Fluval Fx5 Faulty Motor

[michaelwgroves]

Looking at other recent FX5 threads, this appears to be a bad time to admit my FX5 has problems, especially as I had been championing the FX5 previously on the forum!
Anyway here goes........

I purchased a Fluval FX5 18 months ago.
I am generally happy with my filter although I have noticed over time that the flow rate is slowly reducing.
I first noticed this after 6 months, but put this down to my recollection rather than reduced flow rate.
However, after recent months it does indeed appear that the filter flow rate is reducing.
I remember on day one my FX5 could squirt water about 8” across the surface of my tank, after about 6 months this had reduced to about 6”.
After 9 months this was down to 5”
Finally at Christmas it was barely squirting out any water. I gave the propeller a good clean and this has allowed the FX5 to squirt water up to 2” but this is far from what I was getting when it was new.

I think I am very good at filter maintenance and I clean my filter every week without fail. I clean the propeller about every 6 weeks.
My tank is a 900 litre planted tropical tank, which has always been under stocked as I have favoured plants.
I am currently running the filter on only two baskets half full with biological filtration and a blue filter, which is cleaned weekly and replaced every 3 – 4 weeks.

Has anyone else suffered with reducing flow rate, what's the warranty on these?

 

[T1KARMANN]

im not saying nothing

18 months thats longer than i thought it would last going on fluwhos track record

 

[andywg]

im not saying nothing

18 months thats longer than i thought it would last going on fluwhos track record

That's a bit harsh. My fluvals always lasted about 2 years before failing hard.

And now I can't help but post this regarding Fluval and cannisters...

 

[jgray152]

3 year warrenty

 

[Bastables]

do you clean out the pipes? I mean there's two points of fault with lower flowrates, 1. the canister/media or input/outputs are dirty meaning less water can travel through. Or the motor and or impler is spinning less due to wear and tear. I don't know if you can recollect but does it sound quieter or louder?

Are you able to post pictures or videos?

 

[MojoDex]

oh i cant wait for the fx5 boys to defend this sorry but it will make me laugh!!

 

[Luketendo]

My 104 has been fine for a couple of years.

 

[jgray152]

oh i cant wait for the fx5 boys to defend this sorry but it will make me laugh!!

What have I said about people only coming on here when they have a question or issue in the other thread? Out of the thousands that have been sold.

It doesn't sound like a faulty motor to me although motors can fail in different ways.

To the OP. Clean out the pipes, valves and inner tubes also the small whole in the bottom center of the filter housing which is the intake.

For another test, remove the media and baskets, hook the filter back up and see if the flow has increased drastically.

Also what are you running for media?

 

[michaelwgroves]

I knew you Ehiem boys would jump on the bandwagen, and maybe you might be right. But if I made the choice again, I would still buy an FX5. The only thing I might do differently is buy two with the money I would save if I would have bought the ehiem!

Anyway, I got home last night and my pump had completely given up..........
I cleaned the propeller, although it was already very clean from when I cleaned it three weeks ago.
I have removed all the media and filters from the filter so it is now running bear.
I have a bleed valve on the outlet to expel any air on installation.

The filter is running again, although at most it can squirt water only 2” across the surface of my water. This is also sporadic as the propeller obviously increases and decreases in speed.
I’m, sure if I put my media back in it would stop again.

I have definitely seen a reduction in performance over the last 18 months, how far can your FX5's squirt water ?
I've put a call in with Hagen Customer Service, I'll let you know what they come back with.
3 year warrenty sounds good.

 

[T1KARMANN]

no jokes hear its never nice when a filter packs up i hope you get it sorted soon

 

[michaelwgroves]

Got a responce from the Hagen Customer Service, they can sell me a new motor for £94.49 + P&P.
Luckily it is still under warrently so they suggested I take it back to my LFS for a warrenty replacement.
Lets hope he's got one in stock as I'm pulling it out tonight.
Going to use my Eheim out of my quarantine tank in the interim just to push some water around.

 

[T1KARMANN]

the only problem you will have is you will need to cycle the new filter even if they let you keep your old media it will still be dead by the morning

i think you should put the media and sponges in a bucket of tank water and put a air pump in to keep the media alive

we all know how long the fx5 takes to cycle

 

[HODDY]

i got a second hand fluval filter about 5-6 years ago and its still going very strong! cant believe it lmao.

 

[jgray152]

we all know how long the fx5 takes to cycle

Not as long as your making it out to be. It depends on the stocking setup you have.

 

[T1KARMANN]

ooops sorry didnt mean to say anything to touch a never it just takes the fx5 longer to mature than other filter so its not best to have to cycle it again

please leave that qoute button alone