I can't find a quiet filter!

[Iamjustifyd]

I bought 2 AC70 filters as I had read everywhere that they were very quiet. Tank is in my room. They are both noisy. Got in touch with Hagen, so after going back and forth with them, a new filter..still noisy and sent the motor back, they send another motor. Still noisy, get a new impeller and shaft, still noisy. I tried an impeller for AC50, no help. It sounds more like the motor than the impeller, it's not a grinding noise. My cousin has 2 of them on her tank..I couldn't even hear them! It was wonderful, I had to actually touch them to see if they were on. I'm at a loss as is the lady I was dealing with in customer service..Karen, very nice. Any suggestions? I'm getting very tired of dealing with this and about ready to give up on the whole tank thing.
Thanks!

 

[Duckie]

Try taking your filter to your cousin's house (if not too far away) and hook it up to the tank there. See if it sounds different. How quiet is your room to begin with? If you are used to a very quiet environment, especially when sleeping, the smallest noise will be a major distraction.

 

[qwe123]

Good suggestion by Duckie, imo. Also, canister filters are generally much more quiet than HOBs, with the added benefit that you will never have to worry about the waterfall noise, if you don't want that.

 

[Iamjustifyd]

That's a good idea, she's about an hour away so next time I will bring one of them. Room isn't real quiet, air filter fan, ceiling fan, oscillating fan. I like the waterfall sound and that sound kind of masks the motor noise. I plugged it in last night without the impeller and the motor itself is quiet so it has to be the impeller. I tried lubing the shaft and the impeller but didn't work. I had a canister and even tho only had to clean it every 3-4 months it was a pain to me breaking it all down. Even that one I only got it real quiet once in the year I had it, never got the hang of getting all the air out I guess. Thanks for the answers! Any suggestions would be more than welcome

 

[Duckie]

Another thing it could be is the intake tube making noise. When you first turn it on it should make a bunch of noise and go near silent after the air is out of the tube and water flow is established. Try disassembling the filter as much as you can, and put it back together - especially the intake tube need be tight.

You said water splashing back into tank covers up the noise from motor? How high is your water? What else do you have hooked up that makes noise? My airpump in the kitchen on my 29g makes a bunch of noise compared to the power filter. Different brand filter though (mine is a penguin 150), but even so the motor noise while being near silent is still a lot louder than the water noise going back into the tank. Water I cannot hear unless I put my ear right next to it. I don't like to see the water line, so all my tanks have the water level somewhere in the middle of the rim.

 

[Iamjustifyd]

My water level is a little bit low, time to change water and sometimes I leave a little low to mask the motor. I can have everything else off and narrow down what I am hearing to the motor/impeller. I have some pressure washing to do right now but maybe later I can put something up on youtube..

 

[apastuszak]

There are a number of videos on Youtube showing how to quiet the filter down by applying petroleum jelly to the impeller shaft as a lubricant.

I had some teflon lubricant from my pool that I used and it seemed to help quiet down the filter.

 

[Iamjustifyd]

I did put the jelly on it and doesn't sound so much like the impeller now. I think what it's doing is vibrating through my cabinet somehow and it's making it echo? Not sure of what term to use. Thanks for the video!

 

[biondoa]

I have several aquaclear filters of the HOB type. When they make a lot of noise it is usually because the lid or cover is rattling. Some kind of soft material inserted between the lid and the main filter box may help. I have used a tiny piece of panty hose material to buffer the noise.

 

[Squawkbert]

1) keep your tank topped off
2) if there are any big holes in the lid, put packing tape on both sides to seal them off to reduce noise and excess evaporation
3) all filters need to run for a month or three before they will run at their quietest due to the little layer of slime that tends to build up on the moving parts. Whenever I scrub the head unit of my Eheim, I spend 2-3 days wishing I hadn't because of the increased noise.
4) Play around w/ the little adjustable standoff on the AC filter. Getting the right "push" on the box, or getting it properly leveled may help too
5) check the cords, they can transmit vibration as well - maybe bundle them and wedge a loop of them between tank stand and wall to serve as drip loop and isolation from vibration

I use little AC20 HOBs on my 5.5g tanks and an Eheim 2215 on my 46 bow. These are as quiet as I've heard.