AquaClear 30 rattling

[CarpCharacin]

I got a new AquaClear 30 recently for a new 10 gallon tank, and I got it going today, and the pump rattles / makes more noise than my other AC30. How do I stop it from making noise?

 

[Vampire fish]

open and look at impeller. Clean out inside and impeller. make sure in proper placement. Look for small damages, they can make a big difference. If broken replace impeller.

 

[Matteus]

Take the lid off. I do that with my ac50 at night in my room. It makes it 5x quieter.

 

[Niki_up]

Take the lid off. I do that with my ac50 at night in my room. It makes it 5x quieter.

Also, try placing heavier things on the lids. I keep plants on mine

 

[CarpCharacin]

I already tried that, it's not the lid. The noise is coming from the pump. Also, when I took the filter out of the box to initially set it up, I noticed that the impeller wasn't seated in the pump. It was just sitting inside of the filter, I had to put it into the pump myself, but when I inspected the impeller, it looked fine.

 

[Hendre]

Make sure the impeller is in properly, I have also used pure petroleum jelly to lubricate the impeller as well

 

[Gourami Swami]

Make sure the impeller is in properly, I have also used pure petroleum jelly to lubricate the impeller as well

This is what I do. And take the top off as previously suggested, the top always vibrates and makes it noisier.

 

[Muni]

On many newer pumps the magnetic impellers have a little plastic piece. The metal rod through the magnet gets little plastic caps on the top and bottom for it to ride on and maintain alignment.



If your impeller was out when you got it the plastic guide may not be in the correct spot or is down inside and needs to be pushed back onto the metal rod.

 

[Muni]

Also, when I took the filter out of the box to initially set it up, I noticed that the impeller wasn't seated in the pump. It was just sitting inside of the filter, I had to put it into the pump myself, but when I inspected the impeller, it looked fine.

Forgive the question but did you put the magnet down or up?

 

[duanes]

Impellers, especially the small ones for small tanks, even just 1 grain of nearly microscopic sand or a tiny piece of plant leaf, "anything", can put them out of line.
Take a brush, to the volute (the place the impeller rides) , and rinse the area.
I do this every time I clean the filter (do a water change) consider it a necessary part of normal maintenance.
The more the impeller rattles the more it will wear, and wobble and get worse, and can break the mechanism.
I know its hard to see, but a wobbly impeller wore a figure 8 in the housing of this 500gph pump.


below a piece of carbon got in a trashed a volute