fluval issue

On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 03:35:46 GMT, Brian
wrote:

I bought one of the early Fluval 204s, secondhand, about six years ago.
It's been a great filter, quiet, clean, reliable. But a few days ago
after a power outage, it didn't restart. I did the usual things to try
and get it going again, but it was quite dead. I ordered a replacement
impeller & shaft.

What I find is that the new shaft assembly won't even go into the head.
I trimmed a bit of plastic off the old shaft assembly, and I find that
there is a tight spot halfway down the hole where the impeller seats. In
other words, the impeller well wall is warped.

I guess that when the filter sat (about 30 hours) with the power on but
the impeller not turning, the magnetic drive created enough heat to warp
the head. So instead of replacing $15 worth of parts, I need a whole new
head unit.

Mind you, I'm not turning against Fluval. I still think it was a good
value for the money. I'm not buying an Eheim, ever, because they're just
too overpriced.

I'm just putting my experience out there, as a warning to others, to
make sure your filter is running immediately after power outages. I
wonder of others have experienced this problem.

Cheers,

B


How about just running a small drill bit down the hole to clean it
out?

"Charles" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 03:35:46 GMT, Brian
wrote:

I bought one of the early Fluval 204s, secondhand, about six years ago.
It's been a great filter, quiet, clean, reliable. But a few days ago
after a power outage, it didn't restart. I did the usual things to try
and get it going again, but it was quite dead. I ordered a replacement
impeller & shaft.

What I find is that the new shaft assembly won't even go into the head.
I trimmed a bit of plastic off the old shaft assembly, and I find that
there is a tight spot halfway down the hole where the impeller seats. In
other words, the impeller well wall is warped.

I guess that when the filter sat (about 30 hours) with the power on but
the impeller not turning, the magnetic drive created enough heat to warp
the head. So instead of replacing $15 worth of parts, I need a whole new
head unit.

Mind you, I'm not turning against Fluval. I still think it was a good
value for the money. I'm not buying an Eheim, ever, because they're just
too overpriced.

I'm just putting my experience out there, as a warning to others, to
make sure your filter is running immediately after power outages. I
wonder of others have experienced this problem.

Cheers,

B


How about just running a small drill bit down the hole to clean it
out?

I think the size (large), alignment (difficult to jig) and the reduction in
wall thickness might combine to make reaming an impeller well impractical.
jmo
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