medela pump in style losing suction?

A friend of mine has let me borrow her medela pis, I obviously bought all new stuff for it and everything. It worked perfectly for the past 2 weeks but in the last few days its like the suction has just died, I've changed the valves and that didnt make a difference .... This happen to anyone else? Anyone have any advice?

 

I borrowed a Medela PIS from a friend for my first pregnancy. I thought it worked fine until she needed it back and I bought a new one. It was a HUGE difference. Way more suction on the same settings. I wonder if it could just be an age related change for your pump too?

Other than checking for loose connections, I think you may have just reached its max lifespan?

 

It has happened to me a couple of times - each time in my sleep deprived state I hadn't fit the connections inside the bottle properly duh!

Have you washed the tubes and dried it really well? Sometimes a trapped air bubble will make the suction slow. Let it air dry completely before use and check for trapped air bubbles - you could even use a hair dryer to speed up the process - I used to dry it hanging down. The tubes don't need to be washed that often unless the milk somehow gets inside it - I probably washed the tubes once per week.

Make sure when you connect the tube, that it's in firmly. Check all the connections to make sure it's fitted tightly.

I had a 2 year old PIS and the suction on that was amazing. I'd be surprised if it gave up within 5 years to be honest, as they are really built to last.

 

Also, make sure that the unit inside the bag is properly placed. My husband pulled mine out one of the times I hadn't put the valves together properly trying to diagnose the issue and ever since then if I bang it around much, the box comes out of position. If you continue to have trouble, try pumping with it lying on its side. That said, I did notice that after a while mine didn't have as good suction when I was using it for my oldest (used it quite a while with her though).

 

Like the others have said, check your connections, make sure the horns are screwed onto the bottles tightly, make sure the white flappy thing that fits into the yellow thing is seated properly, etc... If these things don't fix it, check the pump itself. Take off the front yellow cover of the pump. Turn the pump on and make sure the diaphragm is not ripped (when the cover is off, you'll see what I mean). My first pump lost suction completely and I did find out that the diaphragm had ripped inside... no way to fix it... I tried. Hope that isn't the case!!!