Re: Eheim Rattle Prattle -- or - The Drain Gain

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

Ghazanfar Ghori said:

> I always pull my power strip plug from the socket before
> doing a water change. I've got the heater and filter 
> on that so both things turn off. I do 50% water changes
> so the water level never drops below the intake grille.
> the lights are on a seperate socket, so those stay on.
> But, its good to know how to get that bearing out in
> case
> of an accidental dry run.

Ghazanfar's suggestion is a very good one for avoiding,
run-dry pumps and powerheads, overheating heaters, excess
turbulence and CO2 loss during the low-water period of a
water change, and *unnecessary risks of electrical shock*.

I hope my lesson will at least be useful for some when
their bearings or shafts show signs of wear -- I hear Eheim
parts can actually wear out, if given enough time ;-)

As for total electrical shut down, it won't be the best
choice for me, although surely it was a good choice when I
was using the substrate heating cable v ;-) .  With my
setups, only the one Eheim needs to be shut down during any
portion of the water changes and it performs an ancillary
function on my 150 gallon.  Rather than shut everything
down for the two hours it takes to change my tanks -- I
off/on it only when the 150 level is low -- about 15
minutes - 30 minutes, depending on pruning needs.

The Eheim in question is using an old siphon tube that has
been cut to length more than once in it's life -- somehow,
it alwasy gets cut shorter and shorter and never the other
way around  :-\.  I guess this is why I don't have any long
siphons in my basement junkyard.  Rather than rerun the
risk of a lost siphon or alter my routine, I am going to
get a longer siphon tube so that the filter won't run dry
during a 50% water change.  I only need to gain about an
inch or two.

Scott H.

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