Aquaclear 30 Problem

owenodin

owenodin

AC Members
May 17, 2011
155
0
0
Northeast
Hi All,

So someone this morning, my AC 30 apparently just decided to stop working. I couldn't get it to restart (cleaned the impeller area and the sponge) and had to temporarily put another filter on the tank.

Problem is, this is the third time my AC 30 has given me problems on this particular tank, and I've only had the tank up for a couple months. I like the AC 30 and I thought they were fairly reliable, could I be doing something wrong? Generally, the problem occurs when I am trying to start the filter back up after a water change. However, this time, it happened on its own.

I have an AC 70 on my 20 gallon and it has never had a problem -- works great.

Anyone want to throw out any ideas? Do I need to do anything different to keep an AC 30 running than an AC 70? Is there something in the tank thats messing the filters potentially?

Thanks for everyones help.

owenodin
 
All it takes to mess up an impeller is one several inch long human, dog, or cat, hair wrapped on the shaft.
Another fatality is the plastic peg that sticks downward and catches on the magnet so the assembly spins. If the impeller spins 360 degrees that peg is gone.

I clean my impellers with an old toothbrush to make sure I catch all debris on them.

The impeller shaft can be bent, if you drop it while cleaning, and step on it.

Good luck.
 
I don't shut mine off when doing a water change. One can easily remove 20-25% of the water in a 20 long or high while the filter runs. I also remove the filter media to rinse them without shutting the filter off. Works for me. The only time they're off is during a power outage. If they fail to re-start, I use a long screwdriver to get the impeller going again.
 
Problems after cleaning are usually due to the impeller shaft being pushed back in the motor to far. AC30 and AC70 are identical same motor just different size impeller blades. I have noticed with some of my AC's they seem more problematic the first several weeks of ownership then I guess they break in and work pretty smoothly. I'd try lubing up the impeller shaft.
 
Is the motor working and the impeller not turning? Does it seem to be running but isn't pulling water up the inlet tube? Is the filter chamber full of water when you start it back up? If you don't pull the inlet tube out after you unplug it, siphoning the tank will also lower the water in the filter - sometimes to a point where it doesn't have the 'head' to pull water from the tank.
How recently have you pulled the impeller/magnet out and cleaned it and the chamber it fit's in?

I'd pull it off the tank and empty the water out. Plug it in and see if the impeller turns and got from there.
 
When I remove the motor and plug just the motor into a bucket of water, the impeller turns. However, when I reattach it to the filter housing and plug it in, nothing happens.
 
i've had this happen before. It could be a couple of things. It could be a little tiny rock between the impeller and the shaft, or it could be a whole bunch of gunk inside the motor. To remove this, I take a Q-tip and stick it all the way in the motor and move it around. If a lot of brown stuff comes up, you know that's probably your problem. Continue with more Q-tips and clean the inside really really good.
 
PS I do fill up the filter chamber with water before I plug it in.

owenodin said:
When I remove the motor and plug just the motor into a bucket of water, the impeller turns. However, when I reattach it to the filter housing and plug it in, nothing happens.
Click to expand...
 
owenodin said:
When I remove the motor and plug just the motor into a bucket of water, the impeller turns. However, when I reattach it to the filter housing and plug it in, nothing happens.
Click to expand...

You may be pushing it in too far. I sometimes have that issue with my AC70, and I just pull it apart, and put it back together again, and it starts back up just fine.
 
Thanks guys! I'll try pulling it out a little further and see what happens, when I get a minute. I'll let you know.
 
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