Filter Problems

[ellena]

The filter in my aquael bowl is making a hell of a racket. When I first bought it I didn't have the sponge over the inlet and I had sand in there, so I think that may have affected it. The water goes through the powerhead before the filter media. I'm going to try and buy a new one so it's ready if it does break, but I need to take it out to see if this is the right one. It doesn't look like it atm. While I've got it out, I'd like to do a bit of maintenance on it. I have no idea what I'm doing and I don't want to have it out of the tank too long, so if someone's around to help that would be fab-thanks

 

[mixmaster jay]

Hi
right first pull off the strainer and pipe they should seperate into 2 parts
the bit that they connect to should somehow twist off exposing the impeller
then pull out the impellor (quite a strong magnetic force on this)
and then taken out the metal/ceramic rod that the impellor slides onto
give all that a good clean and inspect the impellor all over for any deep markes/gouges scratches ect
and then inspect the rod that the impellor fits onto and see if that has any ware on it
get a cloth and cram it in the hole where the impellor came from twist it about abit to get some muck out do this a couple of times
and then reverse the dismantel process and fire it up in the tank and see if it is still niosey then sometimes its just a build up of slimey stuff but the impellor shaft could be damaged if so take the impellor to a good lfs they might be able to order you the exact part or a standard replacemant impellor (ive done this and it works perfect as long as the impellor is the same size)

 

[ellena]

Brilliant, thanks for that I'll start dismantling now.

 

[mixmaster jay]

let me know if you have any probs ellena

 

[ellena]

Right, all came apart nicely except for the impellor shaft, couldn't get that out at all. I shoved a cloth down the sides of it and got a bit of gunk out. It was covered in sand though, I could feel it everywhere. Couldn't see any signs of wear on any of it though, all looked nice and new. It's quieter now but still making a bit of a noise. Some of the media is ceramic rings in a little basket and it sounds just like them rattling against each other-it's not though, I've taken them out and you can still hear it. Thanks for the 'tutorial' though
I think it is the one in the link, so I'm going to get that anyway. Can't hurt to have a spare in can it?

 

[mixmaster jay]

it sounds like the impellor is on its way out to me
no not at all its always good to have backups
glad i could help out