aquaclear problems

[bottle-blonde]

thank god this happened today and not sometime over the weekend. i had no computer access because my ram died. the problem is that i completely cleaned out my aquaclear - scrubbed the whole thing out. and now i've gone and plugged it back in and it's not working. is it possible that i fried the motor in the pump part? am i going to have to go get another or has anyone had any experience with their filters miraculously coming back from the dead?

what's the average life expectancy for them anyway? i think i've had mine for 6 years.

[DarkDiscus]

Aquaclears can last a LONG time. I have one that I bought in 1990 that still works fine. When they get older they can sometimes be tricky starting up - what you want to try is to a) Scrub out the impeller well with a Q-tip. b) Rinse the impeller well. c) Clean and dry the impeller.

Reload the filter. Try again.

I've had it happen that the filter gives me a hard time out of the blue, then works fine ever after.

John

[brewmaster15]

Hi Erin,
Unplug it. Remove the intake tube, and use a knife, pen or something similar to manually turn the impeller assembly with water in tjhe filter. You'll see it if you look down into the motor. Plug it in and try again. You can also try it plugged it. Sometimes it sticks. the impellar is run by a magnet. Debris and rust can form and make it stick.
HTH,
al

[bottle-blonde]

the pen thing worked! yay al! you just saved me a bunch of time and money and now i can buy a bigger desk instead of another filter!

thank you thank you thank you!

erin ;D

[brewmaster15]

;D

[April]

Brew to the rescue. cept i just pull the intake up a bit and touch it with my finger..while on...and off it goes. just gets a bit stuck. soon as i stick my finger inthere..it goes. well ok..i move a blade with my finger. i havent had one die yet..and if you do..then you can always just buy a new impellor. never done that yet either.

[Kap]

Now that you got it working, be sure to give the impeller AND the race it fits in a quick cleaning once a month or so to keep it going. I have been using a new Emperor 400 for 3 months now in a newly set up 55. At the last water change I thought I'd take a look at the impeller, thinking it would be clean as a whistle. But I found Crud all around the impeller, on it, and in the cup that holds it in place! A small brush is an effective cleaner, and a little salt if you need some grit for the more stubborn stuff like calcium deposits. Hope this helps to keep your Aquaclear running trouble free for years!

[brewmaster15]

Hey Kap,
Try this next time. 1 tspoon baking powder, add to the filter while running with water , but place it in a sink ( remove the intake tubes) 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar (it'll foam alot) and let run 1/2 hour. then rinse.

it works great!

-al

[Kap]

Hey, Brew, thanks for the new cleaning formula! Sounds like a potent mix - that's the same stuff I used to put in home-made rockets! I have NO DOUBT that will clean just about anything that ails the filter!