uh oh..ants in the pool pump!!

[bubbles]

I heard the pool pump running funny yesterday and went to see what the deal was and there was an ant pile under the pump housing. I sprayed them down and after about an hour it went back to it's normal hum. Went out again today, same thing, ants still not eradicated, the not so normal sound is back and now I am also seeing baby spiders AND ants on the pump housing. The housing was also very hot to the touch!! I sprayed again and shut down the pumps...should I attempt to take off the housing and check further or should I get a professional out here?? ACK!! Stupid drought!!
Thanks,
B

 

[frogabog]

I don't know about the pump issue, but you can put borax (20/20 Mule team, or boric acid if you have it instead) on the ant hill/area and they will take it back to their queen as a gift. Problem is... it's poison for ants :~}

Boric acid is probably better at this than borax but the borax works just fine and chances are you have some in your pool chemicals already.

 

[bubbles]

Unfortunately no...have not used borates so far...I did spray them down with what I had on hand, 20% vinegar..it's killed a chunk of them and I will be going after them again in the morning.Turned the pump back on to circulate chems for the evening and then will turn back off til morning, hoping th lil boogers will get the hint and relocate.

 

[TGMcCallie]

Unfortunately no...have not used borates so far...I did spray them down with what I had on hand, 20% vinegar..it's killed a chunk of them and I will be going after them again in the morning.Turned the pump back on to circulate chems for the evening and then will turn back off til morning, hoping th lil boogers will get the hint and relocate.

Are these ants fire ants or regular ants. Way you can tell if they are fire ants is put your hand or finger down and if they run up on you they are definitely fire ants and need to be treated differently. Get granulars that are especially for killing fire ants and your problem will be solved. Which ever one they are you have to kill the queen before you can get rid of them. The borax, or boric acid will work on regular ants but don't know if it will work on fire ants or not. I have a idea it will but check with Lowes or HD and they will know or you can call your exterminator.

In dry weather ants of all kind seak out moisture.

 

[bubbles]

Yeah and actually, I reread my post and realized that I meant to say they are in the pump motor! I am getting some borax tomorrow and hopefully will take care of it. In the intern, I may still need to get a prof out here if the motor is still running hot...I am not sure how much damage they are capable of doing to the wiring. I've heard of them jacking up AC compressors around here before.

 

[Bama Rambler]

If they've clogged the vents under the bottom of the motor you need to clean them out. Once you've doen that it should run cooler.

Motors run pretty hot anyway. Are you sure it's hotter than normal. If you can make yourself leave your hand on it for 8 seconds it's less than 150ºF.

 

[bubbles]

Nope, not sure at all...I like your test method, hopefully my "restaurant hands" won't give me a false reading (lol, I waited tables in college and can still handle hot stuff without issue).
Now, do I need to take the casing off to clean out underneath or can I just spray compressed air under the casing?
Also, I forgot I had some diatimacious earth so I sprinkled that out on the mound around the slab this morning. Know that will kill them.
Thanks for all of the advice.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Just blow it out good and check to see that they're clear.

Everybody has different tolerances for heat but that's pretty universal.

 

[bubbles]

Ok, blew out underneath, let it run for awhile and it is definitely running hotter than 150 and still making that high pitched humming that is not normal...turned it back off! Went ahead and called my pool repair guy since he won't charge me anything to look at it. Darn it, the thing is only a year old!

 

[TGMcCallie]

Is it still in warranty? My luck is always that the warranaty just ran out.

If he wants too much money to repair you might consider a new one or contact a electrical motor repair place near you and see what they will charge to fix it. I have found that this is cheaper because the pool people just take them to the repair site themselves.

 

[bubbles]

I wish it was still under warranty! And yeah, just missed it....I am lucky that my pool guy is great. We found him with the warranty company and he has really taken good care of us in the past...very fair on prices. he also did some work for us that was not covered under our home warranty as well as squeezing in some issues that would not have been covered and would have cost us a fortune on our own. I wish I was brave enough to explore the issue myself, but mechanical inclination is not my strong point. I appreciate all of the feedback. I will report what I learn when I know something.

 

[bubbles]

Just a quick update. My pool guy made it out to take a look. Apparently I got the ants out (at least for the most part)...he took a look and thankfully said everything seems to be okay. He didn't see a need to take anything apart(lol, he said he would if I wanted him to, but he saw no reason to and didn't want me to pay for something i didn't need). So, hooray, all done for now. So very grateful that I found such an honest (and good) pool guy for those moments when i am feeling over my head with an issue. thanks for the advise here too!! Got a great rain last night to boot, so maybe the ants will stay away from the pump now.