[SCVkoiboy]

About 2 years ago, I bought a Dragon pump and installed it with my new pond. The Dragon pump was sucking in air, but I wasn't sure if it was my pipes or the pump. I contacted William Lim at a koi show and he told me he had problems with his Dragon pumps whereby the molding process failed to inject enough material and, therefore, the rim of the basket was sometimes uneven and air may get into the pump due to an uneven lip. He told me to check the rim and get back to him. I checked the rim and noticed that the inside of the rim was lower than the outside (I placed a straight edge across the center of the basket and noticed the gap on both sides along the inside edge of the rim). Is it supposed to be that way or is that a design flaw?

I took the pump to William Lim's shop and he tested it by placing the pump below a large container of water so the water would flow down towards the pump about 2 feet. The output side was only a foot or so and just squirted out into the basin. He said the pump was fine and did not suck in air (I question his method for testing). I bought a new gasket and a new union as suggested by William.

When I got home and hooked it up, I used the new union to run a pipe straight into my settling tank with a single pipe (no joints). The output was hooked into the same old pipes. This, I figured, would tell me if it was my pipes or the pump. The pump again was sucking in air.!!!!!! I then hooked up a Performance Pro pump to the exact same pipes (original intake and output) and it runs fine. NO AIR!!!! When I contacted William Lim, he refused to warranty his pump and said his pump worked fine.

Has anyone else had a problem with Dragon pumps or dealing with William Lim? I feel like I got scammed!!! I think he intentionally hooked up the pump so the water was gravity fed to the pump and pumped straight out thereby creating no strain or pressure on the pump. In the real world (at least my system), the pump had to push water through a bead filter and through 50 feet of pipe with a 5 foot rise. I think the pressure on the output side may have something to do with the reason the air gets sucked into the basket area. Does anyone have any thoughts about this? I question William's honesty and integrity for another reason. When I was at his shop, he hooked up his pump and a competitor's pump to demonstrate how his pump is better (or as advertised). They were each hooked to a flow meter. His pump did pump better than the competitor, but when we looked at his specs for his pump, the flow meter indicated his pump did not pump as he advertised. He tapped the flow meter and told me it was broken! How stupid do I look!

I will never buy another product from William Lim. I don't really know if his products are good or not and I am open to any suggestions about my pump problem, but I believe he has horrible customer service.

Has anyone else had a problem with him or his products or is it just me? If it is just me and someone can explain my pump situation, I will gladly apologize to William. Until that time, buyer beware!!