• Amused
  • Angry
  • Annoyed
  • Awesome
  • Bemused
  • Cocky
  • Cool
  • Crazy
  • Crying
  • Depressed
  • Down
  • Drunk
  • Embarrased
  • Enraged
  • Friendly
  • Geeky
  • Godly
  • Happy
  • Hateful
  • Hungry
  • Innocent
  • Meh
  • Piratey
  • Poorly
  • Sad
  • Secret
  • Shy
  • Sneaky
  • Tired
  • Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
    Results 1 to 20 of 24

    Thread: Help with GC Tec

    1. #1
      Kcnkcponds is offline Junior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2017
      Location
      Kansas City
      Posts
      13

      Help with GC Tec

      I had my pond professionally installed a year ago. I won’t bore you with some of the issues I’ve had. My question is, is it normal to have bubbles in the pump strainer basket? When the system was finally started this spring, there was an air leak. The bubble in the strainer was large, air bubbles coming out of the rerun jets. Through lots of trial and error, it was determined that the vortex filter was the issue. The filter I have is the Mashimizu filter with the Vortex SS Delux. Most of the summer the vortex was bypassed because I kept losing prime. The new vortex arrived last week, and it’s doing the same thing. I upgraded the pump to the variable speed pump, hoping I could slow things down for the winter. If the pump is on anything other than full speed, I lose my prime and I’m worried that at some point I will come home and find I have lost my prime just like before even at full speed. My pond builder said “that is as good as we are going to get” and walked off. Gary who owns GC Tec won’t respond to any of my emails and the pond builder has given up. Does anybody have any idea of what is going on and how can I fix it? I am at a loss of what to do. Thanks in advance.

      • Remove Ads
        Advertising from Google
        Promoting Koi and Pond
        keeping since 2007

         

    2. #2
      cottagefog is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Illinois
      Posts
      770
      I just suffered through an air leak that gave me bubbles in the strainer for days and got worse, and slowly lost my prime. Someone with great knowledge passed this video along to me. Give this a try to eliminate the lid, drain, any joint, union, etc.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eweIDTnJCUw

      Not normal to have a lot of bubble, or lose prime to answer your question!

    3. #3
      catfish whiskers's Avatar
      catfish whiskers is offline Supporting Member ~ WWKC President
      is Looking forward to a better
      year
       
      Feeling:
      Friendly
       
      Join Date
      Dec 2009
      Location
      So Cal
      Posts
      3,358
      The fact that Your pump loses prime at anything below full speed , seems backwards . This is the opposite of what normally happens , as an increase in pump flow usually draws in more air if there is a vacuum leak , or the same if the plumbing or equipment feeding the pump is too small , or is causing some sort of obstruction of flow .
      We can help better if You list all Your equipment and include photos

    4. #4
      Kcnkcponds is offline Junior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2017
      Location
      Kansas City
      Posts
      13
      I think this photo shows all of the equipment except for the pump. I believe the pump is the same HP as the one listed except that it is variable speed.
      Attached Images Attached Images  

    5. #5
      catfish whiskers's Avatar
      catfish whiskers is offline Supporting Member ~ WWKC President
      is Looking forward to a better
      year
       
      Feeling:
      Friendly
       
      Join Date
      Dec 2009
      Location
      So Cal
      Posts
      3,358
      Thank You , I saw that on their website , but need pics of Your pond showing how it’s set up ,including everything from bottom drain /pond intake, to return back to pond .

    6. #6
      Kcnkcponds is offline Junior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2017
      Location
      Kansas City
      Posts
      13
      I tried to find the best pictures. Water comes in through the bottom drains, goes underground and comes up inside the shed. The water goes through the vortex, into the pump, into the bio filter, and finally through the UV light and returns to the pond via 4 returns. The skimmer is it’s own little entity and it feeds the waterfall, which isn’t complete yet...hence a lot of details I won’t bore you with as to why it has taken a professional pond builder a year to complete a 5,000 gallon pond. It will only let me up load 2 photos. If you need more I will see what I can do.
      Attached Images Attached Images   
      Last edited by Kcnkcponds; 09-14-2019 at 11:12 AM.

    7. #7
      dragonfly1976 is offline Senior Member
      is 행복해Ꮫ
      6;
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2010
      Location
      Western New York
      Posts
      675
      What size pipe are your bottom drains? Do the run into the vortex individually or are they tied together before the filtration?

    8. #8
      icu2's Avatar
      icu2 is offline Administrator ~ WWKC President
      ~ WWKC Treasurer
      is sorry otters exist
       
      Feeling:
      Annoyed
       
      Join Date
      Feb 2007
      Location
      Poulsbo, WA
      Posts
      32,942
      Quote Originally Posted by Kcnkcponds View Post
      I tried to find the best pictures. Water comes in through the bottom drains, goes underground and comes up inside the shed. The water goes through the vortex, into the pump, into the bio filter, and finally through the UV light and returns to the pond via 4 returns. The skimmer is it’s own little entity and it feeds the waterfall, which isn’t complete yet...hence a lot of details I won’t bore you with as to why it has taken a professional pond builder a year to complete a 5,000 gallon pond. It will only let me up load 2 photos. If you need more I will see what I can do.
      I'm curious where you're seeing that restriction?
      --Steve



      Koiphen 2021 Koi Person of the Year!

    9. #9
      Kcnkcponds is offline Junior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2017
      Location
      Kansas City
      Posts
      13
      Bottom drains are 4 inch that are reduced to 2 inch. I didn’t get to see where they are tied together but they have to be as there is only one inlet to the vortex. I left him plenty of room when I built the shed foundation, but he didn’t use it. Rather there is a ton of plumbing coming together pretty close to the surface in front of the shed with spray foam covering it up “to help prevent freezing” but if I heat the shed there shouldn’t be any problems. I told you I had lots of issues. It’s taken a year to build a 5,000 gallon pond. The last excuse I heard was the waterfall isn’t done yet because the rock shop was out of rock....all five of them.

    10. #10
      dragonfly1976 is offline Senior Member
      is 행복해Ꮫ
      6;
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2010
      Location
      Western New York
      Posts
      675
      My guess is you have a restriction where the 4” meets the 2” and the pump is working hard to get any water through it, with the result of sucking in air anywhere it can. Can you access where the bottom drains are tied together or at the reducer from 4” to 2” to verify that something isn’t restricting flow?

      • Remove Ads
        Advertising from Google
        Promoting Koi and Pond
        keeping since 2007

         

    11. #11
      Kcnkcponds is offline Junior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2017
      Location
      Kansas City
      Posts
      13
      It’s buried under spray foam and dirt.

    12. #12
      catfish whiskers's Avatar
      catfish whiskers is offline Supporting Member ~ WWKC President
      is Looking forward to a better
      year
       
      Feeling:
      Friendly
       
      Join Date
      Dec 2009
      Location
      So Cal
      Posts
      3,358
      Although the reduction from 4’’ to 2’’ is not ideal for flow , that in itself would not cause a vacuum leak . Direct suction systems are very sensitive to vacuum leaks , in that any joint or coupling that is above water can be a culprit. You’ve got a lot of possible sources of vacuum leaks, seals , couplings , valves ,etc. . Like I said earlier, if You have less vacuum leaks when the pump is at full speed , that doesn’t sound right , as an increase in pump flow should increase the vacuum leak. You mentioned a bipass around the vortex , if that bipass does not, or has less vacuum leaks , that will help You narrow down the possible sources . If it is the vortex itself , check the big lid seal, or any fittings that are attached to it. Couplings can easily be out of alignment, keeping the seal and their surfaces from making good contact . Judging from the incompetence of Your “expert” seals could even be missing . Seals can sometimes be improved by coating with magic lube brand sealant , found at pool supply stores . Misaligned couplings can be fixed by heating the piping till soft with a heat gun , and then holding in place till cool .

    13. #13
      dragonfly1976 is offline Senior Member
      is 행복해Ꮫ
      6;
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2010
      Location
      Western New York
      Posts
      675
      The pump is losing prime except in high gear can also be the result of water starvation. Sometimes it’s the most obvious things that we overlook first. A 4 x 2 reducer can easily clog up from a ball of string algae or leaves. You will eventually have to add a clean out tee in the line just to service it so now would be a good time just to eliminate it from the problem.

    14. #14
      catfish whiskers's Avatar
      catfish whiskers is offline Supporting Member ~ WWKC President
      is Looking forward to a better
      year
       
      Feeling:
      Friendly
       
      Join Date
      Dec 2009
      Location
      So Cal
      Posts
      3,358
      Quote Originally Posted by dragonfly1976 View Post
      The pump is losing prime except in high gear can also be the result of water starvation. Sometimes it’s the most obvious things that we overlook first. A 4 x 2 reducer can easily clog up from a ball of string algae or leaves. You will eventually have to add a clean out tee in the line just to service it so now would be a good time just to eliminate it from the problem.
      If the pump was losing prime due to water starvation, it would be worse at higher flows

    15. #15
      dragonfly1976 is offline Senior Member
      is 행복해Ꮫ
      6;
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2010
      Location
      Western New York
      Posts
      675
      Well let’s look at the fact that the unit is a pre-plumbed unit that was tested at the factory and the builder is even struggling to make it work correctly. The OP also got a new vortex unit that duplicated the problem. That leaves the what the builder did for his own plumbing to connect to the plug and play system, in which he buried the most critical part.

    16. #16
      cottagefog is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Illinois
      Posts
      770
      Just curious if you watched the video I posted a few back a few days, and tried running the hose on everything exposed to see if there was a reduction of air bubbles in the leave basket?

    17. #17
      Kcnkcponds is offline Junior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2017
      Location
      Kansas City
      Posts
      13
      I did watch the video. I had back surgery last week so I haven’t been able to do anything. I am starting to feel better and I plan on doing it today. I really appreciate you for providing the link to the video.

    18. #18
      Kcnkcponds is offline Junior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2017
      Location
      Kansas City
      Posts
      13
      The pond builder did modify the system a little so that it is easier to work with inside such a small shed. He didn’t modify it enough that it is vastly different from how it was shipped. He has replaced literally every piece including the vortex on the suction side. This week he dug down to where the bottom drains enter the shed, and couldn’t find anything. It’s odd, because before he did this I had no air in the strainer basket if the vortex was bypassed and now I do. The next thing to check is the bottom drains, and he is throwing a fit. When he started building the pond last fall, we had a week where it rained so much. Instead of letting things dry out a little, he came and pumped all the water out. He obviously doesn’t understand hydrostatic pressure, so everything caved in. The underlayment and the liner got destroyed. With the mess he made, it is very possibly that there was damage to bottom drains and the connections. We had a few words last night and he is now bringing in a pool company to check things out and to do a pressure test. He is unhappy because at this point he isn't making money on this job. It has taken a year for a 5,000 gallon pond. I politely said it’s not my problem that you aren’t making money, if it would have been completed in the 2 week period you said, you would have made money.

    19. #19
      cottagefog is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Illinois
      Posts
      770
      Hopefully the pond company can pressure test all the runs and either find the air leak, or at least narrow down the search. Good luck and keep us posted.

    20. #20
      pickerel's Avatar
      pickerel is offline Supporting Member
      is enjoying new pond
       
      Feeling:
      Happy
       
      Join Date
      May 2018
      Location
      SC
      Posts
      1,269
      I'm sorry for all your troubles on this pond build. Earlier you had said your builder walked away. I'm glad to hear he is still trying to get it fixed, even though begrudgingly so. I hope you get it figured out and fixed soon.

      • Remove Ads
        Advertising from Google
        Promoting Koi and Pond
        keeping since 2007

         

    Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

    Tags for this Thread

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •