Eheim ECCOs of decline -- or - The Eheimlock Maneuver

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

When I needed a cansister for a 20 gallon breeding tank, I
decided to try an Eheim ECCO.  I hadn't used one before and
wanted to know if they were a good competitor to the Rena
and Via Aqua canisters.  I had a number of other Eheim
filters and pumps and they were and remain sturdy and
reliable units.

I had read the posts warning about the fragility of the
ECCO handle assemblies.  And I knew that the ECCO line was
Eheim's sort of low-ball version of a cansister filter, one
that could compete pricewise with the various other brands
of canisters that cost so much less than the classic and
profesional Eheim lines.  So when I bought the ECCO, I made
a point of being careful with the unit.  But,
unfortunately, I couldn't be careful enough.

"Why won't the handle stay on the filter?" "Oh drat, it's
broken already."

The handle assembly is held to the filter canister by a
small retaining clip with a pin -- the handle rotates on
the pin to Lock/Unlock the motor head assembly to the
canister.  Eheim calls the clip the Handle Connector. 
Actually, to be precise, what holds the handle to the
filter is a roughly 1/4" by 1/32" raised lip on the tip of
connector's pin.  This small protuberance of plastic seems
to me to break off easily enough that they should have just
put in extras in the box with the filter.  Of course,
making the part even beefier would have been much better
and more like Eheim.  I have a 2213 that's older than some
members on the APD and all I have ever had to replace is
the bearings and rotor shaft -- and that was after decades
of use.  And my three other Eheims have all held up very
well, even though of more recent vintage.

The part I recently broke only costs about $4.50/pair from
the Eheim parts web site (just try and track it down
somewhere else) but you have to add about $12 to that for
shipping and handling.

Eheim will replace the part free if you mail them a copy of
your receipt.  "You kept the receipt right where you could
find it didn't you?"

I know the Rena's hold up better than this, but I've yet to
try a Via Aqua.

Hey Tom, didn't you recently get a Via Aqua canister? 
How's it holding up?

Scott H.

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