# Aquaclear 20 Noise



## teskken (Sep 28, 2016)

Hello,

I just purchased a brand new Aquaclear 20 and set it up a couple hours ago. I was under the impression that the AC20 is one of the more quiet HOB filters that you can get. I don’t know if my expectations were unreasonable or if my HOB is louder than a bag of rocks.






This is 30 minutes after lubricating the motor/impeller with Vaseline. 
This tank is right next to my bed and I really hope this is not the normal level of sound to expect from an aquaclear.

Is there anything else I can do to reduce the sound?


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## mgeorges (Feb 1, 2017)

Unless there is air trapped in the HOB or intake, you should return it/exchange it. I've run several of these in the past, all of my AquaClear's were dead silent unless they were just filthy(as in...neglecting to clean the impeller). However, if you didn't prime it correctly, yeah, it'll be loud. Proper priming requires that you fill the HOB with tank water and move the intake to max(completely covering the impeller port) before turning it on. AquaClear's do not self prime.

In listening to it again, it sounds like you aren't correctly primed and there's air getting blown around by the impeller.


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## teskken (Sep 28, 2016)

mgeorges said:


> Unless there is air trapped in the HOB or intake, you should return it/exchange it. I've run several of these in the past, all of my AquaClear's were dead silent unless they were just filthy(as in...neglecting to clean the impeller). However, if you didn't prime it correctly, yeah, it'll be loud. Proper priming requires that you fill the HOB with tank water and move the intake to max(completely covering the impeller port) before turning it on. AquaClear's do not self prime.
> 
> In listening to it again, it sounds like you aren't correctly primed and there's air getting blown around by the impeller.


Hi mgeorges, I took a photo of the filter
I’m not seeing any air. Should I give it a little bit of time and see if it fixes itself or go ahead and return it?


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## mgeorges (Feb 1, 2017)

First, try removing whatever you have crammed in with the intake. There is a little purge hole in that area that helps get trapped air out and you could be covering it with that.


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## teskken (Sep 28, 2016)

Ok, I went ahead and removed the older filter, was trying to seed some media from the old filter to new x3

I reprimed the filter and it’s still making a buzzing noise. 
Now I can let it run for a couple hours and see if it goes away too


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## mgeorges (Feb 1, 2017)

If it's still making noise, you probably just got a dud. Mine would make noise for just a second when plugged back in after a cleaning as air bubbles were purged out.


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## teskken (Sep 28, 2016)

mgeorges said:


> If it's still making noise, you probably just got a dud. Mine would make noise for just a second when plugged back in after a cleaning as air bubbles were purged out.


Thanks for helping me troubleshoot this mgeorges!
I am not very familiar with the AC filters at all, so I was a little shocked to find that mine was this loud. I’ll have to order a new one and then return this one. Thank you


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## Stokely (Jan 9, 2015)

Hard to hear in the vid, but that doesn't sound anything like any noise I've ever heard from an AQ. I have had 5-6 of these going back 15 years, still using two of them. Mine still have the original impellers and I suspect they are a bit noisy due to that, but it's more of a lower-pitched rattling. When I say "noisy", it's not something that I would notice across a room, it's pretty low. That sounded like a higher-pitched buzzing/grinding and I wonder if the motor is just messed up.


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## teskken (Sep 28, 2016)

Stokely said:


> Hard to hear in the vid, but that doesn't sound anything like any noise I've ever heard from an AQ. I have had 5-6 of these going back 15 years, still using two of them. Mine still have the original impellers and I suspect they are a bit noisy due to that, but it's more of a lower-pitched rattling. When I say "noisy", it's not something that I would notice across a room, it's pretty low. That sounded like a higher-pitched buzzing/grinding and I wonder if the motor is just messed up.


Hi Stokely!

Thanks for sharing your experience with the ACs!

I just had a Fluval C2 delivered today, and it is x10 quieter than my previous one. I know power wise it’s a little stronger, but I’m pretty happy with my new replacement. From what I understand, the Fluval C line is the spiritual successor to the ACs. And I really have to strain to hear anything.

They also changed the output so that there’s a slight lip, and my betta loves it much more compared to the other one too. The flow doesn’t go down and everywhere, and instead goes just straight across to hit the other wall.


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