Eheim Pro II Problems

[ottguy]

Hi,

I took my Eheim Pro II apart and cleaned it. When I put it back on the tank, it seems to suck a lot of air and run for 5 or 10 mins and stops flowing. Any suggestion or knowledge of what the problem could be?

Thanks,
Nick

[Al]

What was the cleaning specifically?
You say it sucks air - if you unplug it are there any leaks from anywhere?
You say the flow stops? what did you clean, this canister only? did you check / clean hoses, head adapter, etc - maybe some junk stuck somewhere?
Did you check the impeller/shaft when you were cleaning - were they in good shape?
Did you clean/brush out the impeller chamber?
Just some Q's and thoughts.

[Al]

If you want to check for plugged up hoses/strainer, when you have the adapter off the canister, turn the tap open into a bucket and see if flow is good and if there is some junk it may flow out into the bucket. Otherwise something is clogged in the head, or a gasket or impeller issue. Gaskets are at the head (this will leak on the outside of the canister casing when unplugged and let sit) and the adapter mechanism (harder to check). How old is the filter? Have gaskets been regularly lubed with silicone? Do you have hard water?

[ottguy]

Hey: I still can't figure it out... It is pretty old. Thanks for the advice though!

[Al]

well if you have checked out all the above - gaskets OK, no leaks meaning potential air coming in, no defects in the impeller or impeller shaft and the media baskets are ok, not clogged or overfilled which can also cause problems, as well as the media basket gaskets sealing well it could possibly be a motor issue or the filter isn't priming adequately when it gets hooked back up - are the lengths of the hoses ok i.e. inlet especially not sagging from the aquarium to the filter meaning a relatively direct line with little excess
have you had issues with the priming mechanism, is it stuck in position somehow causing a problem
good luck

[wolfiewill]

Sounds like you forgot to replace the impeller.

[ottguy]

I was getting ready to throw the filter out and after wasting hours trying to figure out why is was sucking air and shutting off. I decided to change the rubber gasket on the cap for the intake (where you can fill it with water) and now it works like new again...argh! Thanks to those of you who responded to tried and solve this problem..