FLUVAL 405 CANISTER FILTER

[boomerbob]

HI

BEEN DOING AFRICANS FOR YEARS . RUNNING FLUVAL 405 ON 72 GAL TANK . ABOUT A MONTH AGO I SEEN THAT IF I DID NOT

CLOSE VALVE ON TOP OF CANISTER BEFORE TURNING OFF TO CLEAN TANK THE STUPID THING WOULD LEAK LIKE CRAZE , NEVER

HAD THIS PROBLEM BEFORE . HAS ANYONE HAD THIS PROBLEM BEFORE . IT IS NOT THE O-RING OR SEAT AREA . COMES OUT

BY LID CLAMPS . THANKS

[Tanker]

"BY LID CLAMPS" >> so between where the lid attaches to the canister itself? First guess would be the Oring, but you say no.. so is there maybe a fine crack in the plastic? Sounds like you may need to spend some time with this thing sitting in a bucket and examine the heck out of it until you see exactly where it's coming from. O rings are notorious for flattening out, so maybe this one really is past it's prime.

And why are you shouting? It hurts my ears.

[byte]

When you have everything apart... make sure to clean all the surfaces, even under the O-ring. Never install an O-ring dry, always lube the O-ring with what ever it seals... in this case use water to lube the O-ring before re-assembling. I use a large rubber maid container that will fit under my stand to set my external filters in to catch all those little spills and leaks. Good luck!

[boomerbob]

I did check all o-rings and surfaces but cant find the problem , had unit less than 1 year , someone at LFS said they had heard others had same leak issue .

I have been using silicon lube or petroleum jelly as an assemby lube and never have had this problem before , my son has same 405 as me and has never

had a leak . thanks guys

[Tanker]

If it is less than a year old, it's under warranty. If you still have your bill of sale, you could call Hagen and see what they say. Chances are if there are other's with trouble, they've heard about it, by now.

[trixie]

There is very little pressure when it is running but when the power is turned off there is about 2LB.

Take the oring off and clean ,dry it lub with water only.

new 5.oo$

Edited May 11, 2008 by trixie

[frontosas]

HI

BEEN DOING AFRICANS FOR YEARS . RUNNING FLUVAL 405 ON 72 GAL TANK . ABOUT A MONTH AGO I SEEN THAT IF I DID NOT

CLOSE VALVE ON TOP OF CANISTER BEFORE TURNING OFF TO CLEAN TANK THE STUPID THING WOULD LEAK LIKE CRAZE , NEVER

HAD THIS PROBLEM BEFORE . HAS ANYONE HAD THIS PROBLEM BEFORE . IT IS NOT THE O-RING OR SEAT AREA . COMES OUT

BY LID CLAMPS . THANKS

I have been told by a couple of fish stores that is common on those models as I have one that does the same thing.... I use Vasiline on the O Ring and it seems to seal it.... If I had my reciept I would return mine aswell...

[boomerbob]

Thanks for all the input to this problem . I work in oil and gas industry and checked on o-ring material .

black is usually called butalene , it is a good all purpose o-ring , found out that you can also use silicon ( RED )

o-rings as they stay soft longer . Anyways I did not want to take a chance with a catastrophic water leak so I

ordred a new fluval 405 on line , got it yesterday and hooked it up. I took the old one apart completely and

checked out the whole area inside the lid , can't find a thing wrong , so im going to assume it is cracked and

call manufacture to see abuot the warrenty. again thank you for all your feedback

Boomer

[BooUrns!]

It's probably not cracked. This is one of the most common leakage problems with the x04/x05 series fluval canisters. The detritus that builds up inside the filter and in the lines usually accumulates at the edge of the o-ring aswell. When you take it apart this material usually gets dislodged and creates a fine gap when the oring is compressed. Because the residue is the same colour as the canister plastic, it's very difficult to spot. You'll have to take the filter apart and carefully examine the groove on the motor head where the oring is seated to find any material caught in there. Check the canister body for similar buildup.

I've had several x04 series with this problem.

It is possible that the motor head has become warped if the filter was allowed to run dry and overheat. The plastic deforms and the motor will no longer form a seal even with the o-ring in place. If you can't find any debris in the groove, send the filter in for RMA. The repair facility is in edmonton so it shouldn't take too long.

[boomerbob]

Thanks for the info I will take another look ay the o-ring area, but im sure that the water was leaking from the inside of the head as

while I had it hooked up I used a flash light and could see ( while the pump was running ) that the water was coming over the inside

top edge of the base section of the canister head. and when I took it apart the second time I made sure not to turn it upside down so

that if any water had leaked up near the motor itself it would still be in the area around the motor, and it was. I cleaned the the o-ring

groove and put a new o-ring in the groove I then recleaned and rechecked the area inside the canister itself. Hooked it backup and

waited , well while it was running it did'nt leak but as soon as i turned it off and let it sit for a few miniutes it began to leak again.

Anyway's thanks for the help very much appreceated. Ill keep an eye on the new one to make sure that area is kept nice and clean.