aquaclear filters

[katearei]

I love my aquaclears but when I do water changes I unplug them because usually I bring the water level down below the intake and I don't want to burn them up. When I plug them back in they don't usually start back up right away I have to jiggle them and take the motor off and put it back on to make them go again. Is there something I am doing wrong, does anyone else have this problem? It's not just a bad filter because both filters on two separate tanks do it and I have bought them from two different places at different times. Is there something I could be doing differently so I dont have to deal with this every time?

[Daniel E.]

Do you reprime the filters?

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[ShawneeRiver]

I never turned mine off unless I took them off the tank for cleaning. They won't run dry -- a little water will remain in the bottom to keep the motor running. The biggest issue with leaving them on is that it makes for a noisy WC -- they slurp the whole time.

Also, sometimes I think they need a cool off period before they will restart.

[Daniel E.]

I always unplug mine amd when I'm done reprime plug them back up and don't have any problems. I always have them at the full flow position when I plug them back up then cut them down.

I have 2 AC 110's, 1 AV 70, 1 AC 50, and 1 AC 30.

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[bubbles22]

Have you cleaned out the impeller assembly? Gunk builds up in there and can impede its motion.

[tithra]

I always unplug mine when I do a water change (if I left it running the substrate would have a giant hole in it lol)

Make sure you add water to it before plugging it back in. But, I do find occasionally the AC motor does not start right away and I have to use a chopstick to give it a spin to get it going (learned that trick from Alex)

[katearei]

I just cleaned them today. But usually I unplug them and leave the water in them I don't dump them out so maybe I should just leave them set for a little while?

[katearei]

I always unplug mine when I do a water change (if I left it running the substrate would have a giant hole in it lol)

Make sure you add water to it before plugging it back in. But, I do find occasionally the AC motor does not start right away and I have to use a chopstick to give it a spin to get it going (learned that trick from Alex)

I just did the chop stick trick with a plastic bendy straw and it totally worked lol that's awesome thank you!

[Daniel E.]

I always unplug mine when I do a water change (if I left it running the substrate would have a giant hole in it lol)

?

Make sure you add water to it before plugging it back in. But, I do find occasionally the AC motor does not start right away and I have to use a chopstick to give it a spin to get it going (learned that trick from Alex)

none of mine have ever done this but mine are still somewhat new. Is this something that hapens with age?

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[fantailfan1]

I always just dump a few cups full of water into the filter to get it started.

But mine is small, I think the 20. It's on my betta tank . . .

[yafashelli]

I always unplug mine when I do a water change (if I left it running the substrate would have a giant hole in it lol)

Make sure you add water to it before plugging it back in. But, I do find occasionally the AC motor does not start right away and I have to use a chopstick to give it a spin to get it going (learned that trick from Alex)

I used the chopstick trick Wednesday night!

[DieselPlower]

It should not matter if there is water in the filter or if it has been "primed" or not. The "motor" should still kick on and start turning as soon as the filter is plugged in. I would suggest that the filters should always be filled with water before they are plugged back in though. If they are not turning on right away I would see if you can exchange them if they are new enough. Maybe an entire batch was bad which would explain why even though they came from different places, neither works properly.

[Sherry]

I usually add a cup of water to it and sometimes that tube over the fan that that starts sucking the water up sometimes I have to hold it down over the motor to get the pump to start working. I usually play it by ear sometimes I can plug them in and they just restart themselves and other times they need a little help. Its totally normal. I don't usually leave mine running either when I'm cleaning out the tank.

[tithra]

I always unplug mine when I do a water change (if I left it running the substrate would have a giant hole in it lol)

Make sure you add water to it before plugging it back in. But, I do find occasionally the AC motor does not start right away and I have to use a chopstick to give it a spin to get it going (learned that trick from Alex)

none of mine have ever done this but mine are still somewhat new. Is this something that hapens with age?

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Mine are only 2yrs old. It only happens occasionally, maybe 5x in the last 2yrs? But it does happen and others here have reported the same

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[soupmonster]

I have the Fluval C4 AND an AC70. They have the same motor made by the same company. My AC only has to be reprimed. My C4 always needs the chopstick trick.

[Linzi Glitter]

Excuse my ignorance, but what do you mean by 'prime' / 'reprime'?

[Mikey]

I always unplug mine when I do a water change (if I left it running the substrate would have a giant hole in it lol)

Make sure you add water to it before plugging it back in. But, I do find occasionally the AC motor does not start right away and I have to use a chopstick to give it a spin to get it going (learned that trick from Alex)

I used the chopstick trick Wednesday night!

I wish I had known that. I used a Q-tip the other day

Excuse my ignorance, but what do you mean by 'prime' / 'reprime'?

It's when you poor water back into the filter to get it going again Edited August 24, 2013 by mikey

[FlipsHere]

Another vote for cleaning the magnet at the bottom of the impeller.

[TorontoBoy]

I have not had this happen to my ACs but have read about this on other forums.

Clean your impeller well. Get a Q-tip or something absorbent and small and clean the sides of the well of the impeller. Use a dab of Vaseline or petroleum jelly and put a dab on the impeller pin, which is in the middle of the well (You will know this because this metal pin is the thing blocking you from easily cleaning the well. When you reinstall the impeller it will push and distribute petroleum jelly down to the bottom of the pin. Reinstall the motor.

Sometimes when I restart, after priming, an AC it will be noisy. I will then stop it and use a chopstick to push down and move the impeller a little. I think this helps the impeller seat better. Irregardless the motor always starts up.

[dnalex]

I always turn mine off, and then when I am ready to restart (1-1.5 hours later), I pour some tank water into the units to fill, and then turn them back on. Works great every time.

[koko]

I love my aquaclears but when I do water changes I unplug them because usually I bring the water level down below the intake and I don't want to burn them up. When I plug them back in they don't usually start back up right away I have to jiggle them and take the motor off and put it back on to make them go again. Is there something I am doing wrong, does anyone else have this problem? It's not just a bad filter because both filters on two separate tanks do it and I have bought them from two different places at different times. Is there something I could be doing differently so I dont have to deal with this every time?

All my equipment is on a power strip... I turn it all off while doing a waterchange. Then before I turn it on I fill the AC with water and turn the power on. 95% of the time they come on with out a hitch, only one will once in a while need a tooth pick to get the peller going

[katearei]

It should not matter if there is water in the filter or if it has been "primed" or not. The "motor" should still kick on and start turning as soon as the filter is plugged in. I would suggest that the filters should always be filled with water before they are plugged back in though. If they are not turning on right away I would see if you can exchange them if they are new enough. Maybe an entire batch was bad which would explain why even though they came from different places, neither works properly.

Im pretty positive they weren't from the same batch one was from amazon and it had the old package and the other was from petsmart and it had the new fluval package. I guess fluval makes the aquaclears now. Mine are on a surge protector cos in Florida we get a lot of power outages. I've thought about just turning the whole thing off when I clean but the fish get freaked enough with the filter off that I like to keep the bubbles going at least so they don't have little fish panic attacks. Lol

I love my aquaclears but when I do water changes I unplug them because usually I bring the water level down below the intake and I don't want to burn them up. When I plug them back in they don't usually start back up right away I have to jiggle them and take the motor off and put it back on to make them go again. Is there something I am doing wrong, does anyone else have this problem? It's not just a bad filter because both filters on two separate tanks do it and I have bought them from two different places at different times. Is there something I could be doing differently so I dont have to deal with this every time?

All my equipment is on a power strip... I turn it all off while doing a waterchange. Then before I turn it on I fill the AC with water and turn the power on. 95% of the time they come on with out a hitch, only one will once in a while need a tooth pick to get the peller going