great unit. i live in AZ and it has been 100 degrees the last few days. this has helped me keep cool.
257451
I had this pump at the top of my waterfall. That point down the bottom of my pond is 7' 8". Huge volumes of air came out of this pump. I had four 1/4" hoses coming out of the pump and some of the runs on the bottom of the pond were in excess of 14 feet from the pump outlet. This pump is rated at maximum of 100 F. I live in AZ and the temperature can reach near 120. Even before it broke 100, the plastic air distribution unit melted. The motor runs very hot. It would cut out during the warmest part of the day. It finally just quit working during a stretch of 115 F days. It was always operated in the shade. I had this pump at the top of my waterfall. That point down the bottom of my pond is 7' 8". Huge volumes of air came out of this pump. I had four 1/4" hoses coming out of the pump and some of the runs on the bottom of the pond were in excess of 14 feet from the pump outlet. This pump is rated at maximum of 100 F. I live in AZ and the temperature can reach near 120. Even before it broke 100, the plastic air distribution unit melted. The motor runs very hot. It would cut out during the warmest part of the day. It finally just quit working during a stretch of 115 F days. It was... » Read More I had this pump at the top of my waterfall. That point down the bottom of my pond is 7' 8". Huge volumes of air came out of this pump. I had four 1/4" hoses coming out of the pump and some of the runs on the bottom of the pond were in excess of 14 feet from the pump outlet. This pump is rated at maximum of 100 F. I live in AZ and the temperature can reach near 120. Even before it broke 100, the plastic air distribution unit melted. The motor runs very hot. It would cut out during the warmest part of the day. It finally just quit working during a stretch of 115 F days. It was always operated in the shade. « Show Less
2022000
I use it in a plastic bird bath with no problem. A couple things to be aware of - it works well down to 25 degrees or so; also it would not keep a large area of water ice free and might not be good for a pond deeper than a bird bath. Around 25 it would clear a small area around the unit. It will ice over in the zero to 15 degree range. To work at those low temps would take a lot of current and might damage bath/pond material.
1426336
As long as the intake basket is submerged the pump works fine. As soon as the water only covers half the basket the pump still pumps water out of the pool cover but it also sucks air. At this point I usually unplug the pump. My pump right now is submerged under ice because I forgot to remove it before the freeze, but I am confident that come Spring and the ice thaws I can just plug in my pump and it start pumping again. It is a great little pump.
767272
My heater quit working entirely, out of warranty, so I replaced it with a conventional tank type hot water heater. Additionally. When the incoming water temperature would get very cold in the winter the water would not get hot enough as it passed through the heater. We then would turn the hot water faucet down to slow the flow down then the water would get warmer. I think these units are not very reliable for every day use. I will never purchase another one of them.
804198
This past winter it didn't freeze and I live in Maine, we got about 6" of ice in the tub. We did however, finally get a heater for the tub because it is the farm animals sorce of water. The heater didn't melt it either by the way.
1409994
Ice huh. Probably depends on the ice thickness, your water temperature and pressure. This thing will clog up the line permitting water pressure to build but that is all. I would look at a Clog Hog instead. It runs off of a pressure washer and has a metal head that could bash against the ice like it did to my leaves.
2065104
I wish I could answer that but I never turn mine off and only use the clean and pond settings throughout the year. Our weather,is such that even on the few,days where,the,temp gets to freezing it never gets,to the point that the the system is total oy shut down and purging is necessary.
2105676
Not sure. But when turne on the coldest setting my water bottles freeze. Hope this helps.
2226001
I agree with jsto's comments....I never thought to put ice in their with the water. I'll will try that. I bought that unit for my enclosed patio because I didn't want to have a hole in my patio for draining.
765853
My husband insisted when I purchased this pump that it was overkill. Our pond is 14 x 17 with about 4500 gallons of water. The pond was developing a thick coat of ice when we placed the air hose into the pond (only used one) but this immediately began to bubble and I believe this is what insured the survival of our koi during this brutal winter. I would highly recommend this pump.....your never sorry when you buy the best!
2220901
Mine never froze. And it has the mildewy looking brownish blackish stuff floating in the water. I dont know if the seal was not sealed on some or if this has anything to do with why mine wont freeze, but I wasted 30 bucks on two of these after extensive research on youtube, thinking that it would actually work. It doesnt. I am hesitant to throw it out in case I ever get a deep freezer or something. BUT mine never froze:( I was looking forward to it too.
2127072
my algae growth is always much less in winter and I run my pump and pond 24/7 365 so I would leave it on as long as green water appears. If you remove it and in a few weeks cloudy water appears put it back on. i would check with manufacturer to see if there are temperature specs that should be noted. I have not gone through a winter with this product yet. I removed a big tree that now means a great deal more light to the water surface.. we'll see.