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

I just moved up to Silvercup 9.5mm pellets in my AquaPro 75 feeder. It "jammed" on the first attempt. The only "help" the guy at Aqua Pro had was "buy smaller feed".......Brilliant!
The feeder has worked fairly well until now. The specs. on their website say it can handle .125 to .5 inch feed. Anyone had similar experiences or have any advice? I really don't want to put a 2nd lien on my home just to buy a Sweeny feeder.


Thanks in advance!

Eddie

I have continually had problems with my aquapro and none with my sweeny. However, if you keep the battery fully charged at all times you will have fewer jams. Even with the solar charger on the feeder I take the battery off and charge it every other week. I am thinking of adding another solar charger to see if that would keep the battery charged.

I have two batteries that I keep rotating. I have an aquapro with the old style solar panel and one with the new style and the old style stays fully charged all the time, the new style doesn't work very well.

I noticed the feeder doesnt work well when I mix food sizes too.

Thanks for the replies. I bit the bullet and ordered a Sweeney 300# feeder from Lusk. I should have done that in the first place.I am an absentee land owner and don't have time to screw around with broken feeders. I have actually had several minor, irritating problems with my Aqua Pro. I guess I'll use it for smaller size feed (unmixed)for the forage base.

Thanks,
Eddie

My customers are reporting problems with the aquapro feeders.

The feeders seem to work well with 1/4" fish food ONLY. In the modern world of different feed sizes, Aquapro needs to improve their design. I have communicated this to them. We'll see what type of response we receive.

The new timers and solar panels have problems as well.

I'm now a distributor of Texas Hunter and Sweeney due to the problmes we have had with aquapro. I do not make the same connection as mentioend on feed size. It all has to do with having a fully charged battery. Nate you nailed it the new solar panels do not work worth a crap if in the shade.

I have a client (you will read about him in PB in Jan/Feb.) we have 8 feedrs up, 5 with old style panel no problem with feeder, new style, dead or jam. We resolved issue by swithcnig out with battery once every two weeks. Aquapro customer service has been good in support of my request for more batteries. Once it jams it then can put strain on boat motor, wheel, etc. IT is snowball effect. I have been told they have fixed the issue. Not sure so I let clients know they have options although much pricer than aquapro.

I have my new solar panels out in full sun, and am convinced they don't work at all.

I also would like the aqua pro feeders to be able to throw out less food when set on 1 second. (without a reducer plate that doesn't work too well)

Overall, My fish are growing much faster than ever before.

Greg,
What are our options if we have a jammed feeder that is less than 4 months old. Do we invalidate the guarantee if we open it up to undo the jam? I hate to ship it back ..... but $400 is a lot of money for a 4 month feeder.

Luskfan you made the right decision.

Baro they have on occasion taken back a feeder. Overall they seem to always try to make the client happy, just too bad they continue to have some issues. The warrabty covers the cost of parts not shipping so you can do what you want to the feeder, it is up to them if they will take back the feeder. I think we good battery and repair of current problem it should work fine with any size pellets. 800-847-8269 to discuss.

This Saturday I just installed a second solar panel on the fish feeder. I am hoping that two solar panels will be able to keep the battery charged enough to keep the feeder from jamming. I will let you know in a week if it worked.

It is my belief that you shouldn't have to "modify" a $400 fish feeder in order for it to work properly and be dependable. That is why you spend $400 in the first place. Right? Right! I just received a Sweeney 300# feeder in the mail from Lusk. I'll report back as soon as I have had time to form an opinion.
That's the beauty of a forum like this. Real life feedback from pros and common folk. If I owned a fish feeder business, or any other "pond related" business, I would be monitoring this site purty darn close!

Eddie

Eddie I agree 100% with you! Let us know if the Sweeeny was worth the extra what $250? BTW you know #300 equals about 150 lbs fish food???

I’m not about to pay $200 more for a fish feeder just because I don’t know how to keep a batttery charged.

My first 5-year-old Stren A-75 feeder has NO solar panel and is still the best feeder I ever had.
I charge battery every few weeks – No problem.

I have had “clogging” problems on two of the newer models recently due to discharged batteries, with perhaps less than functional solar panels, but what the heck, we had about three weeks of cloudy rainy weather.

What’s to complain about?

Ps:
In 11 total feeder years, I have had ONLY two genuine “clogging” problems that were unrelated to low batteries.

Both were the fault of the feed and/or not cleaning the feeder.
One bag of oily/greasy AQMX 400 clods that got mixed with my standard AQMX 600 –
Another negligence on my part for not annual cleaning allowing for moldy feed clods.
Not a bad record for Purina.
I’m happy with Stren/AquaPro and Purina AQMX.

Good point, george. I haven't seen it emphasized here (much), but I bet a thorough cleaning at the end of the season and weatherproof Winter storage (if possible) are very important.

George this site works both ways. You can express dislike and praise. thanks for the praise to even things out. You made my point exactly. By offering three feeder options the ball is in the clients court.

I agree with George. I have 3 Aqua Pro feeders. They have not clogged or jammed in 8 feeder years of use. They stay out most of the year (rain , sleet , hurricanes , heat and humidity) with little or no maintenance. One stayed operational through Katrina. I have noticed that the one Greg got for me has a different solar panel and its charge does not last as long as the old model solar panel. But the charge still lasts for 3 weeks. Moisture in your feed will clog any feeder that I am aware of.

I bought my Aqua Pro 75 this past April. I charged the battery at that time and not again since. Battery meter still shows full charge to this date even under partial shade. Feeds twice per day on schedule, just like clockwork... Everytime.

I do wish that they would secure the panels with something other than sharp sheet metal screws, especially inside of the hopper and launching shoot. Maybe some pop rivets or something. I hate when they jab into my cutical.

When using 3/16" or smaller pellets in the aquapro, the main feed throwing wheel creates a vaccuum that pulls feed bypassing the upper motor. This causes feed to be dispersed during the entire feeding cycle, regardless of the seconds set on the timer. This also allows raccoons access to what you thought was secured fish food, especially if they can shake the feeder. With larger fish food the feeder works like it should. The reducer plates will work correctly on 1/16" feed, but not on larger pellets in my experience.

They sent me a dozen new timers a few weeks ago, thinking that the timers were faulty as well as the solar panels. This may be the case, and with time I will be able to make a judgement on that.

Other than these issues, which may or may not be the fault of Aquapro, the feeders are a good product for the money according to most folks. It's just a pain for the retailer to receive calls with problems. The retailer is also responsible for keeping customers happy, but the retailer can not make a living cruising around the country to service faulty products.

I have not had that problem with several feeds 3/16 and smaller.

George do you only use the purina fish food? Maybe I should find a fish food that will work in the feeder and only use that one brand and size. I have bought several different fish foods from several vendors and all of them go through the sweeny with no problems but if I need to only buy purina for the other feeder I will.

James I have used several types of food through my 3 Aqua Pros and had no problems. I do think the GFC works the best as it seems to be consistently drier out of the bag.

James, the only feed that has ever gone through my feeders is AQMX 500 and 600 and never have had a failure that was fault of the feeder.

I only feed the larger AQMX 600 now because I only want to feed the HSB and mojo CNBG - small gills are BAIT....

Overton you post was spot on. I feel the same way. Good for the money but frustrating when it does not workout. I had a good client that spends quite a bit on our service get so mad he fired me over a bad feeder. I can not let a little profit off a feeder ruin my reputation and can only continue to hope the problmes are resolved.

I do feel the new style solar panel has lead to many problems.

Even with two solar chargers the thing still jams. George is yours the fat cat or the smaller one? Mine is the larger feeder and I wonder if that makes a difference? Well for what its worth I just ordered a second sweeney feeder just because I am tired of trying to get it to work.