Introduction & issue with Fluval FX6

[Graeme 1]

Hi all, new to the forums but have kept fish for years, have had various fish over the years, had a koi pond at my old house (oh how i miss it).

Issue i'm having, i just got a new (to me) tank that came with a Fx6 canister that makes quite a bit of rattling noise when running, i took the pump housing off today, gave it and the impeller a good clean and gave it a lube with silicone grease, it has made it slightly better but still noisy.
When i took the impeller out the plastic disk on the impeller that fits into the housing has a lot of free play, i'm assuming its meant to slide up and down the shaft but is it meant to have a lot of wobble? i'm wondering if its worn and needs replacing, it is used, looking online the price of a new impeller would choke a horse, hoping there is a way to fix it.
Are there any owners of these filters confirm if its meant to have that much free play

Edited to add the water flow is VERY good, i used to have an internal filter some years ago where i had to mess about with it after every clean to stop the thing rattling wonder if this is a similar thing.

 

[The603]

Welcome to the forum, it sounds like the impeller, its shaft or both could be worn out.

 

[emeraldking]

Nice to have you aboard...
It could be that the impeller is worn out if it has been operating for a long time already. Every part that is continuously moving will have to be replaced at some point.

 

[Colin_T]

Be careful using silicon grease or anything that comes into contact with the water. You can poison the fish.

The impellor might have a rubber gromet on either end of the impellor shaft. If the rubber gromet is missing, the impellor will move about and make noise or not work. Look online for a brochure on how to assemble that particular filter and see if there are any missing bits in the impellor housing. You can usually buy the parts separately or in a bundle that has a new impellor, shaft, washers and gromets.

 

[Graeme 1]

As far as i'm aware silicone grease is non toxic to fish, in the end i just bought a new impeller kit, came with all the o rings too, no more rattle thankfully