I hate my HOB filters!!!!!!!!!

[Lady Hobbs]

I am having nothing but problems getting my HOB's to prime and start up.

Emporer 400.......been a pain in the A** since day one. Rattles, shakes and rolls and hard to get going.

Penquin 350........(two of them) have now joined the party. Pour water in the back, lift uplift tube just a bit to get it going, and nothing........and nothing after 15 minutes of reseeding. Take apart, clean, try again.

Should all these need new rotors after less than a year old? What really bugs me is unplugging it for 2 seconds, plugging back in and going thru the whole process again.

[jman]

i KNOW they shouldn't need new rotors.

[Chrona]

Well, I've never had an emperor or a penguin, so I'm not sure exactly how the rotor mechanism works on them, but I find whenever the rotor/mag drive on my Whispers clonk out, it's because I inserted the uptake tube + impeller into the drive incorrectly, so that it's slightly tilted. And no, they should not wear out that easily. My Whisper 10 from uh....like 10 years ago is still working fine. I've only been running it for a total of like 8 out of those 10 probably, but thats still quite a bit, and the only difference is a slight increase in noise. Wear may be faster if the water line is lower, and the impeller has to strain more to suck the water in though.

And what is the lift tube lifting trick? I've never heard of this before. I usually just fill the filter with tank water and plug it in. At least in my Whisper, if I lift up the lift tube, the magnet on the end of the impeller doesn't align correctly with the drive.

[Lady Hobbs]

I guess I should have called them propellers? I do have to say they both filter very well it's just the getting them going that is so annoying. Why in heck can't you just unplug them and plug them back in without going thru all this nonsense? It makes no sense as the prime should still the there if you haven't changed the water level.

I was very close to flinging them all out in the snowbank yesterday! No way should it take a filter half an hour to get going.

[Chrona]

I guess I should have called them propellers? I do have to say they both filter very well it's just the getting them going that is so annoying. Why in heck can't you just unplug them and plug them back in without going thru all this nonsense? It makes no sense as the prime should still the there if you haven't changed the water level.

I was very close to flinging them all out in the snowbank yesterday! No way should it take a filter half an hour to get going.

Wait, so if you fill the filter with water and just plug it in, it doesn't make any sounds?

NO don't throw them away lol. I'll pay for shipping to my house ;)

[Lady Hobbs]

And what is the lift tube lifting trick?

Generally, if I can't get them going right away, if I lift up slightly on the lift tube they will take off. When I do water changes, it seems to seed down too tight so lifting up just a hair will trigger them to take off. This is no longer working, however.

My Emporer is 6 months old and the Penquins are a year old. Amazingly enough, my very cheapie Aqua filters are giving me no problems at all.

[f1oored]

Hobbs,
I have a penguin 200 and 350 and they both work fine. Just unplug to stop them and plug them back in to get them going again. The only filter I have that is hard to start is the fluval canister. Both my HOBs are pretty new so maybe I will run into trouble down the road. Have you checked for small leaks and cracks?

[KneeKickLou]

I can't stand my HOBs either. They are loud, a pain to prime, and just plain annoying. I'm starting to save right now to get a canister for my 55. I have 2 ehiem 2213's and 2 powerheads in my new 75 and I cant hear a thing. While my 55 with a aquaclear70 and a tetratec PF300 and the only thing that I can say good about them is the Tetra has the heater built into the filter which saves me another cord and tube hanging in the back of my tank.

[Lady Hobbs]

I worked for half an hour to get the 350 going yesterday. Unplugged it by mistake (hobbs groans) and immediately plugged back in and danged if I didn't have to start all over again.

I have them all cleaned up, the uplift tubes cleaned out, the hole where the propellor sits in cleaned out and still they just won't take off. They started very well for me until just recently and that's why I thought perhaps a new propellor was needed.....but for all of them? sheesh

[Lady Hobbs]

You have two canisters on one tank? I'm lucky to afford one. But I am seriously rethinking the bio-wheels here. My non-biowheels are working fine.

[Chrona]

I worked for half an hour to get the 350 going yesterday. Unplugged it by mistake (hobbs groans) and immediately plugged back in and danged if I didn't have to start all over again.

I have them all cleaned up, the uplift tubes cleaned out, the hole where the propellor sits in cleaned out and still they just won't take off. They started very well for me until just recently and that's why I thought perhaps a new propellor was needed.....but for all of them? sheesh

Can you reach the impeller when it's all plugged in? Try pushing the impeller a little bit while the power is on and see if it starts moving. If I'm not mistaken, the mag drives on power filters are just brushless motors, and if it's the startup torque that is failing, then you may need to get a new mag drive unit, or contact Marineland for a replacement.

EDIT: Yes, aquarium power filter mag drives are indeed brushless motors. The starting torque requirement, to be honest, should really not be that high unless the shaft that the impeller is on is rubbing too much against where it is attached. Try rotating the impeller when the assembly is out. Does it rotate very easily?

[Lady Hobbs]

I can reach in and the propeller is turning. It's getting the thing to start lifting the water up that's messing me up. My Emporer was a pain from day one to get a prime but the Penquins always took right off for me.

They all filter great when I can get them going. It's just getting them going.

[Chrona]

Oh, I see, so the impeller is pulling but the water is not coming up the life tube?

EDIT: Does the impeller rotate freely when its out? I still say that some gunk in between the shaft and the supports on the ends is slowing it down so it can't put out the large initial suction required to pull the water up

[Lady Hobbs]

Right. And sometimes the motor doesn't take off at all. Doesn't even hum.

[KneeKickLou]

You have two canisters on one tank? I'm lucky to afford one. But I am seriously rethinking the bio-wheels here. My non-biowheels are working fine.
I got them online and they were $69 each i figued that was only a little more then the best HOB and with no noise and less maintenice why not.

[Lady Hobbs]

Where online? I was looking last night and found them for around $100.

Even with a canister I wanted to keep one HOB on each tank but this is hardly worth the aggravation. I may get, instead, the biggest HOB without the bio-wheel that I can find.

My cheapest penguins are working great. I have old ones on my 10 and 20 gallon with 0 problems.

[minabird]

This is the primary reason why I haven't upgraded to one of the biowheel HOBs or Aquaclear from my Whisper. I usually don't have a priming problem with them except when the impeller housing needs to be cleaned out. I'm on a load management power system, so I get brown outs occasionally throughout the day when I'm at work, especially during the summer.

Hobbs- Instead of tossing all your biowheel HOBs, how about just adding or replacing the smaller biowheel with a Whisper in case your power goes out. That way you are assured at least one of your filters turns back on. You keep the benefit of the biowheel and better filtration without risking an uncirculated tank when the power blinks off.

[KneeKickLou]

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.] this is where i got mine Hobbs. Im running 2 on my 75Gal

[Sasquatch]

I can't say for the penguin, but I sympathize about the Emperor, they can be a pain to restart.

The problem is that as soon as the impeler stops, the water drains out the intake and the uplift tube fills with air. There is so much air in there, that getting a prime again can be difficult.

Just set it to max flow and keep dumping water in the top of the filter. That keeps the impeller pushing water and getting rid of the air. It usually took me about 2L of water to get it going.

If the impeller isn't turning, get something long and give it a nudge. Tweezers, knitting needles, a pencil, something long and thin. Give it a little nudge and retract quickly so you don't damage the impeller. Usually works for me.

Hope it helps,

Sasquatch.

[Lady Hobbs]

Heck, the bigger one is only $97. Thanks so much, dear heart, for the great site. Very good deal. They need to take more pictures there. LOL

[Lady Hobbs]

I can't say for the penguin, but I sympathize about the Emperor, they can be a pain to restart.

The problem is that as soon as the impeler stops, the water drains out the intake and the uplift tube fills with air. There is so much air in there, that getting a prime again can be difficult.

Just set it to max flow and keep dumping water in the top of the filter. That keeps the impeller pushing water and getting rid of the air. It usually took me about 2L of water to get it going.

If the impeller isn't turning, get something long and give it a nudge. Tweezers, knitting needles, a pencil, something long and thin. Give it a little nudge and retract quickly so you don't damage the impeller. Usually works for me.

Hope it helps,

Sasquatch.

Something like a hammer perhaps. LOL

[KneeKickLou]

Heck, the bigger one is only $97. Thanks so much, dear heart, for the great site. Very good deal. They need to take more pictures there. LOL
Sure no prob. I wanna save up and get that one for my 55 as I dont think the smaller one, being rated at only 67 gallons, would be good enough by itself. Then that means I'll have to buy a heater but hey silence it golden right :hmm3grin2orange:

[Incredulous_Ed]

hobbs.......Don't hate.........Congradulate

[Lady Hobbs]

Congratulate what? The HOB filters that I hate. LOL You are a nut.