Problems with Eheim 2213

Becca

Becca

Members
A month or two ago my husband swapped out my old 2213 for a 2217 that he got off of craigslist. I tried to hook it up to the 29 gallon I'm setting up today and encountered a couple of issues.

The motor runs, but I can't get it to establish a flow, which is absurd because the thing should work on gravity alone with the tubes and canister filled. Yes, the valves are open and no, there's not anything stuck in the intake tube.

I made the mistake of asking the hubs to see if he could get it going - now one of the quick connect valves is leaking.

First - any tips for getting this mother to start back up again?

Second - know anywhere local that I can get parts and new tubing for it?

Third - if anyone has spare parts for this thing and is willing to part with them, PM me.
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
No problem

Regarding the impeller (motor), the heads on these get air pockets in them sometimes which is why I unplug them during water changes to avoid sucking any air into the canister. Pull off the head and put in the sink or a bucket with enough water to immerse it and plug it in. Bet if you move it around to get the bubbles out it pushes water. If so then when you put it back on, tilt the canister to let the air flow up and out the outflow hose and you should be good to go. If it's still an issue you may have to start a siphon through the canister from one of the tubes (doesn't matter which one long as the other end is submerged). I don't use/have any quick connect tubes on any of mine so no idea about that but the tubing should be fine. If it's too loose on one/both ends cut 1/2" off of the offending end(s) and you should be able to get a good seal.
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
I agree with Sam's advice, as usual.

I sometimes have trouble getting Eheim Classic canisters to restart. It's easiest if you have the intake tube full of water when you reconnect (assuming you have the valves on that tubing), and the rest of the canister and tubing empty. Then, when you open the valves, the water should flow into the intake into the canister. If that doesn't work, then you may need to suck on the outflow tube until you get enough water into the canister.

You really don't need the disconnect valves. In my experience, if they are old, they get pretty brittle and can break pretty easily. Also, check to make certain that they have the o-ring. If that's missing, they will leak. You can get replacements at any hardware store.

The disconnect valves are handy, however, especially when cleaning the canister. They are not cheap, even on eBay or at kensfish.com. There are other disconnect valves that will work. Marineland makes some that are little bit cheaper. I've taken to using cheap valves I buy on eBay. They don't have a quick disconnect, so you need to set up two of them connected by a short length of tubing.

Any LFS can sell you replacement tubing.
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
I don't have an Eheim canister, but I've had luck finding replacement tubing for other brands at Home Depot/Lowes.
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Unnecessary parts

Agree with Matt that the disconnects are optional - don't have them on any of my Eheim Classics and since they only get cleaned about once a year (use pre-filters) they really aren't missed. Also true that you can get cheap replacement parts for everything that isn't part of the canister/head at a decent hardware store.

I want to hear what happens when you plug in the head in the tub or some such...
 
Becca

Becca

Members
Yeah, the head seems to work and I've run water through it... it just isn't managing to push the water up through the tubing... I'm taking it by Tropical Lagoon to trouble shoot today and see if I can at least get replacement tubing.

I need new suction cups for the spray bar and intake, anyway. I actually hate the spray bars. I used to have this cool piece on my display tank at AC that was more of a spout and created a nice, strong current in a tank, but I can't seem to find that anywhere anymore.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top