Eheim Pro 2222 Impeller Help

[waterdrop]

Its been over a year since I promised myself I was going to try and learn all the in's and out's of my impeller. A couple of the members over in the beginner section have told me you can just pull (against some magnetic force I assume) the entire impeller, metal shaft, 2 endcaps (ceramic?) and the black cylinder (armature?) straight up and out of the impeller well. I think I need to be reassured several times and convinced of this before I just grasp the impeller and pull up on it!

I've superficially cleaned out the wide part of the impeller well where the blades turn whenever I do my filter cleanings, but I've never done what I'm asking above on this filter. Actually I now have something to push me as it sounds like a small piece of gravel is rattling in there!

I would really like it if any of you might come along and tell me all you know about this thing. I'm interested in what materials its made of, how it works, things you've observed, what you use to make the cleaning go better. Everything!

Thanks! WD

 

[Tolak]

Wiggle it a little as you pull it out. If the end cap, which is a sort of plastic stays in there don't worry, that means it is still good.

I just did my 2026 impeller a few weeks back. The rattling you are hearing is probably not gravel; it's a worn impeller. My 2026 has fins of sort, for lack of a better description, that lock into the magnet/armature. These wear, and it slips, making a rattling noise. Time for a new impeller, after 5 years of constant heavy usage.

I have a 2222 running, as well as a 2224. Pop that impeller out, any problems post, I'll take mine apart & figure if there is any difference, which I really don't recall there being.

 

[waterdrop]

Allright, thanks a million Tolak, don't hold your breath, I've got kids that rarely leave me time for a filter pull-out, but I'll be trying to get a chance.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[waterdrop]

OK! Thanks to your final encouragement Tolak I did it! Exactly as you said, I gently wiggled the impeller as I pulled it straight up and out of the well it sits down in. Its always fascinating to see where your imagination has diverged from reality:

1) The -shaft- is white ceramic (I believe, based on texture etc.) and is a plain rod, no bevels at the ends or anything. Obviously its important for this to not get broken!
2) I believe the bottom endcap was a silicone rubber type of afair because if felt like that when I tested putting the ceramic rod down in it without the black magnetic cylinder in the way. I could kind of feel/hear the rod catch in rubbery sort of stuff that tightly held it. This makes sense too as the black cylinder and imbeller can freely spin around the white center rod.
3) the little with clip looking thing at the top above the impeller that I -though- was some kind of endcap was actually a pinch catch that holds the gray plastic impeller down on the black magnetic cylinder. Its not involved in any spinning. Instead, the white ceramic shaft is captured deeply in a plastic well in the overall impeller cover at the top. Wear probably doesn't matter here as the ceramic rod probaby hardly spins at all, being captured by the rubber at the bottom. Instead, the cylinder and impeller spin -around- the white rod and frictional heat doesn't matter as that's what ceramics are so good at.

So the well cleaned out with Q-tips and all the rest with tap water or paper towels. The idea of cleaning it at each filter maintenance now seems simple and straightforward. The various parts come apart and go back together easily and have a solid feel.

Questions:
1) What do you go for when you want to refurbish the impeller? For example, Eheim parts sells a very small kit with what looks like just the shaft and a small circle or clip (what that clip would be I don't know) for $6.80, in the case of the 2222 or 2224 models. But then they also offer the entire impeller, cylinder and shaft assembly for $38. When would you choose what?
2) Where do we suppost the points of wear are? Have you ever been able to detect wear on any of your used parts?

Refinements of my process:
1) I'm still amazed at how much easier things go if you just let the filter box refill "forever" from the tank before you go back to it and start to reprime and power it up. Allowing every bit of water possible to get down in there is good. Rabbut has been good pointing this out to beginners.
2) Usually after I restart the cannister I pick it up and tilt and gently jiggle it (easier said than done!) so that bubbles of air in the media come loose and are ejected out of the filter. Sometimes this causes cavitation and I have to give it some suction help with my suction bulb. What I discovered this time was that if I'm -less- enthusiastic about this, taking my time to do an occasional short tilt of the top towards me, that not enough bubbles go at once to stop the impeller, so it works better. I still find that fussing with the bubbles like this a little results in a silent filter from then on after I walk away.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Tolak]

See, you've got a handle on it! It isn't as complicated as it looks once you get to look at it hands on. The shaft & bushings are for if the shaft snaps, when it breaks it often tears up the bushings.

I've found the most wear occurs where the plastic bottom of the impeller locks into the magnet. Plastic being softer wears first, begins to slip, wearing even more. I know I didn't pay what Eheim is asking for the 2026 impeller, Big Al's has them cheaper, $20 for a 2222/2224 impeller, $9 shipping.

 

[rabbut]

I'd try and get the black (usually) rubbery thing out of the impeller well and the impeller cover. These will degrade with time, just like the O-rings, if they are not kept well lubricated. These parts are prone to wear IME, usually chapping up and starting to look tired with time. Leave them thus for too long and the filter will get noisy, as the impeller bounces off them as it turns. Also, they can eventually induce an impeller failure, such as Tolak describes, if left longer still.

The impeller can wear where Tolak describes, so is something to watch for. Check the top blade part of the impeller does not move any more than it would when new, in relation to the magnet part of the impeller Unusual side-to-side or up-and-down movement can indicate the impeller is getting worn and needs replacing. If this part actually gets as far as failing, it will often damage the impeller well also, as the blade part gets thrown about wildly by the freely rotating magnetic impeller part What is normal movement for impellers varies by brand and even model. Fluval impellers have a lot of movement between the parts, but Rena and Tetratec Impellers are fixed fast to each component...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[waterdrop]

Good grief! You'd probably need some sort of long strong tweezers! I assume the rubber shaft bottom capture is itself captured somehow in the bottom of the well?

I did not observe/notice a rubber part to capture the top of the shaft. Not knowing to be looking for one I didn't but only noticed a sort of beveled upward cone in the black plastic of the big round impeller cover. I did observer a couple of times how the entire impeller assembly with shaft is pushed down into the bottom rubber grommet-base-thingy when the impeller cover is seated and rotated.

Hope I'm not missing a part (a top rubber shaft base? (top being the impellor blade end)) from some previous cleaning! Surely it would gravely miss a part? Its true I've now had a tiny bit more noticeable noise from the impeller at times if I get my ear close to the filter (I'm a year and a half out from new) compared to the amazing silence rabbut has heard me yak about. I've of course studied all the pertinent parts diagrams at eheim, but by the time you get down to the two little things included with a shaft order, you can't really tell exactly what they're talking about.

I'll repeat that this is all mostly academic and wanting to be ahead of the game, as the filter is quietly doing its job in my son's room, and I already feel a lot more empowered about how to go about cleaning the impeller now!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rabbut]

If the increased noise you mention is like a rattling, you may well be missing a part. The grommet things (called bearings BTW ) hold the impeller shaft in the centre of the well. Without them, the impeller can move around from side-to-side in the well, and knock about causing rattling. It's usually farily obvious if the filter is missing such a part due to the rattling...

I get the bearing out of the impeller well if it does not come voluntarily, by placing the shaft into it, and then applying a very slight sidewards pressure and lifting the shaft out. The bearing should come with it The pressure must be slight though, as the shaft will break easily from sidewards pressure

All the best
Rabbut

 

[waterdrop]

I always thought of bearings as needing rollers or balls or otherwise being involved in the rotation, but you're right, bearing is probably the best word for these things. So you think the 2222 is definately supposed to have another silicone rubber one at the top of the shaft too? Can't imagine how I would have lost one... am so careful.. unless it wasn't there to begin with, which I suppose is possible.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rabbut]

I've never seen a 2222 out of the box, so can't say for certain. I would be very surprised if it isn't supposed to have a bearing in the top of the assembly. If you press the shaft into the impeller cover, is it a tight fit, or is it loose? If the latter, I'd say you were missing a part. If it's tight, the bearing may be built into the impeller cover as it is with Fluval filters...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[waterdrop]

Its a pretty tight fit. Its one of those weird things where you could see it either way. I may see if I can talk to an eheim parts guy on the phone.. we'll see.

~~waterdrop~~