Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Aqua Pro "jam"

James, mine are the Stren/AquaPro ADF-75 feeders - some of the best equipment I ever owned as long a I pay attention and provide proper maintenance, as on any piece of equipment.

I'm not about to pay that much more money for a Sweeny feeder. I'm sure AquaPro is paying attention to your problem if you have discussed it with them.

Unless things have changed, Andy provided excellent help to me when I wasn't smart enoght to program the timer.

I was blaming the feeder when all the time it was "operator error"...

George I am not blaming anyone for anything. The fact is for whatever reason it doesn't work properly. Mine is the larger version of yours and maybe that makes a difference. When it comes on it sucks too much food in too quick and jams the motor. I am out of things to try to get it to work. I have spent thousands of dollars on fish and building the pond. Paying another five hundred dollars after trying to get it to work for two years for me is worth it due to my lack of time. I have tried smaller pellets and they get sucked in too fast larger pellets just jam right away. Putting only one bag of pellets in at a time seems to help as does keeping the battery totally charged. I am open to any suggestions short of throwing it in the lake for structure.lol!

James - throw that thing in the lake....Use it for structure - anything....

George I just had an epiphany! Lets trade!

I'm bringing it to your house!

I'll take it.....
I never load more than about 25#'s at a time anyway - HSB like fresh food....
CC don't care...

James,

Just out of curiousity, what setting do you use for the RPM of the motor? As you know, you can program the time of the feeding, the duration of the feeding, and the speed of the motor.

I do not know if both motors are synchronized for the rpm setting. If they are not, it might be worth trying the highest rpm setting to get the food thrown as quickly (and as far) as possible while it is being dropped from the hopper. Thank you for sharing your problem. Please keep us posted as you find the fix. They do have a 4 year warranty, so if nothing else works, please let us kow if the factory makes it right with you.

James, as Shawn says there are various settings on the timer for maximum performance - somewhat confusing to me.
I called Andy at AquaPro on my cell phone and he "walked me through" the process to check the setings and gave insructions enabling me to correct my problem
NO ONE can give better customer service than I received from Andy.
He's the best in my book.

The RPM setting is just for the lower motor. Seting on hgih will allow more "shake" and thus increase cahnce of jam. I set all of ours on low to attempt to prevent the Jam.

I put a second solar panel on the feeder and it seems to have improved the problem 100%. It still tends to jam but not to the point the feeder doesn't work. It keeps the battery at 100% which gives the motor enough power to work. I think I will call Andy to see if there is anything else I can do to improve its performance. Thanks for any other advice.

I have an Aquapro feeder also. I just got it about a month ago. I haven't experienced a jam yet, but I have experienced another problem. The feeder does not throw the feed as far or as wide as advertised. It only throws the feed out about 10-12 ft. x 6 ft wide. The advertised pattern is 45ft x 20 ft. I have contacted Aquapro and they have been very cooperative about offering parts to try to fix the problem. I have had no success. They have sent me new timers and recently a new motor. The timers did not make any difference and I haven't had chance to change the motor yet. I have to give them credit for trying their best to help, but I'm very dissapointed with the feeder especially when it costs $400.

I have three Stren-ADF 75 that I bought from Greg Grimes four years ago. I only have a clogging problem when the GFC gets damp.

Recently one feeder "malfunctioned" and was throwing the food only 5-8 feet. I charged the battery but had the problem. Next I tried a brand new battery. That solved the problem.

Batteries wont last forever - especially left outside in freezing weather.

Frank

I strongly agree with Frank.
I also have three AquaPro/Stren feeders between 3 and 5 years old and never had a mal-function until a few weeks ago.
A $17 dollar battery from Acadamy solved my problem.

"A good craftsman doesn't blame his tools"