Pump melt down

[MrsE88]

Yesterday wasn’t a great day.

I had to cancel an appointment due to the snow storm that rolled through.
I ended up being snowed in before I even woke up. Ugh.
So I go about my morning getting ready for the day when I hear a loud thump and then silence.... I was listening trying to figure out if my husband dropped something or needed help. Suddenly I hear him shout, “Hunny, where is that coming from?!”
I run out of the bathroom to smoke everywhere!

I can tell right away it’s electronical from the smell and my heart sinks. It’s coming from my fish room!
I’m panicked, I don’t see any fire, but there is smoke filling the room!
Shaking, I’m checking all wires desperately trying to figure out what is going on. I open the doors on my 135g and there is smoke pouring out. But I still don’t see any fire!
It took what felt like forever to realize it was my pump. I unplugged everything to hopefully stop the smoke and any possible fire.

Once I calmed down it was clear it was the pump that malfunctioned. There was black stuff floating on the water where the smoke was rolling out. And once I opened up the pump you can see where the plastic started to melt.


Anyone have this happen before? Or have an idea why this happened?

And now I have a new problem. This pump was used with the tank when I got it last year. I have no clue what size it is so I can buy a replacement.
This was my first time setting up a sump so I just went along with using the same pump the previous owner used. That was likely a mistake on my part and I should have gotten a new one from the start.

 

[BichirKing]

when an electric motor fails it pulls more and more amps which in turn heats it up and usually the surrounding plastic melts. sometimes its just the brushes or armature gets worn and the space between the 2 gets bigger so the pump starts to get hot as it takes more amps to bridge the gap.as far as why they fail sometimes age is just the factor. other problems can be inclusions internally like calcium creep or rust from a leak/water etc...

 

[MrsE88]

when an electric motor fails it pulls more and more amps which in turn heats it up and usually the surrounding plastic melts. sometimes its just the brushes or armature gets worn and the space between the 2 gets bigger so the pump starts to get hot as it takes more amps to bridge the gap.as far as why they fail sometimes age is just the factor. other problems can be inclusions internally like calcium creep or rust from a leak/water etc...

Could be age, I really have no idea how old the pump is.
It was just so frustrating because I couldn’t even go anywhere to get a new one. Right now I have a couple hob filters just to hold it over.

 

[BichirKing]

its always good to have multiple filters on a tank! I'd do a big water change just to get any of the nasty things a burnt pump can put into your tank out.
I have a jebao dcp pump on my sump and I really like it so far and the price isn't to bad either just a suggestion for a cost effective replacement. it can be plumbed externally.

 

[MrsE88]

its always good to have multiple filters on a tank! I'd do a big water change just to get any of the nasty things a burnt pump can put into your tank out.
I have a jebao dcp pump on my sump and I really like it so far and the price isn't to bad either just a suggestion for a cost effective replacement. it can be plumbed externally.

It is! I’m glad I had two other tanks with multiple filters running so I was able to move them around without having to close down any tanks. It’s just dumb that I have small pumps and big ol pond pumps, but none that could be used in the sump.

What kinda turn over should I be looking at? Gph?
I know I have 6’ of head, pump sits in the water of the last pump chamber, top tank is 135 and sump is a 55g filled with about 30-35gals of water.
My head feels so foggy, it seems like no matter how much I read on it I’m still not sure what I need.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

when an electric motor fails it pulls more and more amps which in turn heats it up and usually the surrounding plastic melts. sometimes its just the brushes or armature gets worn and the space between the 2 gets bigger so the pump starts to get hot as it takes more amps to bridge the gap.as far as why they fail sometimes age is just the factor. other problems can be inclusions internally like calcium creep or rust from a leak/water etc...

No brushes in this case, they're brushless. But yeah, it looks like it probably overheated and eventually a couple windings melted their insulation and *BANG* Surprised it didn't trip any circuit breakers or RCDs.

 

[MrsE88]

No brushes in this case, they're brushless. But yeah, it looks like it probably overheated and eventually a couple windings melted their insulation and *BANG* Surprised it didn't trip any circuit breakers or RCDs.

Yes, that has me confused. My husband and I were just talking about that. I have no idea why nothing tripped. I don’t know if we caught it before it would have, or if there is something else faulty.

 

[spotfin]

Is that sand on the pump housing? If so, the impeller probably seized.

 

[duanes]

I have had this happen a number of times with pumps.
Sometimes I've had to replace impellers, volutes, or as in your case, the entire pump.
Sand getting in and ruining the impeller and volute is commonplace (one of the reasons I stopped using play sand) because its light and easily stirred up, and if it gets in the impeller shaft can become like concrete.
But sand isn't the only thing, a simple snail if wedged just right in between and impeller and housing, can seize a pump, and it burns out. I usually try to keep and extra impeller and volute around just in case.
Some regular maintenance where a pump is shut down, the shaft, impeller and volute are rinsed and brushed out can sometimes help, But these things can often happen over night, or even in a few hours.

 

[MrsE88]

Is that sand on the pump housing? If so, the impeller probably seized.

No, that is hard water build up and the brown is mulm (I think that’s what it’s called.) it’s soft and wipes off.

I do have sand in the main tank, but none gets past the first baffle in the sump. So this wasn’t caused by sand. Or snails. We took it apart and all the parts are in perfect shape. No visible wear on the shaft or impeller.
Though I do wonder if a loose bit of calcium buildup may have jammed it up. My husband said the impeller felt a little stuck in one area and wouldn’t freely spin all the way around.
I guess if the impeller getting blocked can cause a melt down then that must be what happened.

I’ll have to do a better job keeping on top of build up. I hate having hard water.