Easy Flow Clogged

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 2/20/2024 at 5:40 PM, Pepere said:

.  I would use a syringe with some airline hose attached on the end to flush the collar with bleach water and afterwards with dechlorinator water…

This is super smart. I’m gonna try this tomorrow when I tear apart and clean the last couple that I have to do. 
 

Vinegar, toothpicks, and air from my lungs have worked okay at this point. The syringe with tubing and then forcing air and/or water seems like a great idea. One of those “why didn’t I think of that?” moments for sure 

[Pepere]

On 2/20/2024 at 8:16 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

The syringe with tubing and then forcing air and/or water seems like a great idea.

Airline tubing friction fits decently on the end of a syringe.  A little electrical tape on the end of the airline allows the threads of the syringe end to secure better…

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Pepere for sure. I have some 20ml syringes I use all the time for feeding. Gonna try that out tomorrow, and I’ll tape it if I need to. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Well, the syringe with airline tubing is the way to go! Here’s what I’ve done:

-Pull the air collar out

-Soak in a cup of vinegar 

-Hook up the airline tubing and draw the syringe back. It will create a vacuum and pull vinegar through the collar 

-Push HARD on the syringe 

-Repeat a couple of times 

-Move the air collar to a cup of water and repeat to rinse out the vinegar. If you pull the collar out of the water with the syringe full of water and push, you can see the jets of water. They all meet in the middle of the collar and collide. Pretty cool to see how it works with the assistance of water. 
 

-Pull the syringe out of the cup of water. Repeat with air a couple of times to flush the collar. 
 

-Rinse with water.

-Reinstall. 
 

So glad I saw this suggestion! Super quick, and I’m confident the collar is fully clear. 
 

Update: I’ve gone around and done all my air collars and they’re like the day I took them out of the box! SO GLAD I saw the syringe and airline suggestion. Worked like a dream!

Edited February 21 by AllFishNoBrakes

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/20/2024 at 4:24 PM, TMartins said:

Does anyone know if the air collar itself can be opened?!

It's a single piece with a slot cut in for air to escape. No.

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/30/2024 at 10:43 PM, Wags said:

Let's see where the internet takes us with the below:

You have a fitment issue with the airline. There should be no air escaping from the inlet side of the air collar.

1. Make sure the way the tube is cut is straight. 

2. Make sure the airline isn't hardened into a preformed shape. Especially for the ACO airline tubing which has a different texture than other tubing.

3. Once you have the inlet side of things fixed, then you would only ever need to use a pipe cleaner to clean the inlet. I'll attach a video below. This is common on the marina hang on breeder boxes as well.

Here is a video, air diffuser gets clogged at the bend... It's a typical issue but I very much doubt that's what you're experiencing here.

 

On 1/29/2024 at 11:10 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

This is what @Guppysnail was talking about and you can visibly see the air leak in the video from the tubing attachment point.

I'll reiterate this again.

[Markp2483]

I've gone down the rabbit hole of airlift pump injectors. I really like them over airstones

Here's a brief on summary of my research so far

The two main groups are radial injector and axial injector.

Radial injectors are like the easy flow and and swiss tropical jet lifter. A bunch of holes that pump air in a radial pattern. Great flow in middle of tube

Axial injectors i think are like jetlifter mk2 (its says no holes on their website so that makes me think it has to be axial).  Axial injectors have no holes but are a pipe over another pipe. Great flow at pipe water interface and helps shear viscous friction

Both axial and radial have similar performance but the axial may be less prone to clogging.

Some people actual combine them in a dual injector setup to get the advantages of both

Im currently working on one called an annular venturi injector

Basically a axial injector that necks down to form a venturi.  Supposedly this is the best of both worlds from the research papers i found.  Should have some 3d printed parts this week to test. 

 

[Pepere]

On 2/21/2024 at 2:21 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

It's a single piece with a slot cut in for air to escape. No.

Not on mine.  There is an obvious seam between two parts and holes are on the seam on the inside.

 

However, gentle persuasion with a knife on that seam did not yield promising results…

[Matt M]

I noticed a decrease in the flow on my easy flow. I removed the air collar and cleaned the inside with a toothbrush to clean the "gunk" that built up inside. It was back to normal after cleaning. It has been running since early December so about 2.5 months.

 

Here's how it looked before cleaning it.

Edited February 22 by Matt M

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Matt M Mine definitely had some gunk and weren’t running as they should. Do you have hard water? The gunk in mine wasn’t white, so I’m wondering if yours is calcium build up from hard water. Mine are good as new after today though!

Edited February 22 by AllFishNoBrakes

[Matt M]

@AllFishNoBrakes Yes my water is fairly hard, around 3dkh and 5 dgh. ~150ppm. So I’m assuming the build up is at least partially minerals.

[310 Aquatics]

I have 7 of these and they are great.  They do clog. 

If you have an air compressor, the quick and easy is to use a barbed fitting on your air nozzle, attach a 3 or 4 inch aquarium airline hose between the nozzle and the collar.  I use 50-60 psi and it is cleared; flow is back to new.  Be sure to pinch the airline at the collar as it will blow off due to the pressure.

Happy Fish Keeping,

Gary

[Cheryl P.]

On 4/16/2024 at 9:52 AM, 310 Aquatics said:

I have 7 of these and they are great.  They do clog. 

If you have an air compressor, the quick and easy is to use a barbed fitting on your air nozzle, attach a 3 or 4 inch aquarium airline hose between the nozzle and the collar.  I use 50-60 psi and it is cleared; flow is back to new.  Be sure to pinch the airline at the collar as it will blow off due to the pressure.

Happy Fish Keeping,

Gary

Thanks for this! I've ordered around 40 Easy Flow upgrades since they've been release and I've noticed a few from the first ones I got were getting clogged. I use oxygen to pack my fish, so I hooked up the airline and blew a quick burst through them. Now they are good as new!