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Re: [APD] Eheim 2026 filter replacement ball



Unlikely any dreadful damage has been done unless you hit
it with a hammer to see if sudden shock would "fix" 
it ;-)  

Okay, seriously -- The Eheims rely on water circulation to
lubricate the rotor on it's shaft and keep the pump/motor
cool. Generally, a hotter than normal filter means too
little water flow or (and this is very rare and I've only
had it happen once in about 30 years) a shorted coil. 

You might consider each of the following in order. If one
works, then stop there and be happy unitl the next
maintenance cycle. If not, then go to the next step:

Clean all the tubing and filter openings and interior with
good brushes, size to fit -- there's a small channel/slot
in the rotor housing that helps keep water circulating
around the rotor to cool it and burp out any gas the gets
in there -- I know you already did this, but I felt I had
to mention the first step just on GPs ;-)  -- at least I
avoided the obvious "clean the media"   ;

Clean the rotor including the magnet and the vanes -- if
these become well coated with biofilm, they become less
productive -- I think a lot of folks skip this step when
doing filter maintenance. Gunk on a rotor really cuts down
water flow;

And a lot of folks skip this part: Apply petroleum jelly to
the gasket around the 'siphon-starter' plunger. This is on
the inside bottom of the pump head and you'll need a bald
Q-tip or such to get the lubricant down near the gasket.
Work the plunger. It should go down and return back up up
*easily*. If it can not come up easily, it might not come
all the way up, which *will impede water flow* and cause
the plunger to feel warmer than usual.

Inspect the ceramic rotor shaft for any visible signs of
wear. After three years it might not be ready for
replacement but a new shaft and bearings, if you can get
them without buying a new rotor aren't very expensive.

Other than that, there is nothing to wear out mechanically.
The rest of the motor/pump is just a large coil of copper
wire sealed inside epoxy.

The 2026 produces about as much heat as a 20+ watt electric
heater or a bit more than 20 watt fluorescent lamp. The
water flowing thorugh it should absorb most of the heat
despite how quickly it flows through the pump in normal
operation. And it's not enough heat, even with zero water
flow, to be able to damage parts, not even the coil.

Hope that helps,
Scott H.
--- Tomoko Schum <tomokoschum at knology_net> wrote:

> Thank you, Scott.  I knew I could count on you to give me
> a good lead.
> 
> I also have another question.  I let the canister filter
> go without cleaning 
> the media for two months or so.  I realized this when I
> saw that the ball 
> was no longer floating.  The somewhat sticky
> disintegrating ball was 
> actually wedged between the ribs of the cage.  When I put
> my hand on the top 
> of the canister filter (the protruding priming part), I
> noticed that the 
> pump was warm.  After cleaning the filter media last
> night, I let it sit for 
> an hour to let the pump cooled down some.  This afternoon
> the pump is still 
> slightly warm to the touch. The tank temperature is
> pretty high as well (86 
> degrees F).   I have been using this Eheim filter for at
> least 3 years and 
> the top of the priming section has never been warm
> before.  The filter media 
> has been cleaned regularly every month until this one
> mishap.  Did I damage 
> the pump?
>

=====
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