Eheim Filter Output Low

[Underwurlde]

I have an Eheim Ecco filter (a 2232), relatively new at only 4-ish months old.

My problem with it is that it appears under-powered, the water comming out just seems wrong, the flow in my small 60L tank is pants.

To this end, I timed how long it took to fill up a 2L jug = 35 seconds.

If my math is correct, that gives 205Lph. The unit is rated at twice that, at 400Lph!

So, apart it came..... and everything was clean enough! No blockages in the pipes, nothing...

I'm stumped! Any suggestions now would be most welcome as to what I do to get this filter up to speed!

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Colin_T]

take it back and get it checked under warranty. See if you can borrow another pump from the shop while it is being looked at.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

How far below the tank does the filter sit? This may simply be an issue of head and how far up the water must go to get back into the tank.

 

[Underwurlde]

@Colin_T: Shop is on-line. Reputable though, so may call them.... Can't really swap out for another filter as I don't have a 2nd

@TwoTankAmin: Good idea but I thought of that. I raised the filter up, but noticed no real (of any!) difference. To answer your question though, from top of filter to water level in tank, I'd say about 2ft.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Tolak]

Try removing the impeller, and blasting those little passages out with a hose. I've noticed on my ECCO that it is prone to buildup in there, much more so then my classics or pro's.

 

[Colin_T]

How far below the tank does the filter sit? This may simply be an issue of head and how far up the water must go to get back into the tank.

External cannister filters are a sealed unit and the motors only have to push the water up a couple of inches to go over the edge of the tank. The water drains into the unit and flows back up the return hose. The water in the hoses sits at the same level as the water in the tank. All the pump does is push the water up over the edge of the tank and back into it.

 

[Underwurlde]

@Tolak - It's good to hear from someone with experience of this problem (& yet again you're the one with experience ). I did take the impellor out and stare at it thinking 'work you bloody thing' and gave it a rudimentary clean. I will try a more violent approach to cleaning out as you suggest. A quick question here if I may: with your Ecco, was the reduced flow due to build up of crud you experienced enough to reduce the output flow by 50% as per what I am experiencing?

@Colin_T - I am staying WELL out of any discussion about pumps / pressure / header height etc. Last time I got involved with such a disscussion I got my facts uttlery hat-stand and have remained confused ever since about this subject! I will reiterate that in moving the cannister filter up off the ground by a foot or so made no noticeable difference so I guess you're right there.

Cheers again,

Andy

 

[Tolak]

It reduced it by far more than 50%, probably by 80%. I had it running on a 20 long, with a breeding colony of aeneus corys. This is one of my usual overstocked, overfed tanks, I had a sponge filter running for additional bio filtration. I pretty well tortured the thing, letting it continue to run after the rate had slowed, since I had a fishroom remodeling planned in about 6 weeks.

The poor thing had choked to almost a trickle by the time I got to tearing things apart. The media was somewhat filthy, when I pulled the impeller out & rinsed out those little passages a nice couple of chunks, what could almost be described as plugs, came flying out.

 

[Colin_T]

the main thing to watch when you clean the Eheim filters is they have a ceramic impellor shaft that can break if you are too rough trying to remove it from the housing.

 

[BigC]

Check to see if the pipework is not kinked. Dont add any extra bends etc to mfg set up. (I changed sheperds crook on a classic once and swopped for 90' bends..resulting in that filter would not prime for some reason). Is the filter fully primed (full of water) Is you media compacted to tightly, Check impellier unit to see if the ceramic shaft, impellier blades are not broken. Incidentally there are two rubber bushes at either end of the ceramic shaft, check these are seated right in the housing.
Above the impellier unit is a flow ball and cage check this is not gunged up.
Other than that, the pump head unit motor must be faulty
Regards
BigC

 

[Underwurlde]

Good points BigC , lets examine each one in turn:

Check to see if the pipework is not kinked. No kinks or pinches (easily done on that flimsy Ehiem green pipe stuff).

Dont add any extra bends etc to mfg set up.. No extra bends etc

(I changed sheperds crook on a classic once and swopped for 90' bends..resulting in that filter would not prime for some reason). Yes, I did see your other thread where you'd put in proper Eheim 90° bend things and got vastly reduced flow - I have nothing like that, but good to know about!

Is the filter fully primed (full of water) I hope so, yep.

Is you media compacted to tightly . Good point. I'll actually remove it all (the basket) and see it that makes any difference.

Check impellier unit to see if the ceramic shaft, impellier blades are not broken. Nah, nothing broken in there.

Incidentally there are two rubber bushes at either end of the ceramic shaft, check these are seated right in the housing. Don't think so. Nothing appeared out of place, but I'll bear this in mind.

Above the impellier unit is a flow ball and cage check this is not gunged up. That area was very much clear of any gunk.

Other than that, the pump head unit motor must be faulty. I bloody hope not!

I reckon the pipes need cleaning (based on a few other threads I've come across). I'm gunna give them a scrub & see if that makes any difference.

Thanks again,

Andy

 

[Tolak]

I remove that ball & cage assembly, it is a goop catcher waiting to happen. I don't recall having one on my ECCO, but the one on my 2026 was removed long ago.

 

[BigC]

I remove that ball & cage assembly, it is a goop catcher waiting to happen. I don't recall having one on my ECCO, but the one on my 2026 was removed long ago.

Yeah good call Tolak
It may well be the ball is sealing off the flow in some way. Try doing what Tolak has said. If it works...lets know, I know an awful lot of Eheim ECCO users are experiencing the same problem.
Regards
BigC

 

[Underwurlde]

OK, some progress....

I cleaned the hoses using a modified bottle cleaner attached to some of that green garden wire stuff.

Crikey the sh*t that came out! After only 4 months worth of use!

I cleaned the solid plastic feeders (the 'U' tube and swan neck) using a rag tied to the end of aforementioned garden wire.

Crikey the sh*t that came out! After only 4 months worth of use!

So, turned everything back on & recalculated:

2L in 24 seconds.... that's a major improvement. What's that now?... 300L / second. Still not 400L / sec though.

Going back to what BigC mentioned:

Is the filter fully primed (full of water): I hope so, yep.

Made me look again. 1/5th from the top of the canister I see..... AIR! (makes me wonder how the damn thing is working AT ALL since the impellor is at the top of the device). So, I spent the next 20mins trying to 'prime' the cannister / lever the cannister / tip the cannister / swirl the cannister / and shake the cannister to get rid of this air trap. There is still a little air left in there - no matter what I do I cannot seem to get rid of it. I think I may be doing something wrong, but I have the original instruction manual to hand, and the little it says about priming I have followed to the 't'...

... and the results ...

naff all difference.

Something's not right here.... I shall look at removing that ball thing next!

Fingers crossed,

Andy

 

[BigC]

Seems you've solved half of the equation then!
Andy try to self prime it, Involves sucking on the inlet tube (you know the proceedure...not nice) but it may work better than that handle thing.
Regards
BigC