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On those submergable pumps, are you suppose to submerge the whole thing? What about the wires?

Do people just fill a pail with water then let the pump sink to the bottom?

Pond style pumps should be fully submerged. The motors need the cooling.

So you submerge the wires too? Am I going to need to make sure the pump is under water but the wires are not?

Or just let it go to the bottom, wire and all?

Not all the wires , just ends on the pump side. Don't do something silly like drop an extension cord in there too.

Okay, so we don't submerge wire.

I guess we need to build something so it doesn't sink to the bottom of the pail and cover some of the wire then.

Do people make a floating boat for the pump? How do they make sure the wire is above water?

My pump is just one of those aquarium pumps. I have it in a 5 gallon bucket. Just drop the pump in and let it set on the bottom, and run the wire up and out of the bucket. About 12" of wire will be in the water and is not a problem.

I know, I was really twitchy about just dropping it into the water too.

Buy a submersible pump and submerse it under the coolant.

Okay, I'll put it at the bottom of the pail then.

I checked my workshop and I have some sort of 12V pump so I guess I'm good to go then. If it fries, it fries. I'm not thrilled about electricity and water in the same area.

I guess the wiring on those pumps is probably fairly sealed.

The proper pump will be marked as a SUBMERSIBLE pump. The one I have is 120V AC, and apparently the electronic parts of it are sealed. Don't just chuck an unknown pump that you had lying around into the water without knowing whether it is ok to do so.