# Canister filter problem help!



## - kT (Jan 10, 2011)

hey guys. so i was doing maintenance on my eheim tonight and now i can't prime it. ive sucked water out of the outlet til it was suctioning and flowing out of the outpipe but as soon as i plug in power it stops coming out. does anyone know why? i lightly dropped the top motor so i'm worried it might be that

thanks in advance


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

when you do the suction, was the canister empty?

remove the head and plug in to see if the impeller spins. While you are at it, you can also clean the impeller before you put the head unit back.


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## - kT (Jan 10, 2011)

i'll give that a try. what if it does spin?

also i've tried doing the suction with the can both empty and about 3/4 full. suction started for both but wouldn't work once i plugged it in. the impeller just makes a lot of noise upon plugging it in..

starting to worry about my fish now


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

fill the canister full of water, put it all together , plug the thing in , suck on the outlet ,.. spit out water ... throw up, lol and fixed


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## - kT (Jan 10, 2011)

yhat's exactly what i've been doing. i suck on the outlet til water starts coming from the outlet by suctiom. however when i plug it in this suction stops conpletely


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

i dont fill my canisters i attach them empty that way when the watet pours in and fills the canister you knowyou have siphon


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

yeah that the way to do it , but if there having this much trouble i thought maybe its getting air locked
and if it goes in your mouth lol it should go , you might have to take your canister all the way apart and do a super cleaning , if your impeller isnt moving you gotta clean it or figure out why it isnt spinning ,


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

i should add i dont have an ehiem but i imagine it all relative to the same thing, water ion water out ... so maybe theree website will have your instruction manual .pdf'ed


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## - kT (Jan 10, 2011)

i've looked aroud but havn't found somebody whos had the same problem as me with suction working til i plug it in. i did take it all apart and do a super cleaning and following that it isn't working. impeller still makes noise when i plug it in. i guess i'll go home and try to play with the impeller but i don'g think thats the problem


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

maybe try reversing how your plugging it in or plug it in and out till your impeller is spinning the right way

i have had a few water fans go baatzo and start spinning backwards


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

What model Eheim is it? Never put water in an Eheim first, always allow water to siphon into the canister completely filling the unit before plugging it in. The noise you hear is likely the impeller running dry and rattling around. If you are stuck you can take the unit to IPU in RMD and they can have a look for you.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

What Grant said. Dont fill in any water. Once you hear water going in the filter, your outflow should start pumping air out. Make sure your water in your tank is completely fill up all the way in your tank.


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## - kT (Jan 10, 2011)

i think my impeller started spinnin backwards at one point too, water bubbles were coming out of the intake tube :/ 

what do you guys suggest i try now then? emptying all the water out and restarting? cause i did that yesterday already, water comes out of the outflow tube perfectly until i plug the unit in and then water just stops coming out. i tilted the can and let water run through the filter for like 2 minites before i plugged the can in too, with the same results

also i dont remember the exact model number but i think its 2218


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

I have never seen an Eheim impeller go in reverse. Rinse the media in aquarium water and try again. No water in the unit, suck on the outlet pipe until a siphon is started and dont plug in until canister is full.


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## - kT (Jan 10, 2011)

how do i know for sure when its completely full?


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

- kT said:


> how do i know for sure when its completely full?


When air stops coming out, its full.


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## - kT (Jan 10, 2011)

so when water gushes out of the outlet in other words? i already did exactly that but i guess ill try again


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## _ kT (Feb 22, 2012)

figured out the problem, and i feel like a complete idiot but i thought i'd share. turns out the problem was that in my haste to put everything back together, i mixed up the intake and outlet lines (i took all the hoses out and scrubbed the insides) which explains why the impeller was running "backwards" - it was running exactly as i had set it up. i figured water should enter through the top of the can, go through the media downwards (gravity) and exit out the filter through the bottom, and get pumped back upwards. a total of 5 hours of my life wasted just because i got two hoses mixed up..but live and learn i guess. thanks for all the help!


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

haha man , good stuff... 

better human error than a goofy filter...


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

I gotta ask
charles and rasta you guys said not to fill the canister first ? i gotta know why would that make any difference if it is a gravity fed start and not some self priming gizmo...

because if you fill the canister like i do with my fx5 and then open up your inlet, which should contain no air, why wouldnt that work.. not argueing but then wouldnt the water just push the air out of the outflow line and be working?

like i said early im no ehiem expert but it sounds like they fill just like a rena or fx5 would so im just curious.... since i am desperately running out of both tank space and places the wife will allow me to set up tanks im thinking that spending my fish budget now on new "toys" for my tanks and a big daddy ehiem was top of my lists, but that is how i would fill it so before i mess something up ... 

thanks guys


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Your intake and outflow has air, then you fill up the canister with water. So now you are priming the intake trying to push the air out from the intake hose, the air then trying to push through the water and escape from the outflow pipe.

It is much easier if you do the way with empty canister. Once you start the siphon action, the water will push the air out.

No matter if it is eheim, xp, or fluval, I always start them empty.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

hum.... good to know
thanks


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## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

Hello. it's the little things that drive you crazy lol. glad you figured it out.. about the empty canister, i can see why one would start with an empty canister, but IMO for a fluval this is how to do it and it works every time, and i don't even touch the primer. all i do is unplug the filter, then use the shut off valve and disconnect the lines. then take off the head and take a close look at the water level. then clean it and refill it to the same water level or a little more. when you put the head back on you should see some water return to the hose inlet. then re attach the hoses and open valve, then fire it up, after it runs for about 5 to 10 seconds and pushes out a some air i like to rock the filter back and forth just a little bit for a second to expel any trapped air. this works great for me so i thought i should pass it on. Cheers


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