Fishtank Filter Help?

Question:I'm cleaning my fishtank and my filter is GROSS! I want to run in under some water and wash off all the nasty junk but its an electric powered motor and I don't want to ruin it by getting water in all the little electric bits. It's a TopFin filter (TopFin 10) that came with the tank and i could replace it but it still works fine so I'd rather not. Please let me know if there's a simple way to clean filters or if the motor is removable. Thanks!

Answers:
When you use replaceable filters it's better than conventional ones.

I have a 200 gallon aquarium and have about 12 dozen minnows in the tank.

The reason is simple.the bacteria algae that accumulates in the tank causes your filter to get slimy and dirty, but the minnows will help clean your tank, keep it rid of little bacteria algae and your filter will almost hardly never have to be cleaned as much.

I clean my filter once a monthy since I invited the new minnows to my tank.