[slava2929]

My 20 gallon Aqueon filter is haunted. Up until recently when I have unplugged it to clean it out, it occasionally took about 10 minutes to "warm up" and start working again. Actually, I'm not really sure what it was doing but it wouldn't work right away and even though I could feel a very small vibration from the filter there wasn't anywhere near enough power to suck up any water or filter anything. That 10 minute warm up period got a lot longer after my last cleaning session as the filter didn't work at all when I put it back in the tank. Just the small, useless vibration for a couple of hours but no filtration. So I pulled it out of the tank and let it sit for a couple of days to see if it needed to dry out. When I tried it again - nothing. It annoyed me because it's only about 6 months old so I persisted and left it in the tank yet again and after 48 hours it miraculously started working again. Has anyone else had this happen to them? I'm afraid to clean the darn thing again because I'm afraid it might not start up when I pull the plug to clean it. Seems very weird that it would start up again after two days of it not working. Super strange.

 

[ironspider]

The motor is going.

 

[forkman]

Does your filter's instruction sheet mention a priming process?

 

[Iggy Newcastle]

What model of Aqueon? Hang on back? Sounds like you may need to pull the impeller and clean it up. I have a couple Aqua Clears that occasionally need help starting back up, especially after a power outage.

 

[slava2929]

No priming process. Yes, it's a hang on back but the impeller isn't visible. I"m assuming it's inside the casing and since that's water tight I don't want to mess with it. I have other Aqueon's and I regularly clean the impellers. I suspect there are issues with the motor. This was a tough one to describe but I appreciate the feedback.

 

[mambee]

I had one running on my 17 gallon stocked quarantine tank. It would stop running on occasion. Nothing like coming back from vacation to find that your filter had stopped running. This was my second one that did this. No more Aqueon.

 

[slava2929]

Yes Mambee, If that ever happened to me it would be over for that brand. For me right now it has yet to conk out after being on for a while and only has problems starting but after your post, I'm a little worried.

 

[skwerl]

I have two AC50 HOBs. If debris or sand gets into the motor, the impeller can get jammed. Especially after turning it off for maintenance. If you remove the intake tube, you can manually get the impeller started when you plug in the HOB.

Eventually, you will need to remove the motor and impeller for cleaning. Inspect the impeller shaft as it will get eroded over time and need to be replaced.

 

[slava2929]

Iggy was right after all. I had a 20 gallon filter but the casing masked where the impeller was and for some reason I thought the impeller wasn't accessible. Just a couple of days ago I was doing a filter clean and thought I noticed a gap in the plastic so I pried it apart and there was the impeller caked with debris. I cleaned it out, put the casing back together and it started right after I plugged it in. I Had this thread in the back of my mind when it was cleaning the filters and so it came in really handy. I really appreciate all the advice from everyone on here whether they got the solution or not. This forum really helped me though because I was close to trashing a $30 filter that was less than a year old.