UV sterilizer question

(yes I know some of you don't believe in them...........vbg......... so
ignore)

do any of you KNOW where there is info on how you can tell if the UV filter
is working?
mine is in its 2nd season, has been running a month & the water is still
nasty green.

I am sure it worked OK last year ( at least water was pretty clear)
the UV filter is a 40 watt, for a 6000 gal pond ( MINE IS 3800 gal) & the
bulb is supposed to last 9000 hours.(pump is NOT that suctiony (g), so the
flow rate is not too high, its divided off of a swimming pool filter & the
UV filter is right before a bio filter.

the lights are still glowing on the thing ( its by pondmaster).
I do have a prefilter before it, to catch gunk & stuff & not let fishes get
sucked up, & water does flow through it!, even with the pre-filter the algae
should get into it to be killed right? not just stuck from going into the
filter, by that, so it just keeps floating around IN the pond?.

oh lessee
ammonia is 0
nitrite is 0
KH is 105
PH is 82 ( taken at late evening)
oxygen is 10 ppm??( is that the measurement)

been adding lymozine weekly & just added koi clay last week.

You need a new lamp, and you also need to open up the unit a clean the
quartz sleeve. It may be covered in algae or calcium. Be careful with
the sleeve and the "o-rings". Have some fresh lube for the o-rings.

jay
Mon May 31, 2004





In article , *muffin*
wrote:

(yes I know some of you don't believe in them...........vbg......... so
ignore)

do any of you KNOW where there is info on how you can tell if the UV filter
is working?
mine is in its 2nd season, has been running a month & the water is still
nasty green.

I am sure it worked OK last year ( at least water was pretty clear)
the UV filter is a 40 watt, for a 6000 gal pond ( MINE IS 3800 gal) & the
bulb is supposed to last 9000 hours.(pump is NOT that suctiony (g), so the
flow rate is not too high, its divided off of a swimming pool filter & the
UV filter is right before a bio filter.

the lights are still glowing on the thing ( its by pondmaster).
I do have a prefilter before it, to catch gunk & stuff & not let fishes get
sucked up, & water does flow through it!, even with the pre-filter the algae
should get into it to be killed right? not just stuck from going into the
filter, by that, so it just keeps floating around IN the pond?.

oh lessee
ammonia is 0
nitrite is 0
KH is 105
PH is 82 ( taken at late evening)
oxygen is 10 ppm??( is that the measurement)

been adding lymozine weekly & just added koi clay last week.

Muffin,

Just because the light is on does not mean that the UV
is working. Just like Florescent lights that loose
intensity over time, so does the UV bulb, only faster.
It should be replaced every year. Remember the story
about burning the candle at both ends only burns half
as long, well, this is the case is with UV. The bulb
is producing very high intensity emissions and its life
time is shorten because of the hi-end radiation it is
producing.

There is no way to get away from it, you are going to
have to buy a new bulb.

HTH

Tom L.L.
----------------------------------

*muffin* wrote:

(yes I know some of you don't believe in them...........vbg......... so
ignore)

do any of you KNOW where there is info on how you can tell if the UV filter
is working?
mine is in its 2nd season, has been running a month & the water is still
nasty green.

I am sure it worked OK last year ( at least water was pretty clear)
the UV filter is a 40 watt, for a 6000 gal pond ( MINE IS 3800 gal) & the
bulb is supposed to last 9000 hours.(pump is NOT that suctiony (g), so the
flow rate is not too high, its divided off of a swimming pool filter & the
UV filter is right before a bio filter.

the lights are still glowing on the thing ( its by pondmaster).
I do have a prefilter before it, to catch gunk & stuff & not let fishes get
sucked up, & water does flow through it!, even with the pre-filter the algae
should get into it to be killed right? not just stuck from going into the
filter, by that, so it just keeps floating around IN the pond?.

oh lessee
ammonia is 0
nitrite is 0
KH is 105
PH is 82 ( taken at late evening)
oxygen is 10 ppm??( is that the measurement)

been adding lymozine weekly & just added koi clay last week.

OK.. first I have had a UV never replaced the bulb, finally the thing rusted into
oblivion (somebody gave it to me) so I got a new one. but if it isnt working....
I have a little pump on mine that is not inline with the regular filter. I place
mine where the "cleanest" water is and the water moves by slowly which increases
efficiency (I use a maxi 100 power heat pump).
other floating crud (like clay) is going to decrease the efficiency enormously. you
may need to be cleaning out the prefilter every day to remove organics from the pond
and silt. and if your biofilter/veggie filter isnt up and running well it could be
the light isnt going to keep up with the algae.
but it is a very good idea to clean the glass. dirty glass stops effective UV
passage. Ingrid


"*muffin*" wrote:
do any of you KNOW where there is info on how you can tell if the UV filter
is working?
mine is in its 2nd season, has been running a month & the water is still
nasty green.
I am sure it worked OK last year ( at least water was pretty clear)
the UV filter is a 40 watt, for a 6000 gal pond ( MINE IS 3800 gal) & the
bulb is supposed to last 9000 hours.(pump is NOT that suctiony (g), so the
flow rate is not too high, its divided off of a swimming pool filter & the
UV filter is right before a bio filter.
the lights are still glowing on the thing ( its by pondmaster).
I do have a prefilter before it, to catch gunk & stuff & not let fishes get
sucked up, & water does flow through it!, even with the pre-filter the algae
should get into it to be killed right? not just stuck from going into the
filter, by that, so it just keeps floating around IN the pond?.
oh lessee
ammonia is 0
nitrite is 0
KH is 105
PH is 82 ( taken at late evening)
oxygen is 10 ppm??( is that the measurement)

been adding lymozine weekly & just added koi clay last week.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

"*muffin*" writes:

(yes I know some of you don't believe in them...........vbg......... so
ignore)

I believe I believe!!

do any of you KNOW where there is info on how you can tell if the UV filter
is working?
mine is in its 2nd season, has been running a month & the water is still
nasty green.

If the bulb is glowing and this happens I replace the bulb.

the lights are still glowing on the thing ( its by pondmaster).

Make sure about what the lights show, just AC power or the bulb itself
glowing. I replace ballasts about twice as often as bulbs, maybe 5 years
for bulbs and 2-3 for ballasts (I should spend more money and get industrial
strength ballasts).

Anyway, ballast or starter going bad will give a dark bulb (so will broken
bulb filament). Bulb glowing and algae is bad bulb if other things haven't
changed (eg fish load, sun, pump)

You can test ballast/starter with a spare non-uv bulb (cheap). Or keep a
spare uv bulb around. I either see the filament broken in the bulb or
(once) the end wire broke off the bulb and I couldn't solder it back.

HTH

ok.

i called the manufacturer.
they told me as long as the light rings are green the bulb is working. once
it starts to 'blink' its going BAD & after a week will die.

they told me to clean the casing.........

uh,,,, shoulda done that 1st (G).
as it was pretty cruddy.

ok , now will give it a week & see what happens.

thank you all for your comments
(hopefully the manufacturer is right)

In article , *muffin*
wrote:

ok.

i called the manufacturer.
they told me as long as the light rings are green the bulb is working. once
it starts to 'blink' its going BAD & after a week will die.


The manufacture's of the bulb will tell you that you have exceeded the
effective period of the bulb after 1 season.

jay
Tue Jun 01, 2004




they told me to clean the casing.........

uh,,,, shoulda done that 1st (G).
as it was pretty cruddy.

ok , now will give it a week & see what happens.

thank you all for your comments
(hopefully the manufacturer is right)

the bulb is rated 9000 hours.

I have used it less than half of that time up here in the north..(short
season)
they told me it should easily go through the fall this year. (it will die
when not effective) shouldn't they know???

anyway they told me to call back next week..(after the sleeve cleaning)




"Go Fig" wrote in message
...
In article , *muffin*
wrote:

ok.

i called the manufacturer.
they told me as long as the light rings are green the bulb is working.
once
it starts to 'blink' its going BAD & after a week will die.


The manufacture's of the bulb will tell you that you have exceeded the
effective period of the bulb after 1 season.

jay
Tue Jun 01, 2004




they told me to clean the casing.........

uh,,,, shoulda done that 1st (G).
as it was pretty cruddy.

ok , now will give it a week & see what happens.

thank you all for your comments
(hopefully the manufacturer is right)

In article , *muffin*
wrote:

the bulb is rated 9000 hours.

I have used it less than half of that time up here in the north..(short
season)
they told me it should easily go through the fall this year. (it will die
when not effective) shouldn't they know???

Sure, but who is the bulb manufacturer, Phillips ?

jay
Wed Jun 02, 2004




anyway they told me to call back next week..(after the sleeve cleaning)




"Go Fig" wrote in message
...
In article , *muffin*
wrote:

ok.

i called the manufacturer.
they told me as long as the light rings are green the bulb is working.
once
it starts to 'blink' its going BAD & after a week will die.


The manufacture's of the bulb will tell you that you have exceeded the
effective period of the bulb after 1 season.

jay
Tue Jun 01, 2004




they told me to clean the casing.........

uh,,,, shoulda done that 1st (G).
as it was pretty cruddy.

ok , now will give it a week & see what happens.

thank you all for your comments
(hopefully the manufacturer is right)

the uv clarifier is manufactured by www.pondmaster.com

have no idea about the bulb, exactly.

I just talked to pondmaster rep



"Go Fig" wrote in message
...
In article , *muffin*
wrote:

the bulb is rated 9000 hours.

I have used it less than half of that time up here in the north..(short
season)
they told me it should easily go through the fall this year. (it will
die
when not effective) shouldn't they know???

Sure, but who is the bulb manufacturer, Phillips ?

jay
Wed Jun 02, 2004




anyway they told me to call back next week..(after the sleeve cleaning)




"Go Fig" wrote in message
...
In article , *muffin*
wrote:

ok.

i called the manufacturer.
they told me as long as the light rings are green the bulb is
working.
once
it starts to 'blink' its going BAD & after a week will die.


The manufacture's of the bulb will tell you that you have exceeded the
effective period of the bulb after 1 season.

jay
Tue Jun 01, 2004




they told me to clean the casing.........

uh,,,, shoulda done that 1st (G).
as it was pretty cruddy.

ok , now will give it a week & see what happens.

thank you all for your comments
(hopefully the manufacturer is right)