“My fountain isn’t working, can you come take a look at it?” – 5 Common Issues Found in Fountain Operation
Throughout the course of a season, our personnel is diligently working to provide our customers with the best possible pond management and fountain related services in the region. Time and time again we are contacted with the simple question of “My fountain isn’t working, can you come take a look at it?”, listed below are the most common issues found by our staff on a routine basis. It is important to also acknowledge that all Black Lagoon field staff are factory trained in both Aquamaster and Otterbine fountain troubleshooting and most of the common issues should be diagnosed by staff technicians, or a certified electrician to avoid possible injury.
1. The debris screen or shaft is clogged – A fountain clog is most likely the most common issue our technicians run into on a day-to-day basis. Clogs can be caused by any number of objects, whether organic (aquatic plants, algae, or unfortunate aquatic organisms) or often time inorganic objects (trash bags, fishing line, or construction material). Regardless of type of material, these objects inhibit the movement of water through the fountain. Commonly clogged components can be the debris screen, shaft, or nozzle, all can significantly lessen the amount of water the fountain can move and the pattern it can produce. In severe cases, the clog may cause the fountain to shut off completely or damage the motor itself.
2. Timer malfunction – Now a days, most fountains have a timer, whether digital, or analog built into the control panel so that the fountain can turned on and off if desired. Generally, if power is being supplied to the control panel, or fountain there is little concern of a timer malfunction. However, when the panel is not energized, potentially due to an electrical storm or site utility work, several timer malfunctions can occur. In the case of analog timers, if power is lost the timer will hold at the time of power lose until restored, causing the timer to be out of sync. Today, most digital timers do have battery backup. Unfortunately, over time the battery itself will fail and most be replaced for the timer to maintain its cycle during times of power lose.
3. Nuisance trip of GFCI breaker – A GFCI, or ground fault circuit interrupter breaker, is an electrical component which adds GFCI protection to an entire circuit including the wiring and all devices connected to the circuit, in our example the fountain, fountain power cable and fountain control panel. The GFCI breakers in our fountain control panel are human protection rated, meaning that a 5 milliamp fluctuation (an incredibly low amount) will cause the breaker to trip. Scenarios where a GFCI breaker may trip include: electric fluctuations, thunderstorms, utility work, or other.
4. Damage to the fountain’s power cable – The fountain power cable is the electrical cable which caries the necessary voltage to the fountain for it to become energized and operate correctly. This cable is UL listed SEOW in-water cable of various gauges depending on cable run and available voltage. Unfortunately, this cable can be a common issue as a variety of aquatic animals (muskrats, beavers, turtles) have been known to compromise the cable via chewing exposing the copper inside to water resulting in tripping of the gfci breaker. Another common issue involving the power cable can be the accidental cutting of the cable. Even though electrical code requires this cable to be placed in conduit, often time the cable may be exposed to the elements and power equipment. Proper installation of power cable and conduit is crucial in eliminating this common issue.
5. No incoming power – The final common issue that you may run into may be the simplest. If power is not supplied to the fountain control center, the fountain will not operate. This lose of power can be caused by several factors:
a. area wide power outages, or brownouts
b. Utility work
c. Electrical meter malfunctions, or supply issues
d. Vandalization of main control box, or electrical meter
With that being said, simply reading the incoming power with an electrical voltage tester, or fluke, one can quickly determine if this is the cause to your fountain being down.