How to Clean the DR-160 Submersible Water Pump

Written By: Langston eldred

Comments: 34

How to Clean the DR-160 Submersible Water Pump

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

Time Required

15 minutes

Introduction

Like most cats, my cat doesn’t want to drink still water. To keep the water moving, I got him a water fountain. I have noticed that the amount of water that came out of the fountain was slowly decreasing. So I decided to take a look at the pump. After taking apart the pump, I saw that the blades were covered in hair, and it was binding up and not pumping correctly.

If the DR-160 Submersible Water Pump for your pet water fountain is not working properly, follow this guide to clean the blades and get it working again. This guide is simple and safe to complete.

Tools

Step 1

Before you begin, remove the cord from the wall adaptor. Do this by pulling down on the cord.

Step 2

Empty the fountain by dumping the water into the sink.

Step 3

Remove the wire attached to to the pump to free it from the fountain by unplugging the cord from the AC adapter. Then take the end of the wire and push it through the open hole.

Step 4

Remove the pump from the fountain by grabbing both sides of the pump and the basin, then pulling the pump out.

Step 5

Take your flathead screwdriver and pry along the seam of the front face plate of the pump. Once it is loosened, pull it off with your hands.

Step 6

To remove the inside cover pull on the tab shown in the picture.

Step 7

Using tweezers grab the blades and pull straight out.
This might be tricky to do, because there is a magnet that holds the blades in. It might take you a few tries to get the blades out.

Step 8

Use your hands to pull the hair off of the blades. Remove hair from around the blades too.

Step 9

Clean the pump with warm water and soap.

Step 10

Place the blades back into their location in the pump. There isn't a certain way the blades go in.

Step 11

Replace the inside cover with the tab on the right. Press it down to secure it.

Step 12

Take the front face plate and place it onto the pump. You should hear a snapping sound when face plate is fully on. The snapping sound comes from the tabs on the front face place popping back into place.

Step 13

Place the pump back into the fountain. In the bottom of the basin there is a indent (shown in picture). This is where the pump goes.

Step 14

Feed the wire back through the channel in the side of the fountain the fountain.

Step 15

Fill the fountain with water and it is ready to plug in and use.

Thank you so much ! Id cleaned the front of the fan and it still didn’t work but I could hear life but didn’t know how to take it apart .. I was about to order a new pump at £15 when I found this guide and thought “what’s to lose ?” Worked an absolute treat !

Georgi Honeyghan - 26/12/21

Thanks much. Super easy instructions to follow and it worked.

squeak226 -

Perfect worked great! Thanks for the idea. I too was just about to order a replacement but this did the trick.

Gs Gs -

Hot dog- it worked! Many thanks 😊

Page Feller -

Saved having to buy another fountain!!!

Page Feller -

This was exactly what my pump needed. A good cleaning. Thank you so much for posting how to do accomplish this. Thank you 👍🏻

ShawnaAz -

Thank you. Easy instructions and my pump is working again!

michelledoehnert -

This didn't fix my pump (it actually was almost fully clean just a little slimy in some spots and needed a small rinse) Is there anything else I could try? Or does it just need fully replaced?

Emily Gaston -

Cleaned it and it still doesn't work. So bought a new one. Will keep a better eye on this next one.

Cheryl Winner -

Thank you cleaned it out after it stopped working n low n behold it is now working again thank u from me n 4 happy cat's 😺

Richard Watts -

Conclusion

After replacing the fountain cover back on top of the basin and plugging the pump back into the wall adaptor. Your pet fountain will work like new

Author

Langston eldred

Member since: 28/09/20

761 Reputation

24 comments

Hi, thanks for your aid, I dismounted the device and now it’s being cleaned with a mix of vinegar and water (my problem is our water has a lot of lime). We’ll see if it works or if we have to buy a new one, but your tips have been useful.

Krusti molu - 14/01/21

Thank you, fantastic breakdown of the breakdown. In our case, it was not cat hair, but a sort of “slime” along the magnet part of the fan/blade spindle. This was cleaned and returned to the motor, and with a quick spin of the hand, it was moving freely again. Thank you again, and best wishes for you and your cats.

unmapforward - 30/01/21

awesome! i threw my first pump and just found this guide when my second pump stopped worked. After I cleaned it like you described, it now works as new! saved me some $15

Boris Key - 03/02/21

Thank you so much for this guide! Very helpful and my pump is now working like new

Elisha Tempest - 17/02/21

I love this guide. It's simple, yet thoughtfully done. The pictures are great and the instructions are easy to follow. Well done. Thank you!

Tara Turner - 21/02/21

Thx. Almost bought a $13 pump. Super fast fix, works like new!

Michael Winters - 27/03/21

Great job. Simple, clear explanations. Love your use of the red boxes. It’s pumping again! now I just have to figure out how all that cat food got in there in the first place… :-)

Blane Friest - 02/04/21

thanks a lot directions and picture where a big help and now it works just like new

turtel23 - 14/05/21

Very good post. Saved me of buying a new one.

Bernardo Munz -

Well….thank you so very much. Thought was going to have to go buy a new pump. Followed your directions, hey presto its working again. Thank you so very much..

clownaboutown -

Cleaned the pump as clean as I can get it. Plugged it in and red light still flashes. Do I need to buy a new pump?

scheck1 -

I did everything and the light is still blinking red. Do I need to buy a new pump?

Marie -

Thanks for posting! The pics and explanations are high quality and technically accurate descriptions for fixing this pump. It was gooey slime in the pump that stopped mine. I used a Q-tip to reach in with the soap and water and now the pump works like new, and the water that is being pumped now is probably much healthier for our cat. Appreciate your time and effort to post this!

Jim Sutton -

I did all that and still no pump action, red light still on

Lee Beal -

If you’re still getting a red light after cleaning the pump, there are two things you can try:

1. You can try repeatedly unplugging the usb cable from the charger, then plugging it back in. Watch the LED when unplugging—if it flashes blue very briefly while you are unplugging, the next time you plug it in it will work.

If you’ve plugged and unplugged many times and only ever gotten red, you can:

2) Try Plugging it in while it is in very hot water. I filled the fountain to just over the top of the pump with as-hot-as-possible water from the tap, then put about the same amount (so, to about halfway full) with boiling water. Plugged it in, immediate blue.

Be aware that while this hot water run seems to reset something in the pump, it won’t necessarily just work every time you plug it in. If you put cold water back in, you may get a red light again—but method 1 of plugging and unplugging has worked for me within 2-3 times after the hot water treatment.

Eric -

Thank you. This was very helpful with clear instructions.

Rahul R Verma -

Thank you. This was very helpful.

Rahul R Verma -

thanks for this, saved me from buying a new pump!

Rox Roque -

This is a fantastic instructional! I also had the slime and am happy to report that after a dissection and vinegar soak, my motor is running beautifully!

Jennyth Mozenko Peterson -

What if no light is showing?

cosmos48 -

Thank you for this guide! I have one of this pumps and clean it throughly every week. However it just stopped working after I cleaned it for the week. It is SUPER clean and still, doesn't turn on. Is there anything else to check? It has only like 9 months of use.

carolaclavo -

Huge help! Thanks for the simple and concise guide!

Nick Fredricks -

Fantastic tutorial. Saved me from buying a new pump!

Jon Atterbury -

WOW.

Your step by step guide was perfect. Fountain up and running again.

My kitty and I thank you.

Myriam -