Fx5 Lost Flow......!

[mattlee]

ive had my fx5 set up for about a month and all has been good until last week. ive had the in flow open fullt and the out flow open about 3/4 as i have discus in the tank. the out flow nozzles have been pointing against the back of the tank and the other into the front corner both are angled up to create surface movement. i did a water change last week and turned the out flow down to stop water spitting out the tank and to prevent my plants taking a bashing from the waterfall made when the water was low.

since then the filter has lost its power.... its now open fully on both taps and the flow isnt anywhere near as much as when i had it on 3/4! so today i took the media out expecting it to be clogged up but to be honest there wasnt much mess in there at all i emptied the canister of water and rinsed the sponges etc put it back together and its no better.....

can anyone help me with this problem?

has this happened to anyone else?

the filter was bought brand new so still under warrenty. the only thing i didnt do was check the impellor but if the canister was clean then i cant imagine the impellor being gunked up.....

 

[OldMan47]

I have never owned a FX5 but lets try some standard questions based on pump theory.
Did you notice the filter pump impeller being quite warm when you took things apart?
How low did you throttle the outlet flow when you had the tank partly drained?
Have you tried simply unplugging the filter from power for a minute or two then restarting it to allow any re-priming to take place?
Have you checked the tubing on both the inlet and the return to make sure you don't have some spot blocked in the tubing?
There is no magic to this, it is simply a few checks I would make before focusing on the particular brand and model filter that I have. Any of these questions may possibly give you a hint about what is wrong.

 

[jacko32]

strange have you checked inside the taps for any blockages there not had mine running a month yet so no problems to report

 

[forby3]

You don't have any loops in the pipework do you as the same thing happens to me then noticed there was a loop in the out pipe so untwisted it cut off the spare pipe that wasn't needed and presto back to full power

 

[mattlee]

I have never owned a FX5 but lets try some standard questions based on pump theory.
Did you notice the filter pump impeller being quite warm when you took things apart?i didnt notice anything strange but the impellor is built into the bottom so i didnt really touch it
How low did you throttle the outlet flow when you had the tank partly drained?half an hour max
Have you tried simply unplugging the filter from power for a minute or two then restarting it to allow any re-priming to take place?yes tried this and it didnt make any difference....
Have you checked the tubing on both the inlet and the return to make sure you don't have some spot blocked in the tubing?yeah checked the pipes and no blockages, they are really wide pipes too so they would take something big to block it
There is no magic to this, it is simply a few checks I would make before focusing on the particular brand and model filter that I have. Any of these questions may possibly give you a hint about what is wrong.

it seems like there maybe air getting itno it..... i can hear what i think is trapped air as its running. its supposed to turn itself off every 24hrs for a couple of minutes to release any trapped air though

 

[mattlee]

You don't have any loops in the pipework do you as the same thing happens to me then noticed there was a loop in the out pipe so untwisted it cut off the spare pipe that wasn't needed and presto back to full power

no loops mate just straight out the lid and into the tank.....

 

[OldMan47]

Becoming air bound will definitely slow things down. It sounds like it is time to check the seals around the inlet side of the filter. In most filters that includes the joint where the pumping head fits onto the main casing, the inlet hose, the solid part that fits into the inlet hose from the tank, the taps on the inlet side etc. Any of them causing air to leak into the filter, even a little bit, will quickly ruin the pumping performance of your filter's impeller.

 

[mattlee]

ok ill check everything over again

 

[IAmATeaf]

Try rocking it gently side to side to see if releases any trapped air.

I always turn off my filter when doing a water change rather then slowing the flow down. I also recall a post here where the order of the media caused flow problems, I assume the media is in the same place as before?

 

[mattlee]

i completely stripped the fx5 apart today checked every seal, every pipe, every valve etc etc. i emptied all the baskets and in the bottom of one was a thin filter pad that i had forgot was there... it was so clogged up so i washed it out and rebuilt the filter and all is well again...

i cant believe that the filter pad can get so clogged up after 3/4 weeks ive never had this issue in any other filter ive owned and i feel slightly embarrased that thats all it was and that i forgot it was even in there

so unless you are willing to strip your fx5 apart every 3 weeks to clean any filter pads then leave them out.... a lesson has been learnt!

 

[OldMan47]

A fine filter pad does not belong on the bottom of any basket if the filter flows from bottom to top as most do. Instead a fine filter pad should be the last thing in the filter flow path. Located there, it will not get dirty as fast and the filter will still be able to remove the very smallest particles from the water.

 

[jacko32]

A fine filter pad does not belong on the bottom of any basket if the filter flows from bottom to top as most do. Instead a fine filter pad should be the last thing in the filter flow path. Located there, it will not get dirty as fast and the filter will still be able to remove the very smallest particles from the water.

strange one yeah but it does say in the instructions that it goes in the bottom i only have media in my top basket (pre filter media) and in the bottom basket (bio max media) the middle basket is empty at the moment not really sure what to put in it

 

[always4lora]

Check the manual again on page 15 :
http/www.hagen.com/pdf/aquatic/FX5_user_manual_EN.pdf

Polishing Pad (Top or Middle Media Baskets)


If you follow the intake in the filter you'll notice a long tube going to the bottom, the water go's down here and then get pump through the media and come out of the top.

As for the amount of time they last i've changed mine a couple of times in over a year.

 

[mattlee]

A fine filter pad does not belong on the bottom of any basket if the filter flows from bottom to top as most do. Instead a fine filter pad should be the last thing in the filter flow path. Located there, it will not get dirty as fast and the filter will still be able to remove the very smallest particles from the water.

it was in the bottom of the top basket but the fx5 doesnt work bottom to top its reverse i think.....

 

[OldMan47]

Since I have never had an FX5, I must believe you on the water flow path. That would mean that the polishing pad would be at the bottom of the bottom basket. It seems that Always4lora believes the flow path is completely opposite to what you are thinking. Please check again before deciding where to place the polishing pad. In any case, it should be the last thing in the filter's flow path, whatever that may be. Your filter manual should tell you exactly what the flow path is for your filter.