Bill, both Laguna and Little Giant are good reliable pond pumps. Both are termed "Mag pumps" or magnetic drive pumps, both can and must be be submerged in the pond to keep them running cool. Pondmaster/Supreme pond pumps, are also good quality mag type pumps that can be submerged or used in line, but you would not get the volume you require, as I think they only go up to about 3500GPH and a much lower head height. MAG is a sort of misnomer term really, as all electric motors rely on electromagnetic action to make them work. The reason these "Mag pumps" can be submerged in the pond, is that the electric motor's wire wound magnetic stator, is completely sealed in a molded epoxy resin body. This prevents water from entering into the yoke of the motor, where the stator windings and electrical power connections are located. The water still runs in and around the magnetic rotor of the pump motor, which the impeller shaft is part of, but cannot cause any problems, because the stator is completely sealed off. Regular electrically powered universal motors, used in most electric powered tools, or induction motors, used with external pumps, are not sealed up with epoxy resins. The motor's insulated windings etc,(the magnetic parts) are left open, to be cooled by the motor's internal/external cooling fan, which draws air over the motor windings/casing, to dissipate the heat build up during use. These types of motor cannot be submerged in water or are supposed to be subjected to flooding. "Horton"

Pump is probably overheating from all the on-and-off cycling. Every 5 to 10 seconds is bad. Ideally the pump will run continuously in an irrigation system, and only cycle off when the whole system is turned off. Either more heads on that zone, or heads that use more water would help. Do have any type of storage tank on the well system?

Thanks for the replies....I've cooled down some from earlier this morning. They did come in and replace the drain line and they aren't charging me anything for these callbacks because of the one year labor warranty i have with the system. The water stains were kinda the last straw with me but come to find out they are not "directly" related to the AC after all. This is an older house and the previous owner had put a bucket under a small leak in the roof. When the guys installed this unit they moved the bucket. Over the past few days we have had some heavy rains and thats what caused the stains. I kinda felt stupid for that one but with the previous drain line issues i figured it was related. Other than that the system seems to working great and hopefully it will keep on. They offer a 10 year labor warranty for $800 that I'll definitely be getting. I had been contemplating it but after this I think it would be a wise purchase. Thanks for all the replies!

cindywhitall - No worries, your comment is spot-on and pretty much sums up my situation. Jackfre - I hear you, but despite my well-earned cynicism I'm too honest to take that path (tangled webs and what-not). If there's only one party acting with integrity through this, I want it to be me... ...but today was an interesting day and there may be hope for a decent resolution. First, I talked to my homeowners insurance company about my claim - and they seem ready to cover any damages from the lighting strike and support replacement of the HVAC system. However, they will only cover the replacement - not the repairs that have been done so far. Second, I had a technician visit from the HVAC company - someone who has yet to be involved with my repair. He was interested to hear my story and as I gave him the rundown - and he saw the status of my system - he clearly felt that it had not been handled correctly. There were sloppy connections on the zone board (as I found) and the air handler error code indicated deeper damgage - which he confirmed with testing. He agreed that with lighting damage the repaired unit could have lingering isssues that would only get worse over time and replacement is the best solution - a real concern for a brand new system that we hope to get 15-20 years of service out of. He didn't have the authority to offer me any immediate help, but will be taking my case to one of the business owners tomorrow morning. As I see it, the first diagnosis was hasty and incomplete which set us up for a series of repairs that have been both expensive and ineffective. I'll ask them to refund the repairs and replace the air handler - which will be covered by insurance. Hopefully I find a sympathetic ear. If I knew three weeks ago what I know now, this all would have gone much more smoothly. As I've been reminding myself since the storm, at least no one was hurt (my wife saw sparks in the lving room when the lighting sruck), nothing caught fire, and the weather has been relatively mild while our AC is out. Plus, I've finally gotten around to making some nice window screens for the kids' bedrooms.