AC 20 over heated!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
D

Deaths Sting

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jan 23, 2009
3,034
3
36
Vancouver, Canada
today my Aqua clear 20 on my 15 gallon over heated and does not operate at all anymore, i have had it for about 5 weeks.

i put alot of media in it! i had to push real hard to get it all in there 5 weeks ago. i also was a week behind on replacing the sponge. could these factors be the reason why it over heated?

does anyone have any other theories?

also does anyone know of a good filter to replace it? i was thinking very small canister filter!

thanks
 
plug the filter in and give the impeller a flick with your finger, or a pencil or chopstick or something.

it should go.

AC don't die easily.

many of us have 12-15 year old AC's.

but its common to have them not start when plugged in without some help to get the impeller spinning. the reason is the very small impeller housing. it gets gummed up easily and doesn't spin easily upon startup sometimes..
 
AC is pretty much the king of HOB. You should not really pack your media that right, but that should not kill it.
 
I don't think packing the media too tight caused the problem.

I think you had a power flicker and the impeller didn't start spinning afterwards- as I said sometimes they need a little help.

overpacking media in an AC or having clogged media will only cause the basket to be pushed upwards and the water flows underneath it .

you can't really stop the flow on an AC - the basket just gets pushed upwards if the water cant flow though the media in the basket..

the only way would be if you weighted down the lid -this would prevent the basket from being pushed upwards..

but i am sure you didn't put wieght ontop of the lid...
 
I would return it for another if the flick start method or tear down cleaning does not work (it always does). If you insist on not using another AC try the Rena Smartfilter line. They are awesome and basically act like canisters that are HOB's My Smartfilter 20 does an awesome job on my fry tank I am very impressed with it. The cartridges are top quality too.
 
i cant even tell you how many AC filters ive had over the years. the only time any filter ever burned out was when they were ran dry. if you have a power surge, they will drain the water right back to the tank, leaving not much in the filter, then when it turns back on, if it cant syphon the water back up, it burns out.

if you really dont want another ac, go with a rena xp1. small, cheap, yet effective cannister. and easy as cna be to maintain.
 
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