Fluval 404 Leaking?????

[CanadianCray]

Has anybody seen this before. I have a Fluval 404. Have had it for over a
year with no problems. I recently got a RainbowLifeguard 300 FBF & hooked it
up inline with the output of my 404. Since that time I have had a small leak
from the filter. I replaced the seal a week ago & all was fine till I
noticed this morning my 125 was down about 1" of water. "OH #%$&" luckly &
had a large rubbermaid container under the filter so all was fine 1/4" from
the top..... anyways could it be the extra pressure caused by the FBF on the
output of the 404 causing this???? It is leaking from the seam where the
large "O"ring is?

Thanks



--
Craig Williams
_________________________________

www.Canadiancray.tk

[Dan J.S.]

"CanadianCray" > wrote in message
. ..
> Has anybody seen this before. I have a Fluval 404. Have had it for over a
> year with no problems. I recently got a RainbowLifeguard 300 FBF & hooked
it
> up inline with the output of my 404. Since that time I have had a small
leak
> from the filter. I replaced the seal a week ago & all was fine till I
> noticed this morning my 125 was down about 1" of water. "OH #%$&" luckly &
> had a large rubbermaid container under the filter so all was fine 1/4"
from
> the top..... anyways could it be the extra pressure caused by the FBF on
the
> output of the 404 causing this???? It is leaking from the seam where the
> large "O"ring is?
>
> Thanks

Fluvals leak. This is the nature of the beast. I got rid of two of them that
were less than 6 mos old. Do a test. Pull the plug on the Fluval, and see if
the leak gets bigger. I would consider an Eheim if I were you.

Dan

[NetMax]

"Dan J.S." > wrote in message
...
>
> "CanadianCray" > wrote in message
> . ..
> > Has anybody seen this before. I have a Fluval 404. Have had it for
over a
> > year with no problems. I recently got a RainbowLifeguard 300 FBF &
hooked
> it
> > up inline with the output of my 404. Since that time I have had a
small
> leak
> > from the filter. I replaced the seal a week ago & all was fine till I
> > noticed this morning my 125 was down about 1" of water. "OH #%$&"
luckly &
> > had a large rubbermaid container under the filter so all was fine
1/4"
> from
> > the top..... anyways could it be the extra pressure caused by the FBF
on
> the
> > output of the 404 causing this???? It is leaking from the seam where
the
> > large "O"ring is?
> >
> > Thanks
>
> Fluvals leak. This is the nature of the beast. I got rid of two of them
that
> were less than 6 mos old. Do a test. Pull the plug on the Fluval, and
see if
> the leak gets bigger. I would consider an Eheim if I were you.
>
> Dan


I realize you had trouble with two Fluvals in a row, but there are many
people who are very satisfied with the operation of their modern version
Fluval filters (including myself). While ymmv, this particular
application of driving a FBF off the canister output is certainly not
going to be as per manufacturer's specifications, is it? My Eheim
doesn't make mention of driving a FBF either.

It's really to bad you threw them both away. They were still on warranty
and I would have been very curious to have seen them myself. I've yet to
come across your failure mode after selling many of these things.

If extra back-pressure blew the gasket or deformed the casing, then
pulling the plug would increase the leak as the pump is not pulling water
out. I wouldn't expect anything else to happen.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Dan J. S.]

NetMax wrote:
> "Dan J.S." > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "CanadianCray" > wrote in message
>> . ..
>>> Has anybody seen this before. I have a Fluval 404. Have had it for
>>> over a year with no problems. I recently got a RainbowLifeguard 300
>>> FBF & hooked it up inline with the output of my 404. Since that
>>> time I have had a small leak from the filter. I replaced the seal a
>>> week ago & all was fine till I noticed this morning my 125 was down
>>> about 1" of water. "OH #%$&" luckly & had a large rubbermaid
>>> container under the filter so all was fine 1/4" from the top.....
>>> anyways could it be the extra pressure caused by the FBF on the
>>> output of the 404 causing this???? It is leaking from the seam
>>> where the large "O"ring is?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>
>> Fluvals leak. This is the nature of the beast. I got rid of two of
>> them that were less than 6 mos old. Do a test. Pull the plug on the
>> Fluval, and see if the leak gets bigger. I would consider an Eheim
>> if I were you.
>>
>> Dan
>
>
> I realize you had trouble with two Fluvals in a row, but there are
> many people who are very satisfied with the operation of their modern
> version Fluval filters (including myself). While ymmv, this
> particular application of driving a FBF off the canister output is
> certainly not going to be as per manufacturer's specifications, is
> it? My Eheim doesn't make mention of driving a FBF either.
>
> It's really to bad you threw them both away. They were still on
> warranty and I would have been very curious to have seen them myself.
> I've yet to come across your failure mode after selling many of these
> things.
>
> If extra back-pressure blew the gasket or deformed the casing, then
> pulling the plug would increase the leak as the pump is not pulling
> water out. I wouldn't expect anything else to happen.

Netmax, really, they cost me about $500 in hardwood floor repairs. I now
moved since then, live in a house (vs condo) and have my 120 tank in the
basement. Maybe it was a bad batch. I bought mine at Big Als. A friend ended
up giving his away. Same issue. Fluvals are just too touchy, you open it up
to clean it, and chances are, a few days later they spring a leak. I have
been working with tanks for over 20 years now, and have never had a filter
as bad as the fluval. I would even take a Magnum 350 over a fluval (BTW I
inherited a 55 built in the wall tank running a magnum)...

Anyway, that is about as controversial as I get when it comes to aquariums.
I just dont like fluvals.

[CanadianCray]

Yeah I dont think I will be buying one again...... Just spend the extra doe
& get an Ehiem....

--
Craig Williams
_________________________________

www.Canadiancray.tk
"Dan J. S." > wrote in message
...
> NetMax wrote:
> > "Dan J.S." > wrote in message
> > ...
> >>
> >> "CanadianCray" > wrote in message
> >> . ..
> >>> Has anybody seen this before. I have a Fluval 404. Have had it for
> >>> over a year with no problems. I recently got a RainbowLifeguard 300
> >>> FBF & hooked it up inline with the output of my 404. Since that
> >>> time I have had a small leak from the filter. I replaced the seal a
> >>> week ago & all was fine till I noticed this morning my 125 was down
> >>> about 1" of water. "OH #%$&" luckly & had a large rubbermaid
> >>> container under the filter so all was fine 1/4" from the top.....
> >>> anyways could it be the extra pressure caused by the FBF on the
> >>> output of the 404 causing this???? It is leaking from the seam
> >>> where the large "O"ring is?
> >>>
> >>> Thanks
> >>
> >> Fluvals leak. This is the nature of the beast. I got rid of two of
> >> them that were less than 6 mos old. Do a test. Pull the plug on the
> >> Fluval, and see if the leak gets bigger. I would consider an Eheim
> >> if I were you.
> >>
> >> Dan
> >
> >
> > I realize you had trouble with two Fluvals in a row, but there are
> > many people who are very satisfied with the operation of their modern
> > version Fluval filters (including myself). While ymmv, this
> > particular application of driving a FBF off the canister output is
> > certainly not going to be as per manufacturer's specifications, is
> > it? My Eheim doesn't make mention of driving a FBF either.
> >
> > It's really to bad you threw them both away. They were still on
> > warranty and I would have been very curious to have seen them myself.
> > I've yet to come across your failure mode after selling many of these
> > things.
> >
> > If extra back-pressure blew the gasket or deformed the casing, then
> > pulling the plug would increase the leak as the pump is not pulling
> > water out. I wouldn't expect anything else to happen.
>
> Netmax, really, they cost me about $500 in hardwood floor repairs. I now
> moved since then, live in a house (vs condo) and have my 120 tank in the
> basement. Maybe it was a bad batch. I bought mine at Big Als. A friend
ended
> up giving his away. Same issue. Fluvals are just too touchy, you open it
up
> to clean it, and chances are, a few days later they spring a leak. I have
> been working with tanks for over 20 years now, and have never had a filter
> as bad as the fluval. I would even take a Magnum 350 over a fluval (BTW I
> inherited a 55 built in the wall tank running a magnum)...
>
> Anyway, that is about as controversial as I get when it comes to
aquariums.
> I just dont like fluvals.
>
>

[NetMax]

"Dan J. S." > wrote in message
...
> NetMax wrote:
> > "Dan J.S." > wrote in message
> > ...
> >>
> >> "CanadianCray" > wrote in message
> >> . ..
<snip>
Maybe it was a bad batch. I bought mine at B<snip>

Understood. Just frustrating for me to not see the problems you had,
when I sell so many of these things, but you now mentioned something -
where you bought it. Without going into litigious details, I can tell
you two industry truths.

1. All the retail operations are NOT on good terms with all the
manufacturers. The *opposite* is in fact closer to the truth, and the
manufacturer of the product in this thread, and the seller you mentioned
are a good example. Visit that dealer and see how much space they give
that product. There are 'wars' going on and alliances are easy to see
when you know what to look for. The dealer in question is not unique,
they each have different alliances.

2. Defects (real bonafide defects) do NOT always get returned. In fact,
manufacturers prefer that you do not return them, and will offer you a
straight % discount on your monthly purchase total to cover all defects,
damaged goods, incomplete shipments etc. It just makes good economic
sense to both parties, reducing paperwork, and it's usually done to the
advantage of the dealer, so they agree to it.

So now, all dealers have defects from all the manufacturers they carry,
and they want to promote a product from manufacturer X over manufacturer
Y. I'm not going to spell it out for you, unless you thought they just
throw stuff in the garbage after you leave the store.

What do you do when your purchase is defective, twice? Do you not use
your store credit to purchase a similar product from another
manufacturer? Before I got back into the industry, I half expected that
something was going on, (like when I got 3 Rena heaters in a row which
were all defective) but then, I attributed it to either incompetence or
laziness, and now I quite certain that it wasn't either. I hope I didn't
pop anyone's bubble with this industrial dirt ;~)
--
NetMax