[Jok178]

G'day,

I'm my Aquaone Aquius 1000 has just slowed down to a trickle, the water has gone really cloudy and in a week I leave for 2 months.

I have cleaned the filter, impeller and hoses, that didn't change anything, I ran it without media and no change.

I need to sort this urgently as any parts I need must be shipped across Australia to me.

Thanks,

 

[livingword26]

Just in case you don't have one of these, this has quite a bit of information:

http://www.aquaone.co.uk/documents/Aquis500-1200_instructions_lowres_new.pdf

 

[PlantedRich]

There seems to be two things we worry when filters flow slows. One I can explain as bogus. There is often worry that there is an electrical problem, etc. with the motor. But that is the easy one. The impeller is a set of magnets arranged around the impeller that are alternately drawn and repelled as the 50/60 Hertz electrical current changes on the line. This cycle nearly never changes and the magnets do not change. So we can assume that if the impeller moves , it will be moving at the right speed.
But the next item is the complicated one as it has so many things and places to look. Algae, dirt and grime can slow flow so we have to look at all the places. One often missed is removing the impeller and really cleaning it as well as down in the well. While it won't slow due to electronic problems, drag will slow or stop it. Another item which has bit me is that some of the hard media can get into some small spotlike and elbow where I don't see it but it drops the flow a bunch. It can even come and go as it rolls around. When cleaning the tubing, I like to hold it under the faucet and force water back through to see it is clear. Too much media or too dirty?
Good luck. It can be a head scratcher at times.

 

[Jok178]

Thanks livingworld I did manage to find the manual but it didn't help.

Plantedrich - Cheers, I have definitely cleaned the impeller well correctly, I got in with a torch and made sure. For the hoses I can see the through mine and I flushed them with a high pressure hose jet. The only place place I haven't is the internal piping through the pump head, I will try that tonight and hope there is something stuck in there.

 

[PlantedRich]

Not at all up on that filer but it looks pretty much like others so maybe my ideas work but be aware that they are just things I've found. Maybe something will show up?
Good luck. We all do better when luck is on our side.

Small thought just occurred to me. While looking it over, check that the impeller is loose on the main body but not able to turn fully round and round. Many have a little nub of plastic which sticks out to stop the rotation. This lets the magnet of the impeller start moving before it has to pull the full weight of the blades. Helps really low torque motors get things moving but if that nub gets knocked off, the impeller magnet can move while the blade may not. I might expect flow to stop completely but things have a way of fooling us, so maybe worth a look

 

[Jok178]

So I checked the head piping and that was clean the I pulled the impeller apart. The impeller did not move freely in relation to the magnet, it was setup in a way that made it fixed. I changed it so it had the ramp up slack you described but when I turned it on the pump made a terrible vibration noise as if the magnet was starting and stopping many times a second causing the magnet and rotor to smack together constantly. Does anyone know how to fix this or seen this before?

 

[Nordic]

Tiny bit of superglue between the rotor's body bits.... just a little on the side, it will wick in, and you don't want it seized to the shaft.
It will last for a month or two.

 

[Jok178]

I returned the impeller to its fixed position in relation to the magnet, the problem isn't the impeller slipping it seems to be the magnet of the impeller not turning smoothly/correctly. It's appears to be stop/starting at high speed, could this be a problem with the impeller magnet or is it the coil in the pump head?

 

[PlantedRich]

I would not expect the coil to have any defect as it is pretty much just a coil of wire and likely imbedded in epoxy, etc. so that there is no movement to break it. Not a problem with the power cord that might be spotted by moving/ changing the cord location as you watch the impeller? A broken wire can hide inside the good appearance of the insulation making it tricky to spot.

But the impeller area can be a frequent fault. Sometimes things we can't see. Taken the impeller off the shaft to clean down the center opening? A bit of sand stuck in between the two? Then there is a harder thing to spot if the shaft gets a bit of wear so that things don't fit precisely. Metal shafts are prone to being scored so that they are not totally true. Ceramic is a bit harder to score.
To test for worn, bent, etc shafts, I roll the shaft along a totally flat surface while shining a bright light (LED?) from the far side. If you do this in a darkened room, you may see spots where light leaks under the shaft as you roll it along.
It an expensive way to test but replacing the shaft and impeller can solve problems that I can't see at times. I have to assume the center hole is slightly less that true but I sure hate to spend for the equipment before knowing I'm chasing the right rabbit!

 

[Jok178]

It's a ceramic shaft, I have cleaned it thoroughly, the for also seems quite good. I will give it a roll test tonight but being ceramic I can't imagine in being bent. My water has gone cloudy now, I can't tell if it's bacteria or greenwater. From the front it's a slight haze, from the side I can't see the other end of the tank and it looks greenish. Do you think this is related?

 

[PlantedRich]

I might guess the filter problem is the cause of poor water.

Running pretty short on new ideas , here. I believe you will be using 220VAC for this. Any thing weird going on in the rest of the house that might indicate power at the outlet might not be right? Really stretching for that one, though.

 

[Jok178]

Na, the house is 14 months old, all the other appliances seem fine. I may just have to bitethe bullet and buy a new filter for my trip. Locally I can get a Worx 1200 for $200, a Aquis 750 for $240, Aquis 1250 for $250, or Fluval 206 for $256 I only have an Ista inline reactor on the return. Which of these would you recommend considering I will sell the tank this year?

 

[PlantedRich]

I would not be familiar with any of those.
Do we have others reading along? Jump in here if you know about any of those filters?

 

[thedood]

Have you tested the flow without the reactor connected? Is it possible the reactor is plugged? I dont have a reactor so I am not sure this is possible.

 

[GrampsGrunge]

Like PlantedRich mentioned, these motors are synchronous, meaning they rotate in time to the AC change in your house electricity. It also means that they will run in either direction and their starting is facilitated by that roughly 270 degrees of free rotation between the magnet and the impeller. They're among the most simple motors made, two moving parts and no supporting circuitry other than the electromagnet.

When you plug it's cord into a wall socket, they will initially start with a couple of clicks and should start running smoothly immediately. All of these motors when running should be nearly silent, a bit of a hum and (or) water sound and maybe a very slight rumble. If it's intermittently clicking and (or) clicking and humming/growling loudly there's something far more seriously wrong.

Can the local hobbyist store get spares for the rotor/magnet? That would be my first move.

 

[AWolf]

Is it possible that the wires were reversed? Obviously this would only be possible if the filter was worked on (or broken down) before this issue. I had a similar problem when I tried to fix an old air conditioner and reversed the wires....ooops. The fan was spinning in the wrong direction.

 

[Jok178]

Thedood - I have checked the reactor for obstructions but found nothing, the flow was fine for weeks after the rector was installed then slowed down over a period of 2 days after a WC.

GrampsGrunge - My first move was checking all the local stores for a new impellor assy, but there is nothing available and they said it was too old to order parts for. I am worried that I might have got water into the electrics during the WC as I accidentally sprayed the outside of the pump head with a hose, I haven’t mentioned it as I was sure the smoke genie would have made an appearance if I did any damage.

Awolf - I haven’t disassembled the pump so I don't think it can be reversed wires.

 

[Jok178]

I decided that I'm not going to risk ruining my tank (and marriage) by creating the soup of death because my pump failed in my 2 month absence. Tonight I'll go purchase the Worx 1200 and replace the faulty filter. Also I put the tank into blackout last night to address the green water issue. Thank you for helping, I will write a review of this canister when I get back as there doesn't appear to be one anywhere online.