Everything to go along with my planes seems to be goin wrong....Here's a list:
Start Quit

Fuel pump act funny (Pumps then stops then pumps again)

Pulled the drawer of field box today

Had to replace ALL harware in trainer...

Had to replace propellor..

Fuel tanks all replaced

Stopper and fuel line got soft or cracked

brass tubing started to corrode(dont even leave fuel in tanks!)

And a host of other problems...

The starter will be going back to hobbico. Will replace fuel pump.. Already reglued drawer. Tomorrow I'm going to do a thourough inspection of EVERYTHING that has to do anything with my planes... But I'm just wandering is it normal for these items to go south after 1 year(Bought it all last x-mas... The pump has had MAYBE 8 gallons through it and the starter has beens used almost every weekend but I still figured these things would last.... I hope I don't have to replace all the Hardware on My Ultra Stick Lite 1.20 next year... That'd have to be a whole christmas worth of stuff!

On the fuel pump: I assume that its electric and not hand pump?? If its like mine there are 4 small screws in the case. Remove the pump, lay it down flat. Now you can easily remove the screws and lift off the outer case. You will see 2 small plastic gears. It sounds like the gears may have foreign material in them such as bits of plastic from fuel tanks or the fuel may have gelled a bit. In any case its an easy fix. Clear the gears or remove them and degum them. Reinstall the gears and put it back together. You can prevent the pump from getting stuff in it by installing fuel filters on both sides of the pump. That way nothing gets into the pump from the fuel bottle or plane fuel tanks. Hope this helps a bit! [8D]

Thanks FastSky!

Will go up and try that here in a bit! Hope it works as I really don't feel like forking over for a new pump

Sometimes if the fuel is just starting to gell you can work it loose by turning on the fuel pump and then switch from 1 direction to the other a few times from filling mode to empty the planes tank mode. [8D]

I've had nothing but problems with electric fuel pumps. I use a good manual pump now. I don't recall the brand. It's Japanese and I got it from Heliproz. I've had it for years and not a single trouble with it.

From your list it sounds like you've rushed through some things. Paying attention to detail seems like it takes time, but in the long run it saves a lot of time.

One thing I always do is pre-flight my planes at home. Sometimes I get back from the field and just put my planes away but there may be things that need adjustment. If I do the pre-flight in the shop then I can correct those things where all my tools and supplies are available. I'd rather work on the bench than at the field. When I get to the field I have very few problems.

I'm one of the few people I know who can fly all day and not tinker around with my planes all the time. There are a couple others, but the vast majority of guys at my field spend more time working on their planes than flying them. Plus it's that much harder because they don't have everything they need so they start jury-rigging.

I am still on my original Hobbico fuel pump going into its 6th season this year. [8D]

Also, my hobbico pump stopped pumping, and i took it apart (as fatsky said) and one of the gears was broke. i superglued it back together and it's pumped another 3 or more gallons of fuel since then. No problems! you can fix it. There really is nothing to them (assuming the little motor didn't burn up).

Caffen man, I never rush through things... By looking at all the Items mentioned they all look brand new. I just never figured i needed to take the starter or fuel pump apart and check them.. Aslo the trainer is.. well a trainer.. it's had at least 6 people fly it and 3 of them crashed it severly.. Also it's been a while since its been flown and a friend had borrowed it for 3 weeks.. Im not sure if he did any maint. or not.. Plus I use this stuff quite often... If you think almost every weekend for a year with at least 4 flights each session and somtime up to 20 flights a session(gotta love those days when you saty from 7 am til dark!) that time adds up.

OK, without seeing it I'm just making my comments based on what I've seen in the past.

Pre-built stuff always has defects (field boxes, ARF's, etc.). You're right about the starter and pump. I've had several brands of electric pumps and not one of them lasted a full season. And I do maintain them per the instructions (no leaving fuel in them).

The hardware that comes with ARF's is usually crap too. I usually discard most of it and replace it with better quality stuff. Anyway, I had a lot of the problems you're having back when I was getting started. Experience over the years has gotten me to the point where the only ongoing problem I have is with my piloting.

Its funny. I belong to two clubs. One club, nobody has an electric fuel pump. All hand cranks. Thats what mine is, hand pump.
The other club, everyone has electric pumps. And I'll say that more people with electric pumps have all the problems pumping fuel into/out of their tanks.

Dave...

ICE_MAN... That name reminds me of a movie I like:-)....
With that much use/flying.... You have to expect some wear:-)
The starter should last a long while, But you know how that can go at
times... Electric fuel pumps.... There nice, But also a few more things
that could go wrong.. I like the hand pumps.. Less drain on the battery..
Less to go wrong... And my tanks are not that big that a good old simple
hand pump can't take care of.. With hopefully a cheaper and better life span

Well guys took the pump a part and since i use a filter both ways it was clean as a whistle... Guess I'll be buying a new one.. I think This time I'll buy a hand pump... Think about going with the one from hanger nine.. its only 13.95$ what do you guys think?

Hey Ice before you trash the pump, you stated that you have filters on both sides of the pump. They could be glogged! When that happens the pump slows down and barely moves. Its easy to check. Remove the filters and hook the fuel tubing directly on to the pump and see if it works then! IF it does then you know you need to clean the screens or replace the filters depending on which type you have. If the pump spins, it should be pumping. If it doesn't spin after the filters are off, then I have to assume the pump is shot. [8D][8D]

To minimize problems at the field I have an electric AND a manual pump on my field box. They are plumbed together with a couple of "T" connectors. I use a clip clothspin to crimp the line on the one I do not want to use.

The primary problem I have had with electric pumps is the gear comes loose on the motor shaft. It is not a big deal to fix, but a bit pf a pain to correct at the field since I don't carry any alcohol in the flight box to clean the gear and motor shaft.

my electric fuel pumped lasted me only one year . so I went out and bought me a $9.99 hand pump and I am now going into my 5 year with it

Well I checked the filter and they weren't clogged. I e-mailed Hobby Services Inc. and they said to send it and the starter to them for repair.

Wow, I don't want to jinx myself by telling you how old my elect fuel pump is, but I know it was on the flight box when it went to flight school with me 15 years ago, and it was old then. [X(]

I must have the same pump as you. Bought it back in the 60,s All metal, no plastic. On it's third motor. Swiped the last one out of the aquarium filter. The pump is an all metal eccentric rotary pump. Todays quality has gone down the toilet.