kukayla Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 A friend of mine was getting out of the hobby and he gave me his XP3 a couple months ago. He cleaned the canister out really well. He also gave me new media and new tubing. I hooked everything up today and I got no flow at all. It was working before he took it out. It primed fine, water all the way to the top. No air vacuum, no leaks. No sharp bend in the tubes. I plugged it in and it makes the same noise as my Rena XPS. The propeller well is clean, so are the 2 channels. The propeller spins okay. It doesn't spin 'freely' though, because of the magnet. It will do a 360 degree spin, then stop. Is this normal? Any help/suggestions are appreciated. I am really stumped here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geleen Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 They can be a pain to prime Try this; open the valve to the top position let all the pressure off by lifting the valve off the filter body slightly, leave the handle up. Now pour 2 glasses of water into the fill tube. Replace the cap. Reset the valve into the header and wait a minute or 2. restart....should work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kukayla Posted August 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 They can be a pain to prime Try this; open the valve to the top position let all the pressure off by lifting the valve off the filter body slightly, leave the handle up. Now pour 2 glasses of water into the fill tube. Replace the cap. Reset the valve into the header and wait a minute or 2. restart....should work. Still nothing. At this point I am not sure if it's not priming right or if its a propeller issue. I plugged the motor in by itself with the propeller cover off and the propeller did spin, albeit roughly, probably due to no water lubrication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 The only "Sure Fire" way I've found to get them going when they won't start is to acutally suck on the output side while its on... since it's freshly cleaned, it shouldn't tast TOO bad :boxed: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geleen Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 (edited) I often get pissed by my third try but I get it going eventually. Jason's way also works.........not my first choice😱 Edited August 25, 2014 by geleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kukayla Posted August 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Lol I just put in some ferts yesterday. No pain no gain right? Will report back after Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kukayla Posted August 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Didn't taste that bad , but didn't work either :cry: . The water level is stuck about 4-5 inches below the U bend on the outlet side (image below). If I turn the canister on the water level inside the tube will fluctuate about an inch up and down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Make sure the cap on the intake is TIGHT. If it isn't then it'll never prime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blink Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Bring up the water level in your tank, my Rena has the same problem if I lower the water level more than a couple inches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geleen Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 Bring up the water level in your tank, my Rena has the same problem if I lower the water level more than a couple inches. Yup that will do it. Great catch B. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kukayla Posted August 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 I have tried all the suggestions and still no luck. -All the connections are good -Tank is full -I tried siphoned it out through the outlet tube but there was no flow after -Cap is super tight on the intake side. I have took every out, emptied all the water, and reprimed 10 or so times. Every time the water level remained at the same spot. Could this be a failed gasket? Could it be the propeller? How do I determine if propeller is still good? The water inside the canister is full after I prime it. Zero leaks from canister as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoopkamol Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 have an air gap somewhere is my guess...i pinhole will break suction. i just love canisters for priming issues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 if there is an air leak perhaps give this a try at least it will 100% rule something out grab all the hoses leaving on as much of the connections as you can tape up both ends to create a solid tube and dunk in your tub if nothing bubbles open one end and blow as it might need a bit of force if there was indeed an air leak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoopkamol Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 could also try variation to J. blow on output side until you can see water moving up the intake hose have someone else plug it in as you suck till water is ALMOST at your mouth then pray to the evil canister gods to work. OR if that fails build an pvc diy overflow and add a sump and pump gotta love/hate canisters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aho1 Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 What I've done in the past if you didn't want to suck on the outlet is just take the out, make sure the hoses are full of water, plug the out with your thumb and release it into a bucket below the tank. Then when you got water flow put it back up. And from reading your post maybe you forgot to put back in the little ceramic rod or axle that holds the impellor in place. Should be only about 2 - 3 inches long and a little bit thicker than a toothpick. I had an eheim with the same problem in the past. The impellor would spin then stop like it got stuck. Once I put the rod in it would keep spinning no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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