Low Flow From Fx5 Filter

[Mr Spoon]

Hi, I've got a problem with my FLUVAL fx5 filter, the flow is less than half of what it usually is, I've give it a good clean and it's not much better, has anyone had this problem and how did you get it sorted?

 

[whitmore1119]

Hi, I've got a problem with my FLUVAL fx5 filter, the flow is less than half of what it usually is, I've give it a good clean and it's not much better, has anyone had this problem and how did you get it sorted?

whats the condition of the impeller? have you cleaned the stem that goes through it? is it making as unusual noises?

 

[Mr Spoon]

Hi, I've got a problem with my FLUVAL fx5 filter, the flow is less than half of what it usually is, I've give it a good clean and it's not much better, has anyone had this problem and how did you get it sorted?

whats the condition of the impeller? have you cleaned the stem that goes through it? is it making as unusual noises?

I don't know as I've never taken the impeller out, btw the filter is just over a year old,. when you say stem do you mean where the impeller sits, it is making a bit of a humming sound,

 

[whitmore1119]

im not 100% sure but i should imagine its roughly the same as my tetratec. where the impeller sits there is a plastic like screw/clip bit that holds it in give it a twist to open it then you should be able to remove impeller be careful not to lose the rubber bits on each end of the stem. by stem i mean the metal rod that the impeller sits on, this goes through the impeller then has a rubber bung on each end. if it aint been touch in a year it could just be wrapped in crap causing it not to spin as freely as it should. ill try find a pic to explain myself better

 

[Mr Spoon]

I'm going to take it apart now to see what's going on, hopefully it is just dirty

 

[whitmore1119]

I'm going to take it apart now to see what's going on, hopefully it is just dirty

i think the way you take your impeller out is different to mine but you should def be able to take it out 1 way or another,

 

[Mr Spoon]

I got the impeller out and it was very dirty, there was a big lump of dirt in the front of the impeller and inside that lump was 2 pieces of ceramic filter media

so the 2 pieces must have caused the dirt to gather round it until it got clogged. Amazingly the impeller looks undamaged, I'm just putting it back together now, I've put a sponge corse pad under the ceramic to try stop it happening again.

 

[whitmore1119]

I got the impeller out and it was very dirty, there was a big lump of dirt in the front of the impeller and inside that lump was 2 pieces of ceramic filter media

so the 2 pieces must have caused the dirt to gather round it until it got clogged. Amazingly the impeller looks undamaged, I'm just putting it back together now, I've put a sponge corse pad under the ceramic to try stop it happening again.

before you put it back and try it. check the magnetic edge of the impeller i had 1 once it had the tiniest chip and it was causing it to go of balance when plugged it which made a funny knocking noise when i put it all back together and had water running through it. the only way i was able to fix it was replacing the impeller. Let me no how it all goes

 

[Mr Spoon]

Thanks Wihitmore, the magnetic edge looks fine, luckily the media was wedged in the plastic part of the impeller and not in the impeller well, it's all back to together and got good flow

I feel very relieved, I wasnt expecting media in the impeller! Time to chill, I need a nice cup of tea now

 

[whitmore1119]

Thanks Wihitmore, the magnetic edge looks fine, luckily the media was wedged in the plastic part of the impeller and not in the impeller well, it's all back to together and got good flow

I feel very relieved, I wasnt expecting media in the impeller! Time to chill, I need a nice cup of tea now

Not a problem it is unusual for the ceramic to get in the impeller never heard it happen before normally its jus built up with crap

 

[Mr Spoon]

Thanks Wihitmore, the magnetic edge looks fine, luckily the media was wedged in the plastic part of the impeller and not in the impeller well, it's all back to together and got good flow

I feel very relieved, I wasnt expecting media in the impeller! Time to chill, I need a nice cup of tea now

Not a problem it is unusual for the ceramic to get in the impeller never heard it happen before normally its jus built up with crap

Me neither, the holes in the media basket are smaller than the media so i'm thinking maybe I wasn't careful enough when cleaning, the motor/impeller on the fx5 is at the bottom so I may have dropped a bit in the button and it got sucked up into the impeller. Lesson learnt, I'll be extra careful in future.