Suggestions on repairing broken Eheim Pro 3 2080

[mcphock]

Yesterday was my time to clean my enormous Eheim Pro 3 2080 supporting my freshwater tank. As I wheeled it to the sink, I remarked to my wife that it has been a joy to deal with, as its required no maintenance in nearly 3 years.

So I cleaned it out, and fired it back up. I can hear the impeller moving, but its not drawing in water. So, I take everything apart and reseat the media bins. Nothing feels out of orientation. I pull out the impeller and check again for obstructions. Nothing there either. The ceramic shaft appears undamaged, and lays flat on a table.

I hook it up again, but despite the impeller moving, its not drawing in water. I yank it out again and re-examine the impeller. Nothing catches my eye. Repeat this another 5x over 90 minutes. I even filled up the filter with tank water, as I've experienced that helping an older eheim.... nothing though.

Any ideas for troubleshooting? How would I even know if I needed a new impeller, other than obvious physical damage?

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

When you say you hear the impeller moving....can you visually validate that it moves? What I used to do with my Magnum is remove the media basket....set the impeller, plug it in, turn it on and visually validate it was moving. Noises can sometimes trick you. If there's no internal blockage, I would suspect it to be the impeller especially after 3 years of use.

 

[mcphock]

I made a slight mark on a fin with a sharpie to validate movement. It vibrates back and forth pretty intensely, but I cannot tell if the impeller fins make a full revolution. (Or if they're even supposed to).

 

[mcphock]

Anyone else have any ideas? I'm fresh out, and a new impeller is $60 off ebay. If I have to buy, I have to buy!

 

[dball711]

Try soaking the impeller and shaft in vinegar, scrub it all good and try it then.

 

[mcphock]

It's freshwater, so there's not any scale on the impeller. Still though, a good thing to try! I'll give it a shot.

 

[picoreefguy]

it may not be getting seated/ lined up properly (the rubber bushings on the ends of the shaft could be the cause of this) ive seen it happen on old circ pumps. have you looked directly at the impeller when its plugged in? if not check it out and see if its spinning or just vibrating, if its just vibrating give it a nudge (pull your finger back quickly) it should start spinning if that works then unplug and reassemble and it should work like normal. another thing to check would be to pull it out of the housing and check if the impeller fins can spin freely and independently of the magnet if so you have a broken impeller. i had that happen on a rena xp3 i had and a simple fix for that was to super glue the impeller head to the magnet. its not an ideal fix but it worked for me.

 

[dball711]

McPhock;1019271 wrote: It's freshwater, so there's not any scale on the impeller. Still though, a good thing to try! I'll give it a shot.

I had an eheim canister on a 150 gal freshwater tank in Chicago (maybe our water there) and I go a lime build up that i had to deal with, either way a good cleaning might help but can't hurt...just a thought.