Did you notice any reduction in flow? If it's properly primed and running quiet at first, somehow air got in there a while later as described, you may want to check the intake hose/prefilter/adapters(quick-disconnect, L-bend near the body) making sure nothing is clogged. A clogged intake could cause cavitation and noise. I have never seen this in my 2217, but my 2213 (12/16mm hose) would do that reminding me of cleaning the intake/outflow hose.
Eheim 2217 grinding noise...
Hello Everyone!
I have a new Eheim 2217 canister (its only a few months old) I just cleaned it the other day, and decided to look at the impeller and make sure it wasn't dirty. This was my first time doing this part, because I did not have a need to do so previously. I put it back together, primed it, and there has been a loud rattling/grinding noise ever since. I know it is not due to air. I know what that sounds like, and have sat and gently tipped it to remove all the air. I have checked every connection, and they all seem fine. The hoses are a tad dirty ( I lack brushes for now) but I can still see through them, and have rinsed them. I am really bummed because this filter ran soooo incredibly quietly (first filter to ever do so as advertised!) before this last cleaning. I bought a new shaft, thinking maybe mine was warped, but it hasn't helped. I have noticed the hole in the impeller might be more oval shaped, however it has been rattling for two weeks, so this may be a result of the grinding, not a cause. I ordered a new impeller anyways, but am worried what to do if the sound persists after I put in the new impeller. Any information about this problem would be awesome!
Thanks Everyone!
I have a new Eheim 2217 canister (its only a few months old) I just cleaned it the other day, and decided to look at the impeller and make sure it wasn't dirty. This was my first time doing this part, because I did not have a need to do so previously. I put it back together, primed it, and there has been a loud rattling/grinding noise ever since. I know it is not due to air. I know what that sounds like, and have sat and gently tipped it to remove all the air. I have checked every connection, and they all seem fine. The hoses are a tad dirty ( I lack brushes for now) but I can still see through them, and have rinsed them. I am really bummed because this filter ran soooo incredibly quietly (first filter to ever do so as advertised!) before this last cleaning. I bought a new shaft, thinking maybe mine was warped, but it hasn't helped. I have noticed the hole in the impeller might be more oval shaped, however it has been rattling for two weeks, so this may be a result of the grinding, not a cause. I ordered a new impeller anyways, but am worried what to do if the sound persists after I put in the new impeller. Any information about this problem would be awesome!
Thanks Everyone!
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Hmm, it doesn't seem clogged, and flow is fine, but a good scrubbing couldn't hurt! Even though it isn't perfect, its better than before, and I am ok with the noise level as of now. We'll just have to see if it gets worse :/ The noise is a little annoying, but its the damage being done to cause the noise that truly bothers me. I appreciate your input!
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Okay I'm a douche, whatever. I'm just trying to be straight with you to help you. It's only a few months old, you should be able to take the impeller out if you want to without any issues. I understand why you did it too, I forgot that sand can be damaging.
I think the method you used was okay but I wasn't there so I don't know if you were a little rough.
Just pick up the phone and call Big Al's. At least see what they can do before making assumptions. They're a sponsor here. Just send them an email with this thread linked. If it's a public conversation they're under pressure to do something about it..
If they don't replace it under warranty I'll eat my hat.
I think the method you used was okay but I wasn't there so I don't know if you were a little rough.
Just pick up the phone and call Big Al's. At least see what they can do before making assumptions. They're a sponsor here. Just send them an email with this thread linked. If it's a public conversation they're under pressure to do something about it..
If they don't replace it under warranty I'll eat my hat.
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I do appreciate the constructive honesty, its why I post my questions here. Not so much so with the bombardment of criticism, however. I'm a proud individual, and hate admitting to be completely lost with something, but on here I have to, because it happens more than I'd like it to lol.
So, trust me, I hate messing with impellers because they are usually the only moving and much more breakable part in filters. I spent about 2 weeks debating whether to fiddle with it or not, but given how much dirt was in the canister, I felt I had to. During that time, I meticulously researched how to do it. Youtube was very helpful. I'm never rough with my filters because I know they can be touchy. I actually spent probably more than a month researching which canister to buy in the first place. I'm like that with everything aquarium related. It drives my boyfriend nuts. So, I read plenty of horror stories about snapped shafts and blades, intake tubes, and cracked canister bodies, so I knew to be gentle. I'm so slow to set the thing down during cleaning maintenance, I about give myself a hernia (I'm quite petite in the muscle department, and never took squatting in gym class seriously...damn).
Anyways, I went ahead and contacted them through ebay, which is how I bought it. If I do not receive a replay in a few days, I'll contact the main online store. I figured it made sense to contact exactly where I had bought it from. Without a filter for more than a few hours, my fish would be in serious trouble. Returning it and waiting for a new one is out of the question, so I'd like to see how they remedy that. I have nothing against Big Al whatsoever. Their youtube video on how to assemble it was amazing, since the instructions were garbage. It was a reason I bought from their ebay store in the first place.
As far as eating your hat...do you prefer BBQ or ranch? HA! jk. We will see.
So, trust me, I hate messing with impellers because they are usually the only moving and much more breakable part in filters. I spent about 2 weeks debating whether to fiddle with it or not, but given how much dirt was in the canister, I felt I had to. During that time, I meticulously researched how to do it. Youtube was very helpful. I'm never rough with my filters because I know they can be touchy. I actually spent probably more than a month researching which canister to buy in the first place. I'm like that with everything aquarium related. It drives my boyfriend nuts. So, I read plenty of horror stories about snapped shafts and blades, intake tubes, and cracked canister bodies, so I knew to be gentle. I'm so slow to set the thing down during cleaning maintenance, I about give myself a hernia (I'm quite petite in the muscle department, and never took squatting in gym class seriously...damn).
Anyways, I went ahead and contacted them through ebay, which is how I bought it. If I do not receive a replay in a few days, I'll contact the main online store. I figured it made sense to contact exactly where I had bought it from. Without a filter for more than a few hours, my fish would be in serious trouble. Returning it and waiting for a new one is out of the question, so I'd like to see how they remedy that. I have nothing against Big Al whatsoever. Their youtube video on how to assemble it was amazing, since the instructions were garbage. It was a reason I bought from their ebay store in the first place.
As far as eating your hat...do you prefer BBQ or ranch? HA! jk. We will see.
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At this point it might be worthwhile to move on to some testing to be certain where the noise is being generated?
I had not suggest it earlier as it seems to be a lot of trouble so your choice on whether to go with it.
Can you see a way to take the top of the canister, just the lid part with the impeller and all installed and hold it in a bucket, pan or tub so that the impeller can pump water as normal but not shoot water all over the room. I've never done this so give it some thought as to practical or not. What I'm thinking is that we may need to be certain that the noise is really from the impeller rather than noise from air somewhere. I trust you to hear the difference but then I also know I can fool myself at times.
Somebody once said to "trust but verify"?
Maybe the head in a bath tub with enough water to fully cover the lower head to the normal level and then weight the tubing down under the water so it draws normally and the output fixed to catch the outflow water to leave it in the tub and not all over?
Once you get the head set up, filling the inflow tube at the faucet until it runs out the other side might act the same as priming? Let it run this way for a bit to see what it does?
See why it was not the first thought!! Desperate times require desperate means.
I had not suggest it earlier as it seems to be a lot of trouble so your choice on whether to go with it.
Can you see a way to take the top of the canister, just the lid part with the impeller and all installed and hold it in a bucket, pan or tub so that the impeller can pump water as normal but not shoot water all over the room. I've never done this so give it some thought as to practical or not. What I'm thinking is that we may need to be certain that the noise is really from the impeller rather than noise from air somewhere. I trust you to hear the difference but then I also know I can fool myself at times.
Somebody once said to "trust but verify"?
Maybe the head in a bath tub with enough water to fully cover the lower head to the normal level and then weight the tubing down under the water so it draws normally and the output fixed to catch the outflow water to leave it in the tub and not all over?
Once you get the head set up, filling the inflow tube at the faucet until it runs out the other side might act the same as priming? Let it run this way for a bit to see what it does?
See why it was not the first thought!! Desperate times require desperate means.
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To be honest I prefer hot chilli sauce.
Pride gets in the way of learning at times. It takes some scientists years to get over the pride attached to a hypothesis that is tested extensively and proven wrong. At the end of the day, even if your estimation is wrong, learning still occured that benefited your hobby. This will happen for the rest of your life, but gradually over time as your knowledge base improves, you may be right more times than not. If you're lucky anyway. :wink2:
I wish you all the best with Big Al's. I hope you have an easy ride with them. Look forward to hopefully hearing good news.
Sounds like you research well before attempting anything so I'm thinking this may be a fault with the Eheim.
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It is quite possible that with the new impeller it will quiet down over time. I've picked up a bunch of used filters over the past year, and most were god-forsaken rattletraps when I first started them up. If a good cleaning doesn't quiet them down, a new impeller assembly should. They tend to get quieter as time goes on, too. I have an Emperor 400 and a Fluval 404 in my living room. Wanted to throw them both out the window when I first started them up, but now I can barely tell they are running.
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As a second step of the testing I proposed, I would want to start looking at ways air might be getting into the impeller. But then the way I search for trouble is to first be certain that I'm looking in the right spot. When you describe it running quiet and then after some time becoming noisy, it doesn't really seem like an impeller/shaft problem as much as an air problem. Some other less likely ideas for noise is that the media is packed too tight (or dirty) so that it creates problems. Something weird like a piece of loose media down in the outlet elbow where you don't see it but it rattles around and moves at times?
But you seem to have ruled out some of those. At times, I have to step back and redo the search.
But you seem to have ruled out some of those. At times, I have to step back and redo the search.
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Yeah I was worried maybe there was a hairline crack in the canister, but that would cause air to be seen at the top, right? I use a flashlight and can see into the canister that way. If there were new air bubbles forming after a long time running, that could be a cause? Ugh we'll just see how it continues to run! If the slight noise now gets worse, I'll know theres a problem outside of the impeller. Thanks for the input! It gets me thinking outside the box.
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Reason for some of my thinking is that I did have a "barrel" get into the elbow and give me some fits. It would block flow and then when I cleaned it would move and flow would seem better until it moved again. And I have run into putting too much media in the canister on a 2075. That was a problem getting the thing to prime and run quiet.
So past experience with lots of equipment has taught me one thing.
When gizmos are running right, we can say what they are doing. When they are not, they can do anything they want and let us try to figure it out!
So past experience with lots of equipment has taught me one thing.
When gizmos are running right, we can say what they are doing. When they are not, they can do anything they want and let us try to figure it out!
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So am I eating my hat or not?
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