FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Used to use these in the 70s and loved them. Got back into the hobby around 10 years ago and much to my dismay, found that they had gone out of business. After trying 3 or 4 other available brands and not being even slightly satisfied, I bought a used one on eBAY. It hums as it should, but little to no air. I took it apart. The clear plastic hose is ok. I removed the \\\"pump\\\" from the \\\"motor\\\". I pried out the round rubber disc at the top and removed the spring and a couple metal washer-like parts. Saw nothing obviously wrong. Blew out dirt with compressed air and reassembled. Still very little air movement.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Ed

Hi Ed,
I got your PM and replied to it this evening. As you probably guessed you have a leak. See if you can soften up the rubber disk, check the seat where it sat and be sure that is smooth, not rough from corrosion. Check the vibrator section to be sure that the magnet is causing equal vibration. Recheck the hose that goes from the pump inside to the brass tube that is built into the plastic body of the pump. Over time that hose dries out and cracks, you may have a cracked hose and not realize it.
They used to market rebuilding kits for those pumps that included new hoses and new rubber disks. They too may still be available. Last hope is to fabricate the disks out of inner tube. That will take a sharp exact o knife blade, some skill, and lots of patience.

Hope this helps. They were really great pumps.
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks, Frank.

I wasn\'t sure that my message actually sent. I got some sort of error message when I tried to send. I\'ll see if I can clean up that rubber disc. There were a couple other washer like pieces in there with the spring and I\'m not sure that I got them back in correctly. Are they critical? Sure wish I\'d have kept my old Silent Giant.

Thanks again!

Ed

Hi, Frank. Update:
Hose for sure is good. No leaks. It puts out almost no air - just a trace. Should there be some sort of check valve in there? It would have been REALLY good to have taken one apart that worked so I would know how they're supposed to be assembled. I'm usually pretty good at this, but this thing has me stumped. I understand the electrical part and the movement of the bellows to generate air, but the "valving" for lack of a better word has me puzzled. There's a guy online who fixes these for $40 If all else fails, I'll send it to him.

Thanks!

Ed

Hi Ed,
the trick with the check valve is that as the magnet swings back and forth, it pulls air into the chamber and the small rubber circle lifts off its seat so the air can be pushed out. If you have the spring in wrong then it won't work. With "little" air pressure, you have the pump assembled correctly. Is the magnet vibrating (swinging) in a large enough arc or just barely vibrating? Did you replace it back into the pump assembly correctly so the magnet is free to swing?

That sounds like the same guy who was doing it back when I was repairing them at the pet shop. Same price as I recall as well. He may be your best bet.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Hi, Frank.
After re-reading your reply, I got to thinking that there was really virtually no air movement and what i was feeling was air moving in and out - no check valve. To prove that, I tried blowing in through the plastic air tube and was able to blow air freely into the pump. There is actually no rubber check valve in the bottom. There was some rubber dust and small chunks when I disassembled, so that was probably what was left of the small rubber disk. I tried to fabricate one from some faucet rubbers that I had, but although I was able to put it in, assemble it and not be able to blow through the tube, it was not pumping air. The rubber I used is probably too thick/stiff. Attached is a photo of what I have. Am I missing anything other than the rubber disk you mention? And am I right in assuming that the disk should fit into the bottom of the housing and that the washer shown needs to be installed on top of the disk with the surface shown facing toward the disk, then the spring and the rubber stopper?

You mentioned an inner tube in an earlier post. Is that about the correct thickness/hardness for the rubber disc?

Thanks!

Ed

Attached Image:

parts