DIY Fix for Aquaclears

I've recently been having issues with the motors and shafts/impellers on my some of my ACs getting clogged with PFS and suddenly shutting down. I wind up having to take the motor housing off, pull the impeller off the shaft (or pulling the shaft out as well) and taking a toothbrush and cleaning the PFS and grit out while running it under the kitchen faucet. It usually rectifies the problem. It also helps to remove the second strainer extension tube on the intake, since it's closer in proximity to the PFS on the bottom and sucks it in easier.

I tried the above method on one of my problematic AC 50s and it was still sucking in PFS and locking up the impeller. I decided to switch out the strainer tube with a spare tube I had in reserve that has a rounded open end (you can also cut the AC strainer end with a dremel or utility knife). I then took a plastic pot scrubber and cut a small 1.5" piece off and plugged the open end and secured it with a rubber band on the outside. The piece of the pot scrubber is porous enough to ensure that it will allow sufficient water flow up the intake tube and is a safety barrier to prevent a fish from being sucked up. It's not the prettiest DIY fix, but it works!

Here are pics:

I the spirit of DIY Joey, another great idea

Veryfishe.com

Good stuff, Howie. I've done a similar prefilter with a small block of the foam inserts for AquaClears.

Yes - a piece of course Poret or AquaClear Foam as a pre-filter works well, too.

Also a good way to keep fry from getting sucked up!

Matt

I usually take one of the foam filter inserts and cut a tube-sized slit in it, then just slide it over the intake like you would a pre-filter. Works great for me, you just have to remember to clean them off every so often.

I think I will give this a try.


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I take a piece of blue bonded filter material, wrap it around the intake tube and throw a few stitches in it to hold it in place.

I've been using the Hydro Sponge Pro replacement sponges on my intakes, with half an aquaclear quickfilter insert core to keep fish and snails out of the open bottom hole. (I lost a couple BN that got stuck up inisde the sponges.) That combo also picks up quite a lot more debris and doesn't clog up enough to reduce the flow rate too significantly.