Aquaclear HOB Loud Clacking noise

[Glipzcom]

Sorry guys lots of posts today. The temperature fall in my tank today has made me refocus on all the issues I have that I should be taking care of.

I bought one of those hagen aquaclear hang on back filters, to use as a place to put some Cheato. But when i plug it in the motor makes an incredibly loud clacking sound, And I thought "well maybe it will stop" but after about 10 mins of it making the noise i disassembled it checked the impellor and it seemed ok then plugged it back in same thing. Then i looked closer, seems like the impeller sits really deep into the motor housing there is very little clearance between the blades and the body. There were some very fine ridges in the plastic body that i took a little sandpaper to to make it super smooth but no go still loud clacking.

Any thoughts?

[Matt Rogers]

So no white buildup on the impeller then?
Did you clean out the inset where the impeller goes?
This racket is a pet-peeve of mine - it takes a lot of fidgeting sometimes.

[missionsix66]

Is there a grommet on the shroud that the shaft would sit into. Shroud meaning the piece or, cover that is removed to see impeller assembly. Without this grommet it would allow the shaft to wobble. This would cause the impeller to make racket and bounce off of plastic. Or, shroud is not sitting tightly and allowing shaft not to sit into grommet correctly.

[ser_renely]

From reading about them I think some have this problem. It seems just a bit of sand can cause this problem. I was looking at them, but starting to get wary about them. says they need a lot of impeller cleaning.