Eheim leaking while running

I moved my Eheim 2028 out to run temporarily on my new tank while I get the wet/dry established. This afternoon I opened the cabinet and noticed that the entire floor was wet. Turns out the filter has a very slow leak. Water is pooling up in the gap/handle area where the power cable comes out and trickles down.

I attached a picture of what area I mean.

I bought the filter about 18 months ago used and now that this is happening I remembered that it also leaked back then if it wasn't on a perfectly flat surface. On a perfect surface, it was OK - and in the bedroom, it sits directly on the floor. So I had completely forgotten about this issue.

I wedged a tablet of Jungle Parasite clear underneath that corner about twenty minutes ago and it's still dry there. So I have a temporary solution, it seems. But is there something I can get to permanently correct this? I don't want to have to risk a leak if it's not 100% level. Is it just the O-Ring or gasket? All that I usually read about these leaks is that they happen when things are off. This happens when it's on. Also, the LFS has o-rings but I think they're for a different model. I'd like to order the right part with more confidence than that.

edtriou;2130567;2130567 said:

I had the same problem with a used 2028, leaked like a sieve.

I've never had a problem with the classic canisters, so I assumed it was the gasket. I cleaned it, cleaned the mount, everything looked fine, still leaked. Then applied spray silicone lubricant, which is supposed to be better than Vaseline, sill leaked.

In a last ditch effort, I ordered a new gasket (bigalsonline) to confirm.
Hasn't leaked since, the best $13 I've spent. Bigals looks like their out of stock currently, but other places carry them, here's the SKU from my previous order:

7571 $13.49 Eheim Sealing Ring For 2227/29 2026/2028

Ed

Click to expand...

Thanks. That's what I was hoping it was.

I'm going to look around to try to find another place that has it. Does it come with instructions? I'm having a hard time seeing what/where it is if I just take the top piece off. I'm assuming I have to take it apart more. Not going to mess with it now though... For now I've just got it sitting in a 13x9 pan to collect the water. High-tech solution, I know.

Interesting. That ring around the edge is what I thought it was but when I took the lid off today it looked like it was built in, not removable, so I started wondering. It seems more like the primer to me, because the water is puddling inside the holes by the cord, which would be higher than that gasket. Now THAT is something I'll need to take it all apart for, right?

It seems to be getting worse. I just checked on it and there were 2 inches of standing water in the pan after 7 or 8 hours. I'm going to have to put it inside a 5g bucket for the next week or so I guess. I think maybe pressing the primer repeatedly (it has been on and off several times while I messed with the tank) may have sped up the process.

I just ordered the primer ring, and I think I'll get the gasket too. Can't hurt.

What's weird is that it has been fine for a year sitting on the floor in the bedroom. No leakage at all.

Hi everyone,

After I posted this it somehow stopped leaking. So being lazy, I let it just sit there inside the bucket without the water level rising for nearly a month, even though I had the new O ring. But today I was doing some work and decided it was time to do the swap. You were right, their instructions are excellent.

Anyway, I did it, and now it POURS water out. Like drained an inch of water from the tank and created a nice puddle on my floor in about an hour. I put it in the bucket and it filled the entire thing in another hour. So I took it apart and tried it again, thinking maybe I pinched it without realizing it, or didn't use enough lubricant, or didn't tighten a screw down 100%. I greased it up good, lubed everything, and made sure that the ring wasn't pinched, and it gave me a nice smooth priming action the whole time... and it still leaked.

It settled to a much slower drip, with only a half inch accumulating in the bucket after an hour, but then I pumped the primer a few times and it started coming out quickly. When I unplugged it but didn't stop off the tubing, it started to really flow out the sides.

As with before, it all starts accumulating in those little trays under where the cord comes out.

I'm thinking/hoping that maybe the lube is no good - it was a tube of Eheim Vaseline that came with the filter, and since it's used I'd guess it's 5 years old. Is that possible? It was still pretty gooey and took a ton of effort to wash off my hands.

Since I really want a good night's sleep and can't deal with waking up every 3 hours, I ended up finally just unplugging it and dropping a sponge filter in. I put the air pump on full blast just so that I can get a bit of filtration and some O2 exchange. I hope it's enough.

Any ideas on what I might've done to make it worse? The only screws I feel that it's possible to be off are the 2 that you do first... and that's because they're actually hex screws and all I had was one of those square ended ones... I could see that making it tough to get 100% power at the end. But I can't see why those would affect anything. It's got to be something right at the O ring.