fx5 possiblity-anyone any opinions on it?

[CWO4GUNNER]

:goldfish: well ive got my fx5, its 2nd hand, but it made it affordable after the car failed its mot the first time :irked: but ye it works well, its a bit noisy but its not as bad as the rena was, and so far its seeming to do a great job. im happy so are the fish i think :goldfish:

If its used and noisy get that manual so you can lean to access and clean the pump impeller and impeller housing which mat have sand grit and slime in there. The FX5 should not be making any noticeable noise. In fact at every cleaning (3-6 months for me) you should power how water wash every part of that filter including all the passages, valves and hoses, pump removing all the slime,grit and sand. Then Vaseline all moving parts ( impeller, valve gates, and seven O-rings) and you will never have noise and leak issues.

 

[kelly82]

wow, thanks for that, im planning on a gravel vac and pwc tonight when hubby gets in, possibly, if he ever gets in! i will see whats what and go in for a clean, i was surprised it was so noisy to be honest, it sounds a bit rattly in the pump part. when i switched it on (did it in a clean sink of water) it kicked out a hell of a lot of debris, loads of black/brown mess. i kept running it with clean water running through it until the water came out clear.

 

[CWO4GUNNER]

Just make sure you never get any untreated facet water on your reusable media, use old clean aquarium water (usually what inside the canister) or treated water.

But all the hardware from basket to pump wash out thoroughly. Be careful when you remove the pump screws not to over tighten them just barley snug as the O-ring does all the water sealing. Same for the canister lid lug screws only hand barely snug evenly in a crisscross pattern. Never force the auto stop valves on and off if tight add a dab of Vaseline with a q-tip from the inside onto the gate will make them much more easy to turn, but if stuck always use a rocking pressure motion back and forth until it brakes loose never forcing in one direction until it snaps in two.

 

[mott]

If you hear rattling clean the impeller and housing as clean as you can get it like gunner said. I had a used Eheim that was rattling pretty bad what no way my Eheim was noisy!!! I then cleaned the impeller and housing and the noise was gone.

 

[Fresh250]

i love my fx-5 and as gunner stated above, with proper preventative maintenance there should be no noise pollution at all

 

[kelly82]

i think i know what the rattling is, but im not 100%, ive taken it apart and the flange is moving up and down about 1/4 inch on the spindle between the white part and the magnet, is this normal :huh: the whole magnet, impellor etc and the housing is clean already. please help asap as i have my filter in pieces :irked:

 

[CWO4GUNNER]

As a general rule on any motor and I have seen allot of them damaged. Damaged ware and tear will occur side to side on the impeller shaft, impeller hole, and magnet making contact with the walls of the housing. In other words of you see gouges then there is probubly a loss of clearance side to side that may have occurred prematurely due to sand contamination that was allowed to grind away tolerance. Hopefully the ware and tear is on replaceable parts and a simple rebuilt kit comprised of a Impeller, magnet, and shaft will make things like new.

Sometimes as has been the case with me a simple cleaning and a coat of Vaseline will quiet things down and will actually make less noise over time as the gouges caused by sand smooth out, however this is the exception rather then the rule and I would buy a rebuild kit regardless, running the pump as is for now. By the time the parts get to you if it becomes silent replace with new parts and save the old as spare parts.

Who ever sold it probubly sold it for this reason and never repaired the damage they caused. Unfortunatly the parts are not cheap but then again they last forever if taken care of i.e. cleaned out if sand enters and not allowed to cause damage over days and weeks. Some people are lazy and don't thoroughly clean out their canister upside down with hot water spray. They just replace media nd keep running it. Like my daddy told me, son you have to take care of your machines.
http://www.theaquaticdepot.com/r-fluval-fx5--magnetic-impeller-assembly-.html