# Ac 110 issues



## dZilla (Dec 30, 2010)

So I have an AC110 working great for quite a while. There is a sponge over the intake (I have some shrimp so thats why there's a sponge)....

Anyways there's air in the intake portion of the tube and I can not figure out how/why and how to get rid of it. I've taken it out rinsed out the motor etc.. replaced it, and nothing has changed. 

I actually woke up today to it barely even turning over any water.

I do have a fluval 304 that I can use (I assume I'll just throw in all the media that I had in the AC110) but I don't know I thought using the AC100 would work better.

Any suggestions on the above issue would be great.


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## dean9922 (Apr 21, 2010)

I had this problem on one of my AC110 and found that the plastic cover that goes over the impeller was not seated properly, once it was put in properly it worked fine. One of my other AC110's has to be unlevel a bit for it to work...
go figure.....If it's level I get an air pocket.....also what kind of foam do you have over the intake...maybe not getting enough water thru the intake.....I just use AC70 foam over mine...no problems....good luck


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Did you clean/service the filter recently? Perhaps the intake tube isn't seated completely over the impeller? 

There's the grey plastic piece that seats directly over the impeller - sometimes that doesn't align properly so part of the intake tube gets blocked.


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

dean9922 said:


> I had this problem on one of my AC110 and found that the plastic cover that goes over the impeller was not seated properly, once it was put in properly it worked fine. One of my other AC110's has to be unlevel a bit for it to work...
> go figure.....If it's level I get an air pocket.....also what kind of foam do you have over the intake...maybe not getting enough water thru the intake.....I just use AC70 foam over mine...no problems....good luck


whoa...this guy is good.


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## dZilla (Dec 30, 2010)

It is one of those fluval sponges..... recleaning it and trying again...


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## dZilla (Dec 30, 2010)

Ok re-cleaned the intake everything again, there is still a small bubble in the intake at the top corner but its far better then it was before... (before being the intake at the top was half full)... so..... all things considering going well...... Might switch over to one of my fluvals 304/05 that I have for it instead..... if something occurs today or tomorrow...

I'm specifically concerned because I'm going away for a day and a half


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Does your intake tube toggle freely from fully open to partially closed?

The lid sits flush against the filter top?


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## dZilla (Dec 30, 2010)

yes it does toggle, and yes the lid sits on top.. (although don't know what the lid would do with anything


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

It will collect air and break the siphon if you don't have enough flow for various reason.

The tube has to sit tight against the motor housing. You can also adjust the tube left and right to increase or decrease flow. The Fluval sponge will definitely restrict the flow.


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

dZilla said:


> yes it does toggle, and yes the lid sits on top.. (although don't know what the lid would do with anything


If the intake tube isn't sitting properly against the grey piece over the impeller, the lid wouldn't sit flush on top.


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## dZilla (Dec 30, 2010)

Ahh i got'cha, well ok it is...


Now no air in the intake, but flow is virtually to zero again..... BLARGH!!!!!!


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

I'm guessing it's an impeller issue then. Can you see it spinning away if you take off the intake tube?


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## bingerz (Mar 3, 2011)

i have an issue with mine. now, i don't know if it's related or something. this is my first ac...and it's used, so i don't really have anything to compare it to. anyways...i noticed that the filter wasn't working, one time i pulled the plug. so i pulled the filter out and brought it over to the sink...took off the intake tube, with water in the filter bay. i plugged it in and the motor just buzzed. so i stuck my finger in there and helped the impeller out a little bit. (don't jam your finger all the way in there...just help it a little bit...or use a chopstick/pencil or something) and it kicked in...and spun. i pulled the plug out and plugged it in a few times....sometimes it would start up no trouble...sometimes it wouldn't. so i'd help it along. but what i noticed was that the whirlpool it would make would sometimes go clockwise, sometimes counterclockwise. i thought that was kinda wierd, but didn't think much of it. i just wanted it to work. so i hooked it back up to the tank..plugged it in...and it spun instantly. but it was kinda loud....didn't think much of it...till last night...wife sed it was louder than normal. so i played with the intake tube, thought it wasn't seated properly...but it was still pretty loud. i pulled off the tube...put my finger semi into the impeller area...to kinda restrict some water getting into there (or something?)...and it got quiet. that's when i remembered the whirlpool going both directions. maybe one way was louder than the other. so i kept on pulling in and out the plug till the motor buzz. when it did...that was my cue to help it along. so i stuck my finger in there and helped it out, but spun it COUNTERCLOCKWISE....it spun....but it was quiet this time (not as quiet as my whisper)...but a huge improvement from before.

anyways....maybe that's what's going on with yours? maybe one direction is more efficient than the other? hope it helps!


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## dZilla (Dec 30, 2010)

YEs but I think it only spins one way.... lol I don't know why there seems to be no suction anymore.... I am goign away for the weekend so when I get back I'll take a closer look at it.

In the meantime I've put a smaller filter on the tank and it should be fine ....

Any other suggestions from anyone would be greatly appreciated


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Dumb question, have you taken out the impeller cleaned the vanes and inside the housing? Maybe there's crud inside slowing down the impeller.


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## dZilla (Dec 30, 2010)

Yup I've done this.... I find sometimes with these ac's there is no rhyme or reason the impeller gets all hung up and then you go down there and stick your finger in it and bizzambos works better


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

hp10BII said:


> Dumb question, have you taken out the impeller cleaned the vanes and inside the housing? Maybe there's crud inside slowing down the impeller.


Not a dumb question - IME that seems to be the single biggest problem with AC filters not operating properly. Not only the impeller itself, but the inside housing for the impeller needs to be well cleaned - that part seems to have a tendency to readily clog up with just a little bit of 'gunk'. 
Wipe the impeller blades and the rotor well, and also get into the housing with some damp tissue ( I use a bit of toilet paper) and rotate/clean the inside housing, with a toothpick, wooden matchstick, bobby pin, anything that fits - make sure you remove any tissue that may remain - That will keep it working well & reduce the noise as well. I have even been tempted to add a minute amount of vegetable oil, or petroleum jelly, to both the rotor & the inside housing to help it along with it's function. I will try that next time I have any problem.


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## dZilla (Dec 30, 2010)

Well I am currently away until Sunday nite so I will be taking it apart and cleaning and figuring out what exactly is wrong with it


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## dZilla (Dec 30, 2010)

So took it out cleaned it, put everything back together and now its running like a beaut no idea what was wrong with it. Only MAJOR thing I did differently is I had a fine prefilter floss at the bottom of the media and now its at the top. And its running fine. Don't know if its because I cleaned everything out, switched the media around, or a combination of everything. Or if in the end it was nothing and it just started working again, who knows... lol


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

Sounds to me it was a combination of both. A good cleaning of the impeller and housing always seems to improve things - And placing the filter floss at the top (never on the bottom - that's where the sponge should likely be) would no doubt have significantly improved the operational flow.


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## dean9922 (Apr 21, 2010)

glad to hear you got it up and running....


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