How do you clean your pumps?

[October Sky]

Every now and again, it's pump cleaning time. What's the best method?

I'm talking about both power heads and return pump. Basically, any water propulsion device which stays submerged.

 

[cvrle1]

Just did this for some old return pumps:

Fill bucket of water with 10-1 mixture of water and pure white vinegar.
Submerge pumps and run them for several hours ( I ran for 3-4 I think)
Put pumps into bucket of fresh water and run again for 15-20 min to rins out properly
Scrub any baked on dirt on the outside
Let air dry for 24 hours

Had one powerhead in there as well, and did same thing. All came out nice and clean and working well. For wavemakers I would disassemble and clean parts individually, and then do the above.

 

[ca1ore]

I backflush my main return pump monthly, disassemble and mechanically clean the volute and impeller about once a year. Powerheads i clean as needed. Mechanical cleaning of the magnets and props. I only vinegar the cages, not the magnets.