Eheim 2026 problem

**monster_88** · 3rd Sep 2009, 12:03

I have a 2026 recently taken out from storage and used for almost 1+ month. It was working fine except for abit noisy from the rotor.
Few days ago, it suddenly failed and can't seem to pump any more. I checked for chokage, prime it with an external pump and still it just cannot give any output. The motor is able to run, as I can hear the the sound and confirmed after I took it out and test. The rotor turns when I power it up, but I observed that it does not spin very smoothly and has some noise.
Does any bro here have similar experience? Can any sifu give some advice?

Thank you for all assistance.

**Shadow** · 3rd Sep 2009, 12:33

The impeller might be spoiled

**monster_88** · 3rd Sep 2009, 14:03

How to check? Visually it look fine, no crack, no chip. I did find that one of the rubber stub that holds the ceramic rotor rod is quite worn out. Did some temporary taping around it, but still no difference. Any chance the motor coil is faulty already? How to check?

Thanks

**Shadow** · 3rd Sep 2009, 16:25

you can try to hold the blade and turn the black round cylindrical magnet. The magnet should force the blade to turn.

What do you mean by taping around it? the impeller must be able to move freely around the ceramic rod

**monster_88** · 3rd Sep 2009, 17:05

I tested it out of water and I can see the blade actual turn when power ON; abit jerky though. The ceramic rod is supported by two rubber bushings on both ends, one of the is slightly worn and don't sit tightly in the holder. So, I just tape around the bushing alittle to give a better fit so that the rod will not have too much free play. The rotor is still free to rotate.

Anyone has experience where the stator coil is faulty instead?

**BFG** · 3rd Sep 2009, 21:11

Change the bushing 1st.

**GaspingGurami** · 4th Sep 2009, 09:23

2 possibilities:

1) The 2 end rubber bush had shrunk and deformed, so it don't hold the ceramic shaft true. This in turn causes the impeller to run crooked, and scrape the sides. If your filter is this way, you can see the scrape marks at the sides of the impeller housing - Bacteria don't have chance to grow here whereas it grows everywhere else.

There is no bush sold loose that I've known, so you end up buying the ceramic pin with 2 bushes.

2) Impeller endcap had torn. Your impeller can turn 180° on its own plastic shaft if you hold the magnet still. This is not a damaged impeller. However this shaft goes through the magnet and is joined to the endcap and that joint can crack. Signs of it is the endcap and magnet having a visibly bigger gap.

I've glued the shaft and endcap to the magnet so that it doesn't rotate 180° anymore, and it still works fine (My older 2228 impeller doesn't have this 180° rotate characteristic). However, it's a temporary measure as eventually, the glue will fail and problem comes back again. The impeller is not cheap. then again, it is cheap considering that the replacement of this part will enable your Eheim to give you many more years service.

Check these 2 first before suspecting the rest. Eheim's electromagnets are very robust and I've not heard of any problem on that side happening since I started using Eheims in 2003.

**monster_88** · 5th Sep 2009, 01:20

Originally Posted by GaspingGurami

2 possibilities:

2) Impeller endcap had torn. Your impeller can turn 180° on its own plastic shaft if you hold the magnet still. This is not a damaged impeller. However this shaft goes through the magnet and is joined to the endcap and that joint can crack. Signs of it is the endcap and magnet having a visibly bigger gap.

I've glued the shaft and endcap to the magnet so that it doesn't rotate 180° anymore, and it still works fine (My older 2228 impeller doesn't have this 180° rotate characteristic). However, it's a temporary measure as eventually, the glue will fail and problem comes back again. The impeller is not cheap. then again, it is cheap considering that the replacement of this part will enable your Eheim to give you many more years service.

Check these 2 first before suspecting the rest. Eheim's electromagnets are very robust and I've not heard of any problem on that side happening since I started using Eheims in 2003.

*********
Not too sure which is the end cap, but when I took out the rotor, the impeller is not glued / tight fitted to the magnet. The magnet can slide out (though not loosely) when turning I guess. Is this normal? Should I just glue the plastic impeller portion to the metallic magnetic part?

Thanks

**GaspingGurami** · 7th Sep 2009, 09:27

If you hold the impeller vertically by the magnet in one hand, you should be able to rotate the impeller left and right, making an 180° sweep.

Now hold the impeller in your hand and try to slide the magnet up and down. You should not have any/much free play.

**seanskye** · 7th Sep 2009, 14:05

Another possibility could be trapped air. I got it once, thought one of my 2222s went kaput (spoilt). Prior to that I had experienced the same noisy sound and stripped the unit for cleaning. When I switched it on, there was no output from the rainbar even though there was the nice soft hum from the eheim. Priming, blowing... nothing worked. When I was about to give up, I tilted the unit on its side out of fustration. A steady stream of tiny bubbles came out (slowly) and after 10-20 seconds the water was coming out of the rainbar again!