Eheim 2026 leaking!

lisah said:
Ok so i found the missing input connecter on the bottom basket. Then I figured I had them bckwards like you sed so I re arranged and di not overload. I put it all together and it's still leaking out of the double tap unit! Darn it....Do you think i should buy a whole new double tap unit or new seals????

If the connector was inbetween the baskets, then when you closed the unit, it could not set right. Then, in forcing it to close, you may have damaged the double tap latch. It is a hard lesson to learn, if an Eheim does not just slide together then something is wrong! I tell myself, "It is supposed to be EASY, this is a highly engineered peice of equipment, if it is hard then I must have something wrong."

And yes, I have done a lot of things wrong... having so many canisters, all different sorts, leads to more mistakes as I often try to clean 3 or 4 units in one day on major waterchange days.

Still, one dumb thing can cause a lot of problems, for me that misplaced connector led to replacing a gasket (maybe unnecessary, $25 local) and replacing the impellor cover (think it got cracked at that time and broke the next time I opened it, $4 online).
 
Well, just to rule out the sealing O rings as the culprit. i went to Home Depot and bought new rings that were thicker. I put on the silicone lube and let er rip. It was a lot easier to prime this time...probably becuase I had the input connector inplace. Everything worked great but a small leak which I am concluding is the gasket....which is on order. My local store didnt have a gasket that big.

I don' believe I damaged the connector or the latch because the connector was completly inside the other tube. I would guess this was the reason it was not priming, though. Wow, lots of trial and error. The last owner finally found the directions and is sending them to me, lol! i could of used those the day i tried to blindly put this thing together. i have faith that my slow leak is the gasket and after $20, new sealing rings, your great advice on setup...it will be running again. I will let everyone knows how it goes!

Since you have so much experience with canister filters, I have one more fearful question. Have you ever came home to find all your tanks water drained onto your floor??? Because of the problems I'm having, it's making me weary that it will fail when I am not home, killing my expensive fish and ruining my house.
 
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lisah said:
Have you ever came home to find all your tanks water drained onto your floor??? Because of the problems I'm having, it's making me weary that it will fail when I am not home, killing my expensive fish and ruining my house.


You should set-up the canister inlet pipe about half way from the top of the tank. If you do that, you should have no worries then. There is that risk of losing it all when the inlet is just above the gravel.
 
Or you can put the pipe all the way down in the tank and drill a small hole in the in take pipe about half way down and if it drains down to that hole you should lose prime...
 
Good idea for the inlet pipe! I think I will put a hole a quarter of the way down to be safe. It's a 72 gallon tank so if it drains a quarter, that is still a lot of water on my floor.

Eheim emailed back and they are sending a new double tap...:)
 
1 small hole drilled on the inlet might or might not stop most of the water from siphoning out of the tank. If the hole is too small, it just adds some air flow to the siphon. You'd have to have add several small holes to inlet, and hope that they don't get clogged up either. Having the inlet pipe atleast 4" from the gravel is the best failsafe.
 
I will move it up then. I think its at 4" high right now. the tanks got to be 21" high so i will shoot for 12" off the gravel..:) thanks
 
If you do the hole safety trick like Jericho said, you can check it by siphoning out the tank with the pump on. As soon as you loose prime shut the pump off.
One small hole has worked fine for me on smaller canisters. I was living on the second floor in an apartment building when I first drilled the hole.

Steve
 
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