Fire Ants and a filter pump

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Valkyrie

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Aug 2, 2007
42
Athens, AL
I had noticed that a fire ant hill was building over by the filter pump and I was planning on taking care of it on my day off, today. As I was walking my wife out for her to leave for work, I decided to run the filter for a bit......I flip the switch and hear the power hit the pump but no go. Could the fire ant hill have stopped the motor and if so, is it permanenet.
I am now boiling some water to put on the hill (my wife;s idea because the dogs go back there too)


As always, TIA, thanks in advance
 
One word: Amdro. That stuff kills fire ants, the complete mound.

As for the pump, they may have gotten into the pump motor and filled it with soil. You'll need to look carefully. Perhaps just a good rinse with a water hose will get the dirt out.

Be very careful working around the ants. Their bite hurts for quite some time and raises a small blister. Ant and Roach Spray will kill the ones that are above ground while you're working. 8)
 
It is strange, but I have noticed that some ants are attracted to electricity! I would not rinse out your motor with water! If you do, take it apart, place all of the pieces in the sun for a week to dry off. Water and electricity do not mix. More likely the ants go in to the starter switch and is now not makeing contact. Open up the end of the motor away from the pump and blow it out using a vacuum cleaner and clean air.
 
The motor is rated for outdoor use, so I don't think that a bit of water will hurt it. :) However, I would make sure that the power is off first. ;) I washed my entire equipment sertup with the pressure washer this weekend to remove the dirt, pollen, etc. that was all over everything. It looks brand new again.
 
Even though the motors are designed for outdoor use, they may not be resistant to sprayed water.

Electrical equipment is rated from Grade 0, no water resistance, to grade 8, continuous immersion. Grade 4, splashing water, is good enough for most outdoor equipment, but it takes grade 5 to be hose proof, and grade 6 to be pressure washer proof.
 
If you have an air compressor I would just blow the air through the pump to see if you can flush the buggers out. It might just be a debris connection issue. If they come out kill the buggers!!! I live in SC came from the north where there aren't any red ants. I HATE RED ANTS! :rant:
 
I have seen pump motors shorted out by ants. In fact, opening up the back of the motor I found it was filled with dead ants. The compressed air idea sounds like a good one to me. Blow them out and then check where the wires connect in the back to see if there was a short.
 
Yep, ants are nasty.
I am now still looking at a short circuit in one of my lights on an outdoor wall. The cable live to neutral reads 5 kilo Ohms and that produced slow short circuit. I am trying to find where the juction box which most likely being buried in the wall..Dang...so sad. The connection at that junction box I suspect of having dead ants or being an ant hotel. Happened before on a garden light connection.

Yes, use air blower. I clean the end part of my motor with compressed air and I use my scuba tanks... :lol: , the dust is massive but its worth cleaning or else heat transfer will be much restricted.
 

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