Vallisneria Posted April 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I took it apart again today and made sure everything was clean and put back together the way it should. Started it back up again and its still not running properly. I've tried rocking it back and forth and that doesn't help. Its not like there is just a air bubble in there. I've had that before. The water line can start out full but after a few seconds of running the water line drop about 1-2" below the top. Its weird. And it doesn't seem to be fixing itself as I've been waiting over 2 weeks and it hasn't so far. I"m going to try getting new gaskets and see if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigWater Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 To me it sounds like something is stuck in your in take hose. The pump is pushing out the same amount of water but not being able to recover enough from the intake to balance out the system. If your gaskets were gone you would see a leak as small as a drip would do it, but your no seeing that so i would say you are clogged up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 I just had the same problem after cleaning my FX5, turned out to be a loose clamp on the intake hose. I figured since I didn't see any leaks, the hoses were fine; but, that was definitely the probelm b/c once I redid the hose clamp, all was fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted April 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 Well I took it apart again tonight and got a little surprise. I found 16 baby plecos inside! They weren't there this morning but I noticed the intake cover was off so it must have fallen off some time today and the little guys swam up. It helped curb my hatred I was having towards this filter. I didn't even know my plecos were breeding! I guess My. Clean and Hoover have been getting busy under the driftwood when I wasn't looking. So I just finished taking it apart again as I got my dad to take a look for a second opinion. The hoses are clean, nothing blocking them. The seals are looking ok, no cracks, clean, nothing blocking them etc. The hoses seam to be sealed to the connector thingy ok but I'll try tightening them again later. I hooked it all back up and turned it on and the same thing happens. The water line is low and you can see the water flowing at the top 1-2". I rocked it back and forth a bunch and that didn't help, some air bubbles expelled but the water level didn't rise . The motor sounds like its running ok, not rattling or anything. The only noise is the trickling water noise. I ordered some new gaskets and I'll try tightening the hose connections again later. This is really puzzling. Something is obviously wrong I just have no clue what is causing it. I was hoping it was as simple as an air bubble, or a connection that wasn't sitting right but I've checked it 10+ times now and everything seems put together correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 one problem i had with my xp4 motor housing/hose assembly was a leak that caused the motor housing to fill with water. it wasn't due to the o rings, they are in perfect shape. i think it was something not connecting properly when i pushed the lever down on the hose assembly, and after taking a look, that area is really worn where everything lines up when the lever is pushed down. that might be an area where air is being introduced to the system on your xp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted April 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 one problem i had with my xp4 motor housing/hose assembly was a leak that caused the motor housing to fill with water. it wasn't due to the o rings, they are in perfect shape. i think it was something not connecting properly when i pushed the lever down on the hose assembly, and after taking a look, that area is really worn where everything lines up when the lever is pushed down. that might be an area where air is being introduced to the system on your xp? And how did you fix this? Is it a problem with the hose connector thing or the motor casing? I did notice once before that there was water inside the casing. I could hear it sloshing around when I shook it but couldn't figure out how it got in there and since the motor was still running ok I just left it. I don't know if there is water in there again, I didn't notice when I was checking the casing yesterday. I guess I'll have to take it apart again today :boxed: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 i didn't fix it at all, just crammed the xp2 media into the xp4 canister (already with media) and put the xp2 motor and hoses on and am running it that way for now. i know it's not a long term solution, but i can't afford to get a new xp4 motor housing right now and i'm downsizing tanks anyway, so some filter shuffling will happen soon. makes me a lil paranoid to only run one filter on the big boys' tank for now, but alas, it's what i have to do. take a good look at the little blue ridges beside/in where the hose assembly goes into the motor housing. do you see any wear or edges that look like they are damaged? that was an issue with mine, and i think it was the reason the lever would go down but water wouldn't flow through to prime the filter. the hose assembly was seated perfectly in the space, but the valve wasn't opening. not sure if it was the reason for the water leaking into the motor housing though, as the 'housing filling with water' problem was there for a long time before that. i also had the teensiest drip coming from the hose assembly when it was off the canister, had to put the hose assembly in a bin during filter maintenance. been that way since i got the xp4. never did determine exactly where the leak was on the hose assembly yet, and i'm paranoid to take the assembly apart to see, in case i don't get it back together right and it leaks worse! lol. the little leak may be part of the motor filling with water problem, but considering the motor would fill full up with water within a half hour of the filter running, i don't see that little (one drop per few minutes approx) leak letting that much water through in such a short time. i've read a few accounts of the motor housing filling with water on xp's, in addition to mine and yours. must be a common problem with this canister. my xp2 that i bought brand new has never had any issues at all (i'll knock on wood now!). the xp4 i bought used. have you tried lifting one of the clamps while the lever is down and the canister has water in it, with that little gap at the top? then close the lever once the water level is where you want it. this could create a better vacuum seal and the water may not drop down after. another thing too is if you have too much media in there, the motor might be working too hard to push water through it, and the air gap happens? try removing a bit of media maybe? last thing i can think of is the little black plug on the side of the motor housing (the part that goes inside the canister). i have them pushed all the way in on my canisters and never have an air gap problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted April 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 OK, I think I have figured it out a bit more. Thank you BFM as this seems to be the issue i'm having. I also emailed Rena and they said that its a issue with the hose disconnect. I took it apart again and really looked at the hose disconnect and motor housing.They look ok, no wear or anything broken but there was water inside the motor casing! Whenever I disconnect the hoses a bit of water comes out. I figured this was normal as its always done it. As soon as I lift the lever I can see water leak out and down into the holes around where the hoses connect to. I dont' know if the water is also leaking down into there while the filter is turned on. I didn't measure how much water dripped out of the motor casing but it was enough to make the towel under it quite wet. After playing with it for about 30mins I was finally about to get it working ok, no more trickling noise and the filter is almost working normally(still a little gap around that black button thing). I took off the hose O rings and put them back.The O rings look perfect so I don't think they are the issue. I also made sure the lever and disconnect was pushed down really really well. I cut my hoses a bit to make sure there wasn't any pressure on the connections. After all that the filter seems to be working better. I haven't checked if the motor casing is filled with water again but I will when I move it back to its original position next to the tank later today. I just want to keep it running for a while as it seems to be ok now and I dont' want to wreck it again. So my question is, is it normal to have a bit of water come out when disconnecting the hoses? I lift up the lever I already see a bit of water drip out. Then when i pull up on the disconnect I hear the siphon breaking and a bit more water comes out. Is this normal? The same thing happens with my XP2 so i figured it was normal but now that I notice there is water in the motor I'm thinking its not :grr: Also, why would the filter design have it so there is a gap in the motor casing right next to the hose disconnect? Is there a purpose to the gap? Wouldn't they think that water would drip down into there when you release the hoses? Thanks to everyone for trying to help. Still not 100% sure whats causing it, other then something isn't right with the disconnect but I seem to have restarted the filter ok for the time being. Now i'll just be terrified of doing anymore maintenance on it in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 you mean that little triangle shaped hole? i'm pretty sure part of the hose assembly (underside of the lever) goes into the triangle hole when you push the lever down. i used to get a bit of a water 'gush' when i pulled the hose assembly off too. i learned to give the hose assembly (after i'd pulled the lever up) a very slow and gentle nudge side to side, until it raised out a bit, and that seems to avoid the little water gush that happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted April 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 you mean that little triangle shaped hole? i'm pretty sure part of the hose assembly (underside of the lever) goes into the triangle hole when you push the lever down. No the gap I'm referring to is around the outside of the tube part. Why have a gap around the tubes when you aren't supposed to get water in there and it always gets wet when you take the hose connector off. You think they would design it so the casing is sealed off since you dont' want water accidentally getting inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Val, this might be a shot in the dark, but I had a similar problem with an old fluval 303. After tearing it apart more than a dozen times and checking everything,and getting ready to take it to the range for some target practice, I decided to take it apart one more time and run some air through the hoses. That was when I found that the rigid U tube for the intake had a hair line crack in it just outside of the tank and was sucking in air. Replaced the U tube and have'nt had a problem since, except that I have to give it a good b*#@h slap to get it going when I clean it. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 ...........except that I have to give it a good b*#@h slap to get it going when I clean it. Hope this helps. bahahahahahaha!!!!!! too funny! Val, now i know what you are talking about (the holes). yeah, Rena missed the ball on that lil design flaw! lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted April 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 I am so annoyed with this XP3. :cuss: It was fine for a day but now its making the trickle noise again, and the water level is back 1" below where it should be. Also the motor casing is still filling up with water so there is obviously something not fitting right with the disconnector. I really don't want to spend any money getting replacement parts since I'm not 100% on the problem. Would I replace the motor casing or the disconnect? No idea and the replacement parts are expensive. So now I think I just want to replace the whole filter as I dont' want to keep dealing with these issues. I"m cautiously thinking about getting another cannister since its my planted tank and I think a HOB would off gas too much CO2. So what are people's thoughts on Ehiem cannisters? Specifically the Eheim Pro 3 2071 or the Eheim ECCOs. Do they have any issues similar to the Rena XPs with leaking or connection issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 can't say i know eheims at all. the only canisters i have experience with are the rena xp's and one old fluval 302 i had to fight with on a friend's tank once. nearly tossed that ol' fluval out the window! lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Eheims are great, but their flow rate is lower - you may need to add a small powerhead in your planted tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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