This morning my Aqua Clear 100 just stopped working. I took it off the tank cleaned it all out put it back on the tank filled it with water and it worked for a couple minuts than an awful grinding sound came from it and then nothing again the black box with houses the impeller is warm to the touch........any idea how to fix it or should i go buy a new one? :Help!:

Welcome to my world, Adam. This happens to me all the time!

What always causes this problem on mine is a grain or two of sand that gets down into the impeller assembly. You need to take the impeller out and rinse everything thoroughly. I take a Q-tip and clean out the area that the impeller sits in and rinse it out well. Also rinse the impeller to get any sand or debris that might be in the hole in the center that goes around the shaft.

That should take care of the problem, unless some damage has been done to the impeller or shaft.

Aura,

I gave that a try this morning however, I couldnt get the shaft or impeller out of its hole.......it was stuck. Any ideas

Here's another one of my dumb questions...

Did you try a pair of needle nose pliers?

It sounds like the impeller shaft has sieged up in the
hole where the impeller sits.

It may be beyond replacement at this point, but we hope that's
not the case!

Good luck Adam and keep us posted!

ya sometimes dumb questions yield right answer let me try that one.....

I don't normally remove the shaft, I've always been able to get them back running by Q-tipping and rinsing the well out. Like preacherboy said, pliers would be the way to pull that shaft out.

If the impeller won't come off, then you probably do have something down in the center of the impeller that is causing it to jam against the shaft and not allowing it to rotate. I have also had this happen when I had a lot of sand down in there. I just had to work it for awhile to get it loose enough and off of the shaft. If the shaft is badly scratched, you might need to polish it up a little or it might be noisy even after you get it running again.

thanks for the help its working now but still making an awful noise from time to time i clenaed it out very well......any other ideas to make that noise go away or just give it time

Yes there is one more final thing you can do! Get a hammer and smash it bring it on! ...welcome to my world roll eyes

that i dont think will help much.....problems fixed anyways i took it apart again and wiggled the little fella back in and it seems to be doing better.

If the noise is just from time to time, I would have to wonder if something is still in there, like one little grain of sand trapped in the impeller well and cycling around. Hmmmm

Another possibility is damage to the shaft. Did you take a close look at it if you had it out? Is it scratched or bent a little?

Geelite, I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to smash mine with a hammer! Especially when I hear that loud grinding noise at about 3 in the morning! dumb dumb

I have my intakes well above the sand, but the fish carry the sand up and spit it out. Apparently they are active and doing this at night too. I have tried prefilters as well, but even that doesn't stop sand from getting in.

Edit: Nevermind, I see you figured it out. Good Job

Adam, the next time you have it apart and you clean everything in the impeller/motor assembly apply a small amount of vasaline to the shaft that will help with friction on the shaft itself and help to quite the noise.

thanks for the great advice it's been a great help

You welcome peek a boo

OK..
my Aquaclear stopped working today...
my AC300(70).

i cleaned it out, and when i put the impeller and stuff back in, the impeller was all jigly. it was bouncing up and down. i put the cord in and its all GUGUGOGGGGIGO
all these weird sounds come out. i check the motar and stuff, all seems fine BUT the jiggle. the thing wouldnt stay in place. so what i ened up doing is forcing it in and then breaking my impeller On the Floor Laughing

stupid anger.. why did he choose today to come out and break my things..

i replaced the AC300 impeller with a AC mini impeller On the Floor Laughing
the current is SO weak that its like drops of water coming out. it got annoying so i filled it to the top. now the AC is making sounds again but its because of the sand and the @#$% thats in my filter. that AC is liike 4years old. maybe i need to replace the motar and impellers?

Hmmmm

Time to spend some money????

BOOM-DONE-SEEYA.

gotta spend another 100 on paracyps..
some more on filters..
another 40 or 50 on lights..
what other things am i missing? blinky

A fishroom!

a keeper??

lol
but i need to replace the impeller or the mortar or both?

I would try just the impeller first. It's possible that the sand just grooved the impeller too much and that's why it was so loose fitting. If that doesn't work go back for a motor. Neither parts are very expensive.

I'd replace both especially the motor. I just lost one to sand grinding the other day. I got to work and found my office tank filter not working so after pulling it apart I found that the sand over time had ground down the motor shaft to nothing. It had snapped off from getting so paper thin from sand bouncing around inside the motor housing. Play sand looks great in a tank but it is hard on the equipment.

ill try to replace both :)
i need more cash.. again..
so far, the ac is working for now.

thanks for hte help guys

Cichlid addiction is like a bad Vegas habit.

The only difference is that with the Vegas habit both your money and everything you love looking at stays in Vegas when you come home.

With the cichlids the money gets spent but you get to bring them home with you.

I don't gamble. I already have cichlids!