Grrr.... are there any Eheims that DON'T eventually start leaking?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
It just isn't your lucky day... I can relate, leaks can be a nightmare.

However, I have four Eheim classic series (A 20+ year-old 2017, two 2217s, and a 2215) and have never had a leak, so not all Eheims are at fault.

I would recommend taking the filter to the sink and washing it completely clean. Then be extra-cautious not to get any grit from the ceramic media on the sealing areas. Also, inspect the o-ring very carefully for nicks or defects.

Good-luck!
 
DaveB;4810640; said:
I decided to finally set up the 2250 I have had sitting around for 6 months so that I could double up my FX5s on the downstairs tank like they originally were. Much to my great surprise... it leaks. Out the top, between the lid and the bucket. Greased it up, turned it back on... it made it five minutes and started again.

My 2028 got its third new O ring (after my last thread encouraged me), and now instead of that leaking (I'm not gonna lie: it was thrilling to fix the o-ring and have it take. Last time I must've pinched it, cause it didn't work), now it is leaking from the corners and the edge between lid and canister.

My 2017 doesn't leak, but the damn thing has had bubbles hiding in it for months and no amount of effort, including breaking the entire thing down and re-seating the media (a real pain), has solved it. And yes, for a while, it did leak.

I have the worst luck with these things.

Never had a problem with any other canisters... just these Eheims.


Is there some trick to creating a perfect seal between the top and canister that has somehow eluded me?
Click to expand...

I had a leak on my 2028 from the priming seal, replace it once never had a leak again, this filter its 8 year old
The 2260 its 12 year never replace anything, also 2250 only a modification.
This is something that i do every time i close or open canisters, with one hand i hold the top down, open or close the clips in opposite directions, for the big eheims opposite direction but tighten gradually, don't tight one side at once and then the other thats how you squeeze a seal, its has to get down even or loose even, hope this will help you.
 
On the last attempt with the 2250, it was also dripping from the inlet barb.

The 2028 is definitely leaking around the edge gasket. I guess maybe it's dried out? It shouldn't be hard to get a new one of those... wish I had ordered that with the O ring though.

The tank itself is loose at the bulkhead from all the interchanging, and the Eheim 794 tube that had fit snugly on the FX5 pieces no longer did. I just ran the original FX5 tubing and inlet up and over the front of the tank for the night and left the bulkhead empty. All that time being off didn't kill the biomedia or poison my fish, so score one for Dave.

I'm going to run over to HD and grab a bunch of ball valves to install and hopefully make the interchanging process a bit less painful. I didn't do that yesterday because I couldn't think of a good way to deal with the space between two ball valves (to sort of create my own 1" Eheim quick disconnect) but actually, I can just put 15" of vertical PVC off the 2250 inlet - or tie it around the unit, maybe - and just have a ball valve on the other end coming from the tank. If it stays vertical, it's like an overflow and can't spill.
 
Surprised to hear of your problems with leaks.

My 2250 + 2260 are both over ten years old, running as strong and sillent as the first day I set them up. No leaks, no problems ever, still all original.

My eight (?) year old 2028 pro II not so problem free, impellar axel/shaft replaced three years ago, impellar replaced last year.

So happy with the classic series that I bought a 2262, worth every penny imo.

From reading your thread is it possible your leaks may stem from using the 2250 in some modded fashion ?

If bought used, or left sitting unused, O rings and gaskets could have dryed out.

Hope you eventually get on top of your Eheims.
 
I'm not modding the filter at all. But it did come with another tank. I have no idea how old it is. The little black rubber feet that hold the little stage for the pump have broken (well, 3 have), so surely it's old and dried out.

I'm wondering now if the first leak, which I thought was from the lid gasket, was actually from the inlet to the pump, but that I didn't notice it as such.

I have come home armed with:

-more 1" tubing (finding this took several stops. Screw Home Depot for not carrying this. And for not carrying threaded 1" to 1" barb pieces that would let me use a 1" ball valve)
- aquarium silicone
- gasket material (cut your own)
- liquid gasket

First step is to re-seal the bulkhead and test it for leaks. If that is successful, I'll run some more flexible 1" ID tube about a foot to a joint (just a double barb for now). This will let me switch between FX5 and Eheim without applying any stress to the bulkhead, which is what caused it to leak.

Second step is to seal the two holes in the 2250. The inlet one concerns me a bit because the white piece on the inside that you screw the barb into has no gasket of any kind. It's just a piece of plastic you slide in. It moves. That seems vulnerable. Up top, I'm not so sure. It seems pretty solid. That didn't stop it from leaking before, though.

We'll see how it goes. I'm going to use that liquid gasket stuff to experiment with the 2028 since a brief googling failed to find more gaskets for sale (plus indicated that it might actually be weakness at the corner clips, not the actual gasket).
 
Instead of trying to make gaskets or use liquid gasket material, why not just purchase the proper o-rings for your filters? That would probably cost you less time & frustration.

The fittings on the 2250 filter canister body use o-rings on the fittings to seal against the housing. The pump inlet fitting (to the lid) also uses an o-ring seal.

Here is a link to the owners manual. You will need to page down to the English section unless you are bilingual.
 
I am on the second gasket and third O-ring for the 2028.

The 2250 O rings don't appear to be the issue... seems to be leaking before them.

I could be wrong about that though.

I just put some silicone between the white piece on the inlet and the can itself. This was stupid, though... now I have to wait forever.
 
Actually, scratch that. The lid gasket on the 2250 just broke. Clean snap as I was wiping off the vaseline I added to it.

The O ring at the pump inlet from the lid doesn't appear to have a part number. In that manual, unless I'm missing something, it's just inside that whole letter I bracket. (the one that sits in between 20 and 21 in diagram B below that).

I'm officially flustered. The liquid gasket (unopened) and the silicone (opened) both appear to be more permanent/adhesive than I expected. I don't want to mess with that. I'm sure having the silicone around will come in handy some day, at least.

Still, I'm up to $50 spent on plumbing knicknacks in the last two days now (a whole mess of reducers, bushings, barbs, etc always adds up) and worse off for it. That $50 would've been useful for just buying the Eheim parts. I guess I'm still wary of just buying those O rings though, based on my experience with the 2028.

Oh well. At least (knock wood) I should be able to get this bulkhead back to normal so I can proceed with the FX5 as it was before and be able to quickly swap to the 2250 next time I'm ready to test (with a new gasket).
 
... successfully back to the starting point, with a cleaner stand now that'll hold my new organized box of plumbing stuff. So some good came of all this. Gonna go play with the 2028 and a rubbermaid downstairs. Maybe I can figure out a way to get it running reliably enough to at least seed some more media while the new parts are being shipped.
 
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