Eheim ProII Head Leak Need Help Tonight

[Greenhacker]

Has anyone had any problems with Eheim Professional II filters leaking at the head gasket. When I tank the head off, water pours out from the pump area. Gasket looks good, but I can't figure out how to take it off to really have a good look.

[Crowned]

I have one of the smaller Pro II's that is around three years old and never any problems. Only change I made was to remove the flow indicator ball.

Is it leaking when running, when shut off, or both? I'll check out the manual.

[Greenhacker]

yeah i've two of them and this is my first problem

[Crowned]

Well if the gasket looks good, could put some of that silicone grease on it and see if that works. Can also grease the primer o-ring while you are in there.

[fischfan13]

Well if the gasket looks good, could put some of that silicone grease on it and see if that works. Can also grease the primer o-ring while you are in there.

E, does the O-ring have to be replaced...a little birdie was telling me just today that the O-rings have to be replaced in Eheims.:ear:

[Greenhacker]

Just found the O ring directions on a random forum. Looks to be in good condition. Will let you know in a minute....

[Greenhacker]

Nope water is still dribbling out of it... I don't even see where it's coming from, it's just appearing down by its base.

[Greenhacker]

They don't even list the o-ring in their manual or online, but since the leaking is worse and it seemed pretty loose to me, I will just wait till morning and call them. This is not the problem you want to have on the 5th floor...

[dbondi]

maybe theres a crack that you cant see?

[CJC]

You are correct, the O-ring is not on there parts list. I called Eheim and had to do some talking in order for them to send me 1. From what I remember, it had something to do with there warrentee so I told them mine was out of warrentee and to send me 1 and they did. Be carefull when replacing it. They had also sent me instructions on how to R&R the O-ring. It is easy to ruin the ring, a little knick and it will leak.

[Greenhacker]

Well, I checked the o-ring again and found that it bulged in a notch where the primer disengages. I reset it again, but it still leaks.

CJC, you wouldn't happen to still have those directions would you?

I found an alternate site that sells their o-rings for $10 rather then $15 and I can only hope the shipping isn't $12... Talk about gouging you!

There is still a possibility of a crack, which is what Eheims rep told me it was, but I have two filters and when I switch out pieces it still leaks, so I'm doubting it. Also the leak has gotten better with the reset, and only leaks if there is an air bubble being passed.

Bill, did your little "bird" (not sure why you're talking to birds and not fish, but hey each to their own) happen to tell you where to get these o-rings. I would really like to just get the size, it's like a $2 part!

[fischfan13]

Sure E, pm her and ask.http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/sport/sport-smiley-015.gif...LOL.

[Longstocking]

:lol:

If the o-ring isn't set right it will leak as well. Or if is old and dry.. or cracked. I got the replacement from That Fish Place :)

[TwoTankAmin]

I have a pair of Eheim Pro II 2026 which I have had for some time. The older of the two doubles as a co2 reactor on my high tech planted tank and the other is run normally. I have had them for about 7 and 6 years respectively.

A couple of years back I removed the one on the high tech tank for cleaning. When I rehooked it up and closed up the latch to the hose, water began to leak. I took it part and reassembled a few times with the same result. However, when turned on, the leaking stopped. When turned back off, the leaking resumed.

Soon after I was on the phone to Eheim. The problem is most likely the big gasket the seals the head to the body. For some reason they chose to make it out of a type of material that tends to degrade over time. It degrades the fastest when left exposed to air. The gasket when working right is especially soft and pliable which makes for a great seal, until it degrades and then it leaks.

Because it only leaked when the filter was turned off, I figured i could live with it, until we had a power outage. It took a couple of days to dry out the carpet and floor and I caught it pretty fast.

Replacing the head gasket fixed the problem. Unfortunately they cost is about $15 for the gasket which is 10% of what I paid for the Filter including the media.

I would note that I usually clean the gasket when I clean the filter and will sometimes put a small amount of vaseline on the gasket.

I really love the Pro II line and decided I was willing to live with the headache and cost the gasket issue creates. They gasket seems to last for about 3 years with my regimin of cleaning the filter every 5-6 months. My bet is it is the drying out of the gasket during the cleaning process which determines how soon it will develop the leaking, ie the more often you clean (and let the gasket dry) the sooner it wears out.

I am one who like to keep spare parts etc on the shelf. However, the Eheim tech with whom I spoke about the leaking issue and who explained about the gasket material also mentioned that the gaskets will degrage if allowed to sit on the shelf for many months.

I have just learned to deal with this as needed. Because the leaking only occurs when the filter is hooked up but off and because we have since installed a whole house backup generator, I simply replace the gasket only when it shows leakage after a cleaning.

I have only had te replace the gaskets once on each of the filters so far but expect I will have to do so again sometime in the future.

I hope this helps.

[CJC]

GH,
I doubt I have it but will look tonight. You have to make sure you align the plunger correctly. I forget if there is a notch or something. Deffinately use a little vasaline. I put a thin coating on the o-ring and the walls of the plunger riding surface. Just a small nick in the o-ring will cause it to leak. I took my pro II apart due to the plunger was very stiff. Figured it would be a 1 2 3 thing, take your time and look at it carfully, no need to force anything. I'll look for the directions. Maybe call Eheim and ask the to PDF the file for you.

[spada]

Go to atomicrice.com and there is a link on the page with instructions on o ring replacement Dave

[Greenhacker]

Thanks Spada & TTAdmin! I have removed parts from both filters and switched them back and forth and I think the o-ring is ok, but was definitely part of the problem.

I think the main problem is now the head seal and I got one ordered from BigAls. It was about $15 but it's $10 cheaper then Eheim.

For now I took some of my biological media and put it in my Magnum 350s charcoal basket. I hope to keep enough alive that the tank won't cycle again when I get it all hooked back up.

Thanks for all the great advice. I really do love these filters, but Eheim is very proud of them and nail you on the replacement parts.

[TorontoRaptorsFan]

I'm having the same problem with both of my Pro II 2028 filters. I have no experienced this problem at all on the 2080 Pro III models.

[Greenhacker]

From what I can tell; if you have water atop the head by where the electrical chord comes out, then it's either a cracked hose connection piece, a cracked flow indicator (per Eheim) or the pump gasket (Eheim says this is not the problem). Either way buy the pieces from Big Als, they are nealy half the price Eheim charges and has almost every part in stock. Just call if you don't see it on their site.

If your hand holds don't have any water in them, then it is likely the head gasket or beyond me. LOL

Mine apparently was doing both because I had water pooled on both sides in the hand holds and obviously water was dribbling down the sides and front. I pulled and lubed the primer gasket and put it back in per the instructions on Atomic Rice. This cleared up the pooling water at the hand holds, but water was still dribbling down the sides and front weather the filter was running or not. (Some peoples stops leaking once the filter is turned on because it decreases the head pressure on the gaskets.)

I used a small flat head screwdriver to pry the head gasket out. It works best if you pry from the outside working the gasket up the side of the filter head. I then clean and lubed it and slid it back in taping it into place with the screwdriver.

Unfortunately this didn't help. So I tried swapping it with the one from my 2026, and it stopped leaking.

I ordered a new one from Big Als and I am supposed to get it and a few other minor replacement pieces in the mail tomorrow. I will let everyone know then if that's the end of the issue or if I'm back to the drawing board.

[DJRansome]

Hey you don't need the "official" replacement O-ring, as I found out with my HOBs. Hardware stores carry O-rings in HOB-type sizes, all you need to do is go grab half a dozen. I gave my hardware store purchasing agent (family member) the old one and he came back with new ones for like $0.10 each. Worth a phone call if you are trying to find the larger canister ones to see if hardware stores have them too or can get them cheaper than Eheim or whomever.

[Greenhacker]

Yeah, I looked into that, but without knowing the actual size of a new one, it's hard to special order in. Nice thought though...

Today when resetting up the pump the hose barb broke off, so I'm going to try Gorilla Glue and if that doesn't work then it's back to Big Als... SUCK!!!