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Air pump that can be maintained


OnlyGenusCaps
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I know there are many, many questions about air pumps and noise.  I'm less concerned about that than being able to maintain an air pump.  I have a small Tetra Whisper and the air intake filter has gotten dirty.  I was unable to find the little filters for it, and so e-mailed the company.  They, unhelpfully, referred me to a diaphragm repair kit. 

So, I am curious does anyone know of a small air pump that is easy to maintain including getting new air filters for?  Or are all the ones you can do routine maintenance on larger pumps?  For my purposes, I only really need a small pump.

All input and opinions welcome.  Thanks everyone!

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Sadly, as far as I know, most of these kinds of products are designed to just be thrown out if something really goes wrong with them.  I imagine a vast majority of users either ignore the filter getting dirty, or if something else goes awry, they just chunk it in the trash and buy a new one.  With that in mind, why would they even bother trying to design stuff to be user repairable?

You might have to get up into linear piston air pumps before you get properly serviceable equipment these days.

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I find the cheap air pumps to be pretty easy to repair as long as the coil doesn't fail. I pretty much ignore the air filters and remove them from the start. It's not like there's a lot of stuff in my air that will kill the fish, so off they come. Some quilt batting or cotton could replace them if need be, but I just don't bother. The thing that tends to fail in most air pumps is that little piece of rubber on both sides of the diaphragm. I've found that a piece of a rubber band cut to the right size replaces those nicely. If the big rubber cup develops issues, you can typically repair it with some rubber cement or replace it. Those replacement parts are pretty readily available. 

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7 hours ago, RockMongler said:

I imagine a vast majority of users either ignore the filter getting dirty, or if something else goes awry, they just chunk it in the trash and buy a new one.  With that in mind, why would they even bother trying to design stuff to be user repairable?

I fear you are right.  I try, and often fail, to avoid being part of the disposable culture.  I suppose I was hoping one company resisted.

6 hours ago, gardenman said:

quilt batting or cotton could replace them if need be

I may give that a go.  Thanks!

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