Aquaclear impellers stopping

R

ROLLIN

fanta fanta, do you want a fanta?
Dec 4, 2001
686
0
0
New Brunswick, Canada
I am devoted fan of aquaclear filters (except for one whisper and one air driven sponge filter :o). However on 2 of them within the last few months the impeller has stopped turning (once on each) and had to be manually restarted by my finger. I dont think Ive ever had any other problems with aquaclears, this I guess really wasnt much of a problem but Im wondering if anyone elses aquaclears impellers have ever stopped. By the way I keep my impellers clean.
 
i have an aquaclear on my 10 gallon that the impellar stopped working and had to manually be started, that happened 3 times in a row when i was cleaning the filter, but then for some reason it stopped jamming and works fine now.

ps - using a straw to start the impellar instead of your hand is a little bit less messy :)
 
I have never had any problems like that with my ACs. Is it in really heavy duty? How often do you pull the impellar and stick a toothbrush or whatever in to clean it out? I did mine once every 6 mos. or so and never had any problems. It was on a 125 with a bunch of large fish in it too! Ran non-stop for 10 plus years too! Except for a few hours hear and there where I moved the tank.
 
One of the filters that quit (AC500) is on a 66g tank with 1 jack dempsey and 1 sailfin pleco, the impellers definately get cleaned more than once every 6 months, and I just do it with my finger. The other filter (AC200) is on a 23g with 2 goldfish and lots of white clouds.
 
I have that happen once in a while. It usually happens after the power goes out. Cleaning out the impeller well works wonders for keeping them going. Other then that I have noticed that the older they get the more likely it is to happen. Check the impeller shaft. They can and do wear out. The more wear the more likely they are to stop once in a while.
 
I think they stop when the shaft is worn out, most of the time they stop after the power is shut off. I just bang on the impeller with the intake tube a couple of times and its off and running
 
Ledsinger: That's amazing you've had one running for 10 years! Even with regular maintenance I have yet to have an Aquaclear filter live past 3 or 4 years. They've all been on either cichlid tanks or planted tanks however, where there is quite a bit of strain on the filter from dealing with cichlid waste and bits of plant that often get sucked up into the filter and wrap themselves around the impeller.
 
Jukax I am sorry to hear they last you so short a period of time. I have a 500 that is over 10 years old. Had to just replace impeller shaft on that one. I also have two of the much older 610's running. The only time mine ever seem to die is if the power goes out and the filter empties. Then when the power comes back on they are unable to start drawing water and overheat and kill themselves. I think of aquaclears as being as close to bullet proof as possible. I wish there were a way to help you get them to last longer. These are great filters.
 
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