Eheim 2215 Help? Low Flow, How To Increase?

[desertrefugee]

Folks, I am at my wit's end. I've tried everything this newbie can try.

I've had a new, out-of-the-box Eheim 2215 cannister running for about a week now. I just saw a shot on the net of a working Eheim cannister filter with water spraying halfway across the tank from the spraybar!

Mine barely dribbles out of each hole. I thought that was the way it was supposed to work. I believe it to be fully primed and it runs almost completely silently except for a slight hum. There are no kinks in the line. The cannister is under the tank in the cabinet. Nothing out of the ordinary.

How do you get this thing to flow as it should? I'm stumped.

Did I get a dud?

 

[waterdrop]

If its new to you you might not have a feel yet for getting the air out of the cannister following or along with the priming process. Try picking up the cannister and (being careful of your tubes etc.) tilting it slightly (15 degrees from upright or so) and giving it a firm little shake or tap the cannister with the base of your other palm. Try this at different angles and if you hear little irregular ticking sounds then you may have hit paydirt and coughed up some air bubbles. After each "cough-up" I wait and watch the bubbles come out the outlet to the tank and then do it some more.

The thing is, smaller air bubbles can collect into larger ones up where the impeller is and hamper its operation. Right after initial priming, as a worst case, the bubbles will often take away all the water from the impeller and flow will stop, sometimes requiring you to prime again. Anyway the process I describe should help you to get rid of most of the air which otherwise would keep collecting over the first few days and might alter normal operation.

Of course, you could have some actual rare mechanical problem. Did you inspect the ceramic (at least I assume its ceramic like the Pro models) impeller shaft to make sure its not broken? They are pretty fragile of course, just due to the fundamental nature of their material. Or some other kind of impeller sticking or blockage in the inlet/outlet pathways? I suppose you could also contact eheim support for tips on judging whether there might be a problem with your pumphead.

In a more mature filter system I'd say to consider the amount of debris in the hoses but your hoses are probably new out of the box, so that won't become an issue until a year or so. At that point it can get pretty significant and you may want to clean or replace them.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[desertrefugee]

Thanks for taking the time to offer up some very good advice, waterdrop. I did, in fact, tilt and shake the unit a couple of times with no joy, but might try again.

One thing that did occur to me is that I took it out of the box, hooked it up and fired it up. I did not open the canister. Could it be that the media is wrapped in plastic or some such nonsense? Or are they ready to go right out of the box. (I assumed that to be the case. The included instruction manual offered no counsel in that regard).

Thanks again!

Darrell

Try picking up the cannister and (being careful of your tubes etc.) tilting it slightly (15 degrees from upright or so) and giving it a firm little shake or tap the cannister with the base of your other palm. Try this at different angles and if you hear little irregular ticking sounds then you may have hit paydirt and coughed up some air bubbles. After each "cough-up" I wait and watch the bubbles come out the outlet to the tank and then do it some more.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[bae1994]

i would imagine the media would be wrapped in plastic also there may be some sort of paper leaflet in it so that could og clogged it

 

[desertrefugee]

i would imagine the media would be wrapped in plastic also there may be some sort of paper leaflet in it so that could og clogged it

Yup.

Both the "bio-balls" and the "pasta-shells" were in plastic bags!

Sheesh. What an idiot I am.

(In my defense, the Eheim instructions are completely worthless).

Now there's TOO much flow. I had to put the spray bar under water. If anything, I'm over filtered now. The Eheim 2215 and a Fluval #4 Plus in tank.

Now to let it truly percolate in preparation for livestock...

Thanks!

 

[waterdrop]

good grief, I never would have thought of that! I'm the type that has to take something completely apart and put it back together again before I ever plug it in the first time.

~~waterdrop~~