Penguin 660R Powerheads: Vibration, Noise, Poor Fit & Design (?)

[Zebulon]

Two new Pengiun 660R powerheads arrived this last week to go RUGF! Should be a 'yay' moment, but now I feel like I may have made a poor brand/model decision. Penguin = poor quality???

I set em up in a bucket to flush/test them. Even after purged and running for hours the verdict was they were truely loud (humming noise) and making substantial vibration. I tried reseating the impeller on the louder of the two and after a few tries i got it to calm down to the level of the quieter one (I say this in relative terms, they are both easily the loudest pieces of equipment I own now). So, yeah...

Why is there such variation in the position of the impellor, yet no way to adjust? Is the impellor even factory-balanced at all?? Is the shaft of incorrect length (too short)? I say that because there is so much variation in the seating of the impellor. After reseating three times I got three different results. Loud rattling noise, intense vibration, and then finally a 'relatively quiet' middleground. Is it always going to be this wonky? I don't know how to begin with my frustration over not knowing if it's in the proper position now, or ever.

Break-in period? If they are going to get somewhat quieter in the short term, how much more quiet and when? How about the vibration it causes? Will these things ever actually calm down to the very very low vibration of an inexpensive HOB filter? Can I mod the impellor, or use an aftermarket impellor/housing, do anything to reduce vibration or accelerate the break-in?

Lastly, the caveat. I'm used to hob filters and canisters. These are my first powerheads and I hope I "just don't know what I'm talking about", and "everything is going to be perfect and grand" just as soon as an awesome person posts a reply. I'm eager to put the R into UGF.

- Zeb "two in the bucket"
Ora et Labora

 

[Zebulon]

More failings to document, although these don't seem actionable for the user. But for full disclosure it should be noted that my experience included the following additional complaints about the 660R powerhead kit.

The standard 660 impellor housing does not fit tightly and the resultant gap blows water. The reverse-flow kit is poorly designed in several ways. The elbow which directs the output downwards to a flare for the ugf lift tube, is poorly engineered. It interferes with the venturi cap if pressed on too far and fails to fit tightly if not pressed on enough. The fit is delicate and unrefined. The flare on the elbow is also oversized and fits too loosely on the ugf lift tube. The filter cage adaptor fits very loosely onto the inlet tube, and would be easily dilodged by a fish causing an immediate risk. In my searching of these forums prior to my purchase I never heard anyone say these things so I figured I should.

 

[DAVIDFBT]

Try setting everything in under water. open the powerhead up in the aquarium you want it in and set it up underwater. This should take out any bubbles that make the powerhead loud. I have a Penguin 550 and it is by far the quietest piece of equipment in the tank.

 

[Sploke]

Weird, I own probably 4-6 penguin powerheads and have been very happy with all of them, used in both RFUG and stand-alone applications.

 

[Rbishop]

I have 22 of them, and they all work like a champ, without any issues, now or ever.

It is a powerhead for an aquarium, why would you expect it to be "balanced"?

You may not have found anything on a search, since there are no issues..?

 

[Zebulon]

I'm sure that I'm getting all the air out, for that part of it. Follow this up with the fact that I've never owned one and the loudest thing in my big tank by far was the bubble strip. If the vibration and hum is something my fish can get used to, and stop freaking out about, then that's good. I think both the fish and I are used to a very quiet tank.

Those of you who use and love these powerheads, if you put your hand on your tank do you feel a strong vibration? For those of you who use the reverse flow penguin kit, i think its similar for all models, do you get a strong attachment between the filter cage and the inlet tube? Mine are too loose for me to feel comfortable with. I'm considering to further shorten my lift tubes so that the filter is pressed onto the substrate, but that seems like an odd solution.

I am not trying to slander penguin, I was just really surprised after seeing so many people using these exact products, that they failed to live up to my expectations. My obviously inflated expectations, sure.

Compare that to my recently installed pair of eheim 2217 canisters which are every bit as wonderful as anyone has ever mentioned. They are absolutely silent, incredibly easy to seal and prime and seem totally bulletproof. I couldn't be happier with that portion of my filtration upgrade.

Nobody mentioned a break-in period, is there such a thing or will these continue to hum and vibrate forever? Or do I need to take them apart and reseat the impellor more times until I luck out? It is not air in the powerhead, that is one thing I'm pretty sure I'm doing right. I find it hard to believe that I got two unusually noisy powerheads at once, so they must be operating normally and within the standard?

 

[Rbishop]

Are the suction ends and sponges completely under water?

 

[legendaryfrog]

My first penguin was pretty loud too, I remember. After a couple days it quieted down.

 

[Zebulon]

Are the suction ends and sponges completely under water?

The units are completely submerged. I work the air out before starting them and have tried the underwater-assembly method, same effect. Droning hummmmmmmmm and vibration in the glass, fish freak out.

I'm thinking more and more that powerhead users and their fish are used to the hum/vibration while I and mine are not. I'm just not sure if i want to add the stress of constant noise to their lives. Even though they are just fishies.

I'm sure most of you have had to work in an place with a loud ac unit in it or somesuch, and when lunch came and you walked outside, there was this huge sense of relief in the relative silence. I had a noisy PC once that gave me the same sensation when i'd shut it off after a long night of computing. You get this "ahhhhhhhhhhh" feeling, where you didn't even realize how totally terrible the noise was making you feel until it finally shut off. Then lunch is over and you go back in and sit down and there's the drone, making you want to go crazy. Well, more crazy.

My fish are super-sentient beings (probably aliens), that spend their waking hours thinking about such things, and then telepathically goading me into posting about it on a public forum. That's my excuse. I'm a slave to the comfort of my fish via their insidious barrage of mind control tactics.

Oops, I'm getting something... sinking wafers? Yes, my masters, your bidding is my command.

Gotta go.

 

[Derringer]

I set em up in a bucket to flush/test them. Even after purged and running for hours the verdict was they were truely loud (humming noise) and making substantial vibration.

I just put in 4 of these in my new 150 last month ... I had one that was doing this and I tapped it and havent heard any more noise out of it. They are completely silent - I hear no hum or vibration from any of them.

I'm not too happy with them either - I figured 4 of them would keep the junk from under the plates, but they aren't doing the job. Right now I have them set pretty high on the tubes, I think I'm going to try and lower them in the tank and see if that helps any.