SmartPond Pump Failure

[Chefkeith]

So, I'm using a SmartPond pump that I purchased from Lowes to cycle water through my Brewhemoth chilling coil. It was working great for a couple of weeks, but yesterday I noticed the fermentation temp of my beer was WAY cold. I ran down to the brewery to discover that the pump was chugging along, but not able to cycle water. I turned everything off, and I haven't really had time to attempt a fix.

I'm using a SmartPond 300-500 GPH pump similar to this one (though I swear I paid much more for it in the store). Guess I should have read the review/s on the site - one star. However, I have a small pump by the same brand and it's chugged along for years.

So, I don't know a ton about this style of pump, but I can't help but wonder if my iodophor-laced water (which begins to feel slippery after a while) has killed my pump. Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?

Any advice would be appreciated. Right now, I'm thinking about just giving the pump a good cleaning and switching to a sanitizer that doesn't change the physical properties of the water in any appreciable sense.

I referenced this in the above linked post, but I thought it deserved it's own discussion, so I started a new topic.

Thanks in advance for any helpful information!

 

[JohnMc]

I'd use some dish detergent in the loop instead of iodophor, which contains hyroiodic acid (the iodine version of hydrochloric acid; not as strong but still strong) and iodine, both of which are reactive.
I have a glycol chiller that's a sealed system for my fermenter and I use Dawn. As long as your return is below the water line, you shouldn't get foaming. Dish detergent is not very reactive and it stops microbes well enough.

PS: Not dishwasher detergent; that's pretty basic.

 

[Chefkeith]

Thanks for the tip! I'll see if I can get my pump working today.

 

[JohnMc]

Good luck, I hope you don't have to buy a new one.