Cal Pump PWM3900 Mag Drive 3900 GPH Waterfall Pump

I must admit I love this pump. I was buying very expensive high-end pumps for my pond. Unfortunately, the best I could do was two seasons before the bearings would fail. I was tired of paying $400+ for a pump that would last only a couple of seasons, so I decided to go cheap and bought this pump on sale. I figured I could replace it every year and still come out ahead. I think what was killing my old pump was the fact I would sometimes let it run with very low water flow. My pond is in a wooded area and debris clogging the skimmer filter is an ongoing problem. My fault, but my job comes first. The pump I currently have has been running 24/7/365 for the last 4 years. It has higher flow than my old pump and uses significantly less energy. It has run with very low flow due to a clogged filter for days just like my old pump. It just keeps going and going and going....**UPDATE** 11-14-2014Well, it finally died. It started making noise like a bearing failure and 3 weeks later it tripped my ground fault circuit. Fortunately, I had already purchased a replacement as a spare and was back up and running in no time. Even though it failed, I'm still happy because I got 5 years of service out of a cheap pump. I probably could have gotten more had I taken better care of it. This time, I purchased the 1.5" screen that replaces the standard bottom screen. This significantly reduced clogging for a few extra dollars, so I strongly recommend it.

This is the second one of this pump we have had. The first one burned up when the return hose had a failure and pumped all the water out of our pond when we were out of town. No fault of the pump. It is silent, pumps a high volume of water uphill with no effort, and the handle on top makes handling it quite easy when it's time to clean it. A great product at a reasonable price.

I’ve used this particular model for my pond for about 20 years. The three impeller blades wear out and break off about every 2-3 years so a full replacement is needed. It should be simple to replace the impeller but it’s molded to the rotor and you’d have to replace the whole thing. I wish replacement rotors were available (or better yet, a more robust or swappable impeller). I’ll keep buying a new one of these every 2-3 years because it has the right flow and is otherwise a good pump.

Good pump, works as advertised. This is the second time I purchased this pump. The first one lasted 3 seasons, before the flow weakened to the point of needing to be replaced. My pond runs 24/7 about 8 months out of the year. The new pump runs strong, just as the original one did when new, and I would be happy to get three years out of the new one. When my pond was first built, I was sold a pump that cost three times the amount of this one, and the cal pump worked just as well and lasted about as long for 1/3 the price.

Used it for a pond and waterfall. It works well.

I bought this pump a year ago for my pond. Easy install and nice and quiet. But about one year later this pump has stopped and it is one of two identical pumps which have both failed at the same time.I have taken both apart, fairly easy to do if you are a little handy. In both cases water had penetrated into the pump cavity and scale had built up inside and totally jammed the pump.One pump I was able to descale and restart, the bearing on the other appears sufficiently worn that it no longer runs smoothly and pumps poorly.My sense is that the bearing seal allows enough water to penetrate and scale to build up.I will be cleaning these out at the end of the season lubricating and descaling if I buy again. Our well water has a high iron concentration so others may not have this problem.

I bought a Cal Pump magnetic drive water fall pump (PWM3900) with an inlet strainer. I need it since my current pump burnt out. However I was shipped the wrong item. I did not get the inlet strainer. What is Amazon's solution. You the customer contact the manufacturer and you work it out..... Can you say this sucks! It was not a cheap item and it was even more expensive with 2 day shipping. Now I have to screw around and do their job.... Now I will deal with the manufacturer and I will get resolution. Dissatisfied on the Gulf Coast

I purchased this pump in late December of 2013 for $146 and free shipping. Having gone through less expensive pumps I figured this might be worth the extra money. The pump was used in our pond/waterfall combination and attached to a timer. It worked marvelously, coming on for about 3-4 hours per day. That is until September of 2015 when I found it inoperable and making a buzzing sound. Flipping the pump upside down would free the motor to some extent and allow minimal rotation but it was very intermittent and loud. I called the company and was told that the product warranty was 1yr and that I could purchase a new one at discount for $148....