Jonathan- aquaclear

[chicki]

Hi, that was sure fun on Saturday. Really nice to meet you both! You were right about that aquaclear filter...I thought was broke. I took it apart and ran it in vinegar for 10 minutes and it's running again. :) Thanks, to bad I threw the first one out :(

[Canadian Man]

:lol: Too bad about the first one!
If you have any suspect type pump equip this usually fixes it. Especially powerheads.

[AJ_77]

"Ran it in vinegar?" - could you please describe this technique Jon, or is it just as chicki says, running the pump in a bucket or pail or vinegar?

I've cleaned with and in vinegar, but haven't actually ran it through before.

Thanks.

[rossb]

chicki I have several aquaclear filters running. I have found that if they are not level they cause wear on the stainless steel shaft that the impeller runs on. Evenutally they will shear it off which renders the motor unit ...landfill. This also causes the impeller to wear and get loose on the shaft ... and the filter gets noisy. You can pull the impeller and stainless steel shaft out with a pair of pliers and buy a new shaft for about $4.00. You can also replace the impeller for about $10.00. They stock them at petland, and most aquarium shops. Once a year or so I pull off the motor, pull out the shaft , clean the impeller and the well where the impeller sits with a brush ( a small tooth brush or bottle brush) and check for wear on the shaft.

I also have several powerheads that have a similiar impeller arrangement that I clean frequetnly as well.

you might try this next time your unit stops (I'm of course refering to the aquaclear).

[chicki]

AJ, just drop the motor or pump or powerhead or whatever your cleaning in vinegar for 5-10 minutes and it comes super clean. I do it all the time with my powerheads, but this aquaclear 300 had only been running for 28 days...so I didn't think it was that. Just assumed it had broke. But now I will be cleaning those babies every few weeks!

[Bob I]

I don't know if this helps, but all Aquaclear motors up to and including the 300 use the same motor. All impellers are also interchangable. The impeller part also pulls off the motor. I think Mini motors are less expensive, so just pull that off and put it on any motor. I am right now running a 300 with a Mini impeller, and a Mini with a 300 impeller. Both work fine, and the mini does not pump any more water than before.