Tunze ATO not working

[Coralgurl]

I noticed yesterday the water level in my sump dropping, checked for leaks, nothing. My ATO shows the water level low but isn't pumping water.

What should I be doing to ensure its working ok? Over the last few weeks it's been pumping too much water, setting off the alarm, now it just seems to have quit. I bought it used, was told it had only been used for 3 months prior and it's been on my tank for about 5 months.

[daplatapus]

Make sure the wire connections are good coming from the pump.
I've also noticed on mine that sometimes if it gets air in it (if for some reason it runs dry or something) I need to give it a bit of a shake and bump to work out any air bubbles in it.
Can you hear anything at all coming from the pump?
If you have access to a volt meter, you can also check the terminals feeding the pump leads to make sure the pump is getting power.

[Coralgurl]

I checked it this morning, the bottom was clogged with hair (we have 2 cats and a dog), my reservoir is not covered....:redface:
I unplugged it, plugged it back in, it showed that it wanted to pump, but no water. The sensor works as I added a bit muchI gave it a shake and nothing. I completely unplugged it before I left for work, manually topped up the tank and will have to look at it tonight.

[Borderjumper]

That may have burnt the pump out. I think J and L sells a replacement pump.

[Coralgurl]

I picked up a new pump today (thanks to Dave at Concept), figure it was burnt out. Installing pump then covering the sump to keep the cats out.

[daplatapus]

Probably a good idea :D

[Nano]

At least the problems solved. The first few days with my jbj I couldn't figure out why it was going off every 5 minutes.. dumb@$$ me put the line in the water so it would siphon when the pump turned off... Lol needless to say I fixed the issue but still felt like a dummy.