Can't get impeller out of 6100

[Andy]

Hi guys

Last night my alarm went off on my 6100 stream pump. I tried pulling the impeller out for cleaning and a soak in vinegar but it won't come out. I have had it soaking for about 4-5 hours now and it won't budge. It will turn about 90 degrees but that's it. I can hear some grit in the impeller housing. Any hints out there as to how I can get the impeller out without breaking it.

Thanks

 

[rvitko]

At this point your best bet is to carefully brace the pump under your bare feet (I use my bare feet so I have a better feel and I think it is less likely to break the tabs that secure the housing cover), then pull up on the prop with your hands. If it breaks the next step is to drive a deck screw into the center and repeat with a pair of pliers on the screw. Short of that it would need to be sent into the Canadian distributor Phil Gilbert, he may have to return it to Germany for the magnet to be extracted but you would need to contact him. Usually if the outlined methods dont work, you need to drill it our or extract it with a slide hammer and this has to be done with a lot of skill to not destroy the pump.

 

[Andy]

Thanks Roger. If the impeller brakes and I manage to get it out, can I temporarily use an impeller from a 6060 as I have one on my frag tank that I could switch out. Would the impeller on my 6060 be siezed up with calcium deposits in my case or is there possible damage to the impeller housing that is jamming it. Also, how often does this occur. Is my experience a rare occurrence. I cleaned out my powerheads about 6 weeks ago so I am surprised that this has occurred so soon.

 

[rvitko]

Yes. It is fairly rare but what you describe sounds almost like sand got in it and kind of cemented together. This used to be a bigger problem but the drive unit has been changed numerous times and the ones made in the past couple years are pretty resistant to this. The fact that you can turn it gives me high hopes it can be extracted without damage.

 

[Andy]

What about the use of the 6060 impeller. Is that possible. If not, what do the 6100 impellers sell for? I have already contacted Phil and he has told me he has parts in stock.

 

[rvitko]

Thats what I meant by Yes. It will work temporarily, the flow will be lower. The newest one piece 6100.70 is $36.

 

[Andy]

Thanks Roger. I have been running my TS/24 stream kit now for 3-4 years without a hitch. It has served me well.

 

[rvitko]

Ahh, you probably have the older upper bearing which had a bigger problem with the calcium precipitation. The upper bearing allowed a higher vacuum pressure inside that degassed CO2 and in high calcium or KH conditions a lot of lime could precipitate rapidly.

 

[Andy]

That's what I figured. I am tempted to get 2 new impellers if I can't get this one out without damaging it.

 

[Andy]

Good news Roger. Drilled a hole through a long, narrow piece of acrylic, unthreaded the propellor from the impeller then threaded the acrylic piece onto the impeller. This gave me much more leverage for pulling the impeller out. It sure took quite a bit to pull it out but it finally did. When it came out, it made a sound like pulling a cork from a wine bottle. Must have been quite a build up of calcium and lots of suction. I am pulling the impeller apart and cleaning it according to your instructions in the sticky post. I'll do the same to my other stream pump later tonight before it siezes up too. Thanks again for your help.

 

[Andy]

Just an update. You would not believe the amount of calcium buildup both at the base of the impeller well beneath the lower bearing and within the tiny hole that goes through the magnet. I never knew that the lower bearing came out until I read the sticky thread at the top of this forum. It came out with a little persuasion using the 5 mm screw as suggested. As for the hole through the magnet, I took one of my wife's tiny wisks and pulled it apart. The stainless steel wire was a perfect fit. Can you believe I haven't cleaned out this hole and the lower bearing since I setup the TS/24 kit in August 2003. Must have been very lucky. All I used to do is put vinegar in the impeller well and soak the impeller itself in vinegar for an hour or so. Just thought others might be interested in my experience.