Refurbishing old Penguin and Aquaclear filters

[Michael_1970]

Hello everyone my name is Mike. I'm just getting back into the hobby again . I'm in search of parts for older equipment and in particular magnetic impellers .I have two Marineland Bio-wheel 170 h.o.b. filters that I bought new a millennia ago and a couple of other filters such as an AquaClear 200 and an really old AquaClear Jr all of which need parts.
The magnet motors and cases are in perfect shape and can still be used but I'm having a hard time with trying to find replacement impellers for the Bio wheels and ceramic shafts for the Aqua clear filters .
I contacted both Marineland and Hagen and soon realized that they're both brands are owned by a huge conglomerate called "Spectrum brands" .
I asked them if they had a replacement for these and if they didn't have the original part number , could they point me in the right direction of a suitable replacement under a different part number since many of these companies used the same impellers as each other .
I got the standard response such as "we no longer carry that model" , which I already knew and stated that in my letter.They also suggested to search online for the parts .So in other words no help at all . I was able to get more life out of my biowheel by using an impeller from an older powerhead made by Tetra brand that used the same impeller

I realize that most people would tell me to just get a new filter and toss the other ones in the trash but all they need are impellers .I hate to toss something that's still usable in the garbage .We already have a huge problem with all the endless waste and pollution on this planet and I'm trying to do my part to minimize it and rebuild things if possible . Unfortunately in some cases I've been seeing people charging ridiculous sums for old brittle partsand in some cases in excess of what it would cost me to buy a new filter .
Sorry for the rant..lol
In any case if anyone else can help me with finding these parts or is interested in donating or selling any usable spares for a reasonable price I'd really appreciate it .
The original part number of the Penguin170 is PR1258 which fits both the 170,170b and the 200 models.
Sorry for the long winded post but I haven't had much luck with tracking these parts down .

 

[DMD123]

Its commendable you want to reuse the equipment you have! The challenge is finding the info. Likely there was not a huge change and a newer part will fit in but not very many places carry those parts on hand. I know Wet Spot in Portland carries a ton of parts like this but not sure who else would have parts like this.

 

[lloyd378]

I just actually gave away an older penguin filter to a gentlemen who bought a tank from me......if I still have his number, I’ll ask.

I’ll also check under my 75 in the garage tomorrow to see as I used to have a bucket of misc filter parts but I believe I truly only saved the AC 110 parts.

 

[lloyd378]

Check this out on ebay... it was forsale tonight at 9:50pm

 

[Michael_1970]

I just actually gave away an older penguin filter to a gentlemen who bought a tank from me......if I still have his number, I’ll ask.

I’ll also check under my 75 in the garage tomorrow to see as I used to have a bucket of misc filter parts but I believe I truly only saved the AC 110 parts.

Thank you for doing that ,I really appreciate it .

 

[sir_keith]

...Check this out on ebay... it was forsale tonight at 9:50pm...

That's amazing. I've used eBay in the past to find NOS parts for old cars, but it never occurred to me that you might be able to do this for aquarium equipment as well.

 

[Michael_1970]

Its commendable you want to reuse the equipment you have! The challenge is finding the info. Likely there was not a huge change and a newer part will fit in but not very many places carry those parts on hand. I know Wet Spot in Portland carries a ton of parts like this but not sure who else would have parts like this.

Hi there and thank you for the suggestion and the quick response .
Just trying to do my part to keep junk out of the landfills but unfortunately sometimes you have no choice . While researching the part for the AquaClear I was reminded of why those impellers went bad , and why I changed over to the Penguin 170 when they were new . Besides the plastic being brittle ,the impellers have no upper anchoring for the shaft and would often get worn down unless they were aligned perfectly . Finding a replacement shaft for under $30 has been a challenge .In the past I would have just went to Clark feed n seed in Bellingham because they usually carried older stock but sadly the store burned down awhile ago
Forgot to mention this but I also have a Magnum 330 that finally died .I used it as a full-time filter for my fresh and saltwater tanks for a long time and never had to do anything besides oil the motor from time to time .Never had to replace anything on it but alas after decades of reliable service the motor finally gave out after we had a power outage. I had a mag 350 as well but it didn't last nearly as long as the 330 .

 

[Betty]

Can't remember if I gave them all away or not, but I might have some of those old filters that I can look through and see if I can find what you need if you still haven't located replacement parts yet?