Aquaclear filter grinding noise

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Sidman24

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Aug 7, 2013
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I have two 50 gallon aquaclear filters and both of them are making a grinding noise in the filter. It is very annoying and loud. I can take them apart, and it seems to fix the problem a little bit then it just starts making that awful noise again! I even bought a new motor. Any ideas?
 
You probably need a new impeller not motor. If the impeller gets any imperfections in it it will make a noise. Sometimes you cannot see the imperfection but it is there. The only time my Aquaclear made noise was when the impeller blade cracked. Try rubbing some Vaseline on the impeller shaft. Pay special attention to the metal shaft that turns the fan part. The Vaseline will not hurt your tank. That may fix it temporarily.
 
Take it apart give the motor a good clean with a q tip and wash the filter in the dishwasher that usually takes care of that noise, idk how but a good clean has always fixed mine.
 
What kind of substrate do you have in the tank???

That's a good question. Perhaps sand or grit got into the impeller area. A prefilter sponge might help prevent this. Or raising the intake.

I brought a new AquaClear 50 and it was making a grinding noise from the start. I ended up swapping out the impeller from another AC50 that was running silent and now both are pretty quiet.
 
I use blasting sand substrate and that is how I ruined my first impeller. I got the sand stirred up planting some new plants and didn't have a pre filter on the intake. The sand cracked the impeller blade. A sponge on the intake is a necessity when using sand substrate.
 
I have two 50 gallon aquaclear filters and both of them are making a grinding noise in the filter. It is very annoying and loud. I can take them apart, and it seems to fix the problem a little bit then it just starts making that awful noise again! I even bought a new motor. Any ideas?
I'm having problems with my 70,No grinding noise but gurgling sound coming from intake tube,Driving me nuts,Do you have this issue?I might return mine
 
I'm having problems with my 70,No grinding noise but gurgling sound coming from intake tube,Driving me nuts,Do you have this issue?I might return mine

Try pushing down on the intake tube. It might not be pushed all the way down. You should hear a click when it's in correctly
 
You probably need a new impeller not motor. If the impeller gets any imperfections in it it will make a noise. Sometimes you cannot see the imperfection but it is there. The only time my Aquaclear made noise was when the impeller blade cracked. Try rubbing some Vaseline on the impeller shaft. Pay special attention to the metal shaft that turns the fan part. The Vaseline will not hurt your tank. That may fix it temporarily.

+1 on the vaseline after you clean away debris
 
My 110s make this sound all the time. I turn them off take out the impeller turn them back on and reinsert the impeller while it's on and it's usually quiter
 
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