is my hearing getting more acute as i get older, or is hagen devoting more resources to renaming their product line at the expense of building quiet filters? i recall when aquaclear minis (when they said mini on the box) were almost dead-silent. the last two aquaclear 20s (same filter, different name) i purchased within the last month are making enough noise to have me thinking of attaching eheim 2213s to my 10 gallon tanks.
anyone ever filter a 10 gallon with a 2213? what is up with these noisy aquaclears? am i just unlucky? a bad batch? grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
oh, i should add. the filters are level. i've cleaned what little gunk has accumulated on the impeller (not a whole lot since they're pretty new). i'm going foam block on the bottom, ehfisubstrat in a nylon bag in the middle, and topped off with filter floss. gonna try taking out some ehfisubstrat to make sure i'm not choking the thing but i don't think it's it.
it's definitely not the top cover rattling. though the slight rattling and echo doesn't help things. thought about just not using the lid, but that idea really bothers me for some reason.
i swapped out the whole impeller housing piece, jiggled with the power (turning on and off etc.) and finally got it to an acceptable "whirr." not dead silent, but i can't hear it from 6 feet away anymore. noticed it got quieter as i just let it be. what a relief. i hope it sticks and i don't have any more issues the next time it needs to be unplugged. i really wish these things were consistently plug and play.
amazing. being in nyc, i have no problem with city buses, delivery trucks, other large vehicles roaring by. none at all. a buzzing aquaclear mini, though, gets me all bent out of shape, i skip a sleep cycle and put up a cranky post on this forum. my apologies. will try to put up something more useful next time.
I've been having issues with an AC as well, but mine is more like 5 years old! It rattles every so often loud enough to make me crazy. Seems the off/on thing works most of the time. In fact, I bought a new impellar assembly but before I could replace it the thing went silent again *shrugs* . I agree, I kinda wish it was either quiet or loud 100% of the time, makes fixing it easier! (since I live by the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" !).
Dunno about aquaclears. Are they more reliable than the Fluvals? (that question makes me hesitate to try one).
I can tell you that cheap little filter Marineland packages for walmart is a noisy sucker. It cavitates. (it also manages to spray water all over the vent holes in the lid, causing water to drip onto the stand, or in this case, chest of drawers) I finally got tired of listening to that today and got a larger filter for my daughter's 20 just so I could reclaim the whisper 10 she had in it.
My AC 20 is very quiet. As is my AC 50. But my AC 70, on my 55g is a different story. It is really loud. The top rattles and I can't fix it to where it is quiet. It is really just loud in general...not just the rattling. I am replacing it with a cannister filter soon because it is in my bedroom and the noise bothers me.
I have a ton of HOB filters, and none of them make the noises that people report on this forum. Here is my guess.... I think that maybe the motor internals are off of spec, and either creating some massive cavitation for the impeller, or the magnet/coil/iron-casing is resinating enough to make an audible noise.
Have you tried exchanging this as soon as you noted the noise? All of these filters come with awesome warranties. It is in that paperwork that you don't even notice when you setup your new filter.
I suppose that's an option with that cheesy walmart filter, though knowing walmart, they'll reshelf it and foist it on some poor fool who doesn't know better.
I've got whispers all over the place and unless the water is low, you never notice them. That silly nano filter from red sea is noisy too. Guess I could get it exchanged too...though I didn't notice much of anything in regards to paperwork with it.
I know aquaclear is made by hagen, hence the reliabilty question ;D
Have you tried exchanging this as soon as you noted the noise? All of these filters come with awesome warranties. It is in that paperwork that you don't even notice when you setup your new filter.
I just exchanged the AC 20 for a new one, it still makes the smae grinding/popping sound. And yes, I took the impeller apart, etc. I think it's just an issue with these smaller HOBs.
It sounds like it might be hit and miss with the cheapest filter that you can buy for aquariums. I still assert that my diffusers make more noise than any HOB's I have.
That red sea nano is a loud piece of equipment. When I resetup my 1.1 nano, I am going to use that terrarium canister for turtles.... whatever it is called. Plus, It'll double my water volume!
I think it might that the motor is crammed into the small little AC20. If you notice, the AC 20, 30, 50, and 70 all draw 6 watts. Perhaps the motor is slightly overpowered for the unit.
Like I said, my AC 50 and AC110 are very quiet.
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