return pump buzzing

I have a maxi-jet 600 return pump and for the past few days it's been humming and buzzing loudly. It's very annoying because my tank is a nuvo 8 sitting right in front of me on my desk. Usually before I would just unplug it and plug it back in or shake it and it would stop, that isn't working anymore. Do I need to clean it? Or does anyone have any experience with buzzing pumps?

 

Check to see if the impeller is in good shape. If not you might just need to replace it.

 

I'll check, hopefully that's not the case... it's only 3 months old.

 

Also, make sure the pump isn't touching the walls of the pump bay...I sometimes have to move them a bit when this happens.

 

And this should be obvious, but make sure it is fully submerged. They become increasingly noisy the more they are exposed to air. You probably already know this, but just throwing it out there.

 

Good call...sometimes it's the simple answer.

 

It is fully submerged and also not touching the walls at all, i'm going to take it out and try in a bucket to see if it still buzzes. If so I guess I'll just clean it and hope for the best. Are maxi-jet cheap powerheads or something?

 

Does anyone own the Eheim Compact 1000? If so, does it run quiet? I have a larger Eheim that I used when my 120g. was set up and I know it was very quiet. Anyone have experience with the compact? I'm thinking this maxi-jet is just going to be a decent PH for a different tank at this point, the buzzing is driving me crazy!

 

FWIW I use a Cobalt 600 to run one of my reactors. Every month or so it will get increasingly loud. I just take it out of the tank, take it apart, clean everything, put it back together, and it is nice and quiet again.

 

I used to use MJ's in our AIO's, but now I use the Sicce Syncra Silent series for our AIO's...great pumps, and super quiet. To be honest, I haven't pulled one yet for maintenance.