Urgent Help! My Fluval 204 Is Not Working Well

[vinzcas]

Hi all,

I'm new here and not sure if I've posted this in the right topic (apologies if not)

My problem is:

I just bought a second hand tank and it comes complete with Fluval 204 filter. Before picking them up I can see that everything was working fine. I even help the seller unplugged the unit. I made sure that the Fluval was full of water when I took it home.
When it was time for me to set it up I can seems to get it started.So I decided to clean the filter with water it came with some from the tank. and even then it still hasn't worked. I've been pumpin, pumpin, pumpin and pumpin even more but the water never seems to move up. I tried everything I can think of and even looked at some suggestions on other forum for troubleshoot but none has yet work.
I'm wondering anyone has any idea on how to get it to work again please?

Many thanks in advance

Vincent

 

[star4]

Hi and welcome.

1. Is the filter full of water? if not fill it then try pumping.
2. Is the clip where the hoses go into the top of the filter fitted tight? undo and try it again.
3. Is the top of the canister (where the motor is) fitted tight?

With 2 & 3 you can try a little vasaline round the seals to give a better fit, the seals maybe worn.

If all above ok you can cheat and fill the intake pipe with water as far as you can, if necessary take the intake pipe (the plastic tube bit) off the hose fill the hose then connect it back together with the pipe in the tank, fiddly and a pain but the pipe will then be full and it should switch on. Sometimes the prime on the fluvals is a bit hit and miss (I swear at mine for ages sometimes).

Hope this is of help and you get it going, apart from the start up they are very good filters.

 

[three-fingers]

Well, if the filter water tight, and the pump is working, it's just a priming issue you have.

The priming pump is only there to get a syphon started, this should be easy, but if its really old the suction cup on the end of the handle could be hard and worn.

In which case, the best way to do it would be the old fashioned way. Suck on the end on the output tube until water starts syphoning to the filter. Once its as full as its going to get, turn it on. If that doesn't work, check the impeller and shaft to see if something broke there - the pump may just not have the pushing power.

Dont just fill the filter with water and turn it on. That's OK for water changes, but the intake pipe will be full of air if you do it that way, so it wont be able to start properly.

With second hand externals, you can never tell if it;s been maintained properly in the past (i.e. all gaskets lubricated regularly and impeller cleaned).

To make sure you don't get a flooded floor, buy a new gasket for it, and to be safe, aquastop valve (the 05 series ones will fit the 04 series ones).

You could also buy a new self primer if you want, which makes it easier starting up on a new tank again, but is otherwise unneeded.

 

[vinzcas]

Thank you so much for both replies. I will now try them and let you know if it works.