Just set up a Fluval 306 - EXTREMELY noisy

[Harvoification]

Hi everyone,

I haven't used canister filters before... are they meant to be this noisy? I bought this for my rio 125 as I heard it was quiet (the tank is in my bedroom) but I can hear it from standing outside the door of my room! Honestly feel like I wasted £125 as I cannot sleep with this thing in the room. Do canisters filters have to 'break in' and slowly get quieter? I've noticed the output is constantly blowing air bubbles out of it, which is exacerbated when I move the filter from side to side. I thought maybe it could be a trapped bit of air but it doesn't stop

EDIT: I've changed to a brand new Eheim 2217... exact same problem/noise.

 

[Madhav]

Hi There,
external canister filters are meant to be dead silent in operation. you might have done something wrong some where.
open it up and re-assemble, make sure all the seals are in place. check for any water leakage.
if you do it right, you will not feel its presence.

you notice air bubbles means, air is entering the canister some how and you need to stop it.

 

[PARAGUAY]

There sounds like something not quite right it's picking up air somewhere,I would check it over slowly switched off,in my case it was once the baskets not fully seated and the impeller was not correctly in position.If it's still noisy check your models problem solve article or email the manafactuer for a answer.All to easy to claim silent running so you can expect it to do that or a refund,hope it doesn't come to that for you though

 

[Harvoification]

Okay this morning i took it apart and and put it back together, making sure everything was correct each step of the way. No dice. I took it back to the store, they examined it, and said nothing is wrong with it, so I can't return it. Am I going crazy here? When people say 'dead silent' do they mean they can't hear it? I can here it the other end of my bedroom and it is in the cabinet.

Looks like I'm stuck with this piece of junk

 

[shrimpy1]

some info here http://www.hagen.com/uk/aquatic/answer.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=107&FAQ=80

ensure that all of the connections in tank are beneath water level
don't overfill baskets - hagen recommend no more than half full
ensure you have a good syphon by gently rocking the pipework

Initially you have to get all of the air out of the media by gently rocking the unit when it is running, turning it off for a few seconds to allow the air to get to the impellor.

It is usually air in the impellor housing or lack of flow causing back pressure which causes noise.
Occasionally I will start to hear one or another of my fluvals - this is invariably caused by plant debris in the strainer ball unit obstructing the water.

If all else fails call customer services using the number on the leaflet in the box.

 

[Harvoification]

Thanks for your help. I've tried doing all of that, every time I shake the filter a lots of bubbles come out the output, but they continue to do so even after I've done it a few time...

I'm downstairs right now. I can hear it in my bedroom on the floor above. A loud hum and constant rattling like there's something wrong with the impeller.

Somehow, it's even louder when the flow rate is set to zero?

 

[shrimpy1]

Sounds like insufficient water flow. It will should be preferably run at full flow.

OK - silly question time, please don't take offence.

Is the filter well below the tank - won't work too well if side by side
are the inlet /outlets as straight as you can get them - no kinks
is there a good flow coming from the outlet
are the white connectors below the water surface
what media are you using - you could try to run it without media to see if this is constricting the flow

Getting the air out initially does take a bit of time as there could be lots of it trapped in the media.

finally, these are quality units and it will run silently so don't give up. On various forums there are lots of experiences that you have had (including myself) they invariable seem to get it sorted.

 

[BarryH]

I know it doesn't help with your problem but I have an Eden Gravel Cleaner that's the most basic of canister filters. When it starts up, it's extremely noisy with the sounds that you describe but that's because there's air in it, you can see the bubbles coming out in the stream of return water. Once it settles down and the air clears, it is extremely quiet. You can only just hear the faintest of hums if you get really close to it.

 

[PARAGUAY]

Okay this morning i took it apart and and put it back together, making sure everything was correct each step of the way. No dice. I took it back to the store, they examined it, and said nothing is wrong with it, so I can't return it. Am I going crazy here? When people say 'dead silent' do they mean they can't hear it? I can here it the other end of my bedroom and it is in the cabinet.

Looks like I'm stuck with this piece of junk

You could remind the retailer that if its saying its silent and its not it falls into the "not fit for purpose new consumer laws which say it has to be as described fit for purpose for 6 years and the seller has the resonsibility of your replacement/refund not the manafacturer in the first instance,this despite guaratees or warranties.If the response is negative you escalate it.It wont harm to email the manafacturer with a complaint either,good luck

 

[Harvoification]

Thank you for all of your help everyone - I really appreciate it. To my (inexperienced) ear it sounds like a mechanical problem with the impeller, but then again this is my first canister so I'm not experienced in this. I really don't want to sour my relationship with this store as they are one of the only stores that are close to me so I may just leave it. The trouble is, they set it up and it sounded quiet in the store - but this is because it's drowned out by the ambient noise of the store and their own filtration that they are running for all of their tanks.

Is the filter well below the tank - won't work too well if side by side

It's directly below

are the inlet /outlets as straight as you can get them - no kinks

I cut them as tight as I can, so there's very little kink in the tubing. If anything, I cut them a bit too short as they're a pain to work with!

is there a good flow coming from the outlet

There's a good, healthy amount of flow coming from the outlet so it seems to be working correctly - just noisily.

are the white connectors below the water surface

Can you elaborate by what you mean by this? To you mean the connectors in the tank connecting the inlet/outlet to the tubing? If so, they're both below the water level.

what media are you using - you could try to run it without media to see if this is constricting the flow

I'm running mechanical at the bottom, bio-media in the middle (which I bought more of this morning when they inspected the filter), and in the top there's only the fine filter sponges, no carbon or anything, so I doubt it's a flow problem. The problem was there before I bought the extra media aswell, so as I was not using the carbon I was using less media than the recommended amount. I've got some purigen on order that I plan to place in the top when it arrives.

I've emailed Fluval on the off chance they will be able to help. Until then, I've wrapped the filter in a couple of blankets (is this safe? Will it overheat?). This seems to have dampened the noise by quite a lot so I'm no longer bothered by it... although it's not really a permanent solution.

 

[shrimpy1]

As far as I know it will not overheat as it is being cooled by the water flow and doesn't need to be air cooled.

When I purchased my last one there was a slip of paper in the box giving a number to ring if you were having set up/noise issues. It said something like "before returning the unit to the retailer please ring this number' Did you have this in the box? if not find the customer service number of the web site and give them a call, I haven't used them myself but have heard from others that they are good - they will talk you through this and if necessary will authorise the LFS to replace the impellor unit.

 

[Harvoification]

When I purchased my last one there was a slip of paper in the box giving a number to ring if you were having set up/noise issues. It said something like "before returning the unit to the retailer please ring this number' Did you have this in the box? if not find the customer service number of the web site and give them a call, I haven't used them myself but have heard from others that they are good - they will talk you through this and if necessary will authorise the LFS to replace the impellor unit.

Just found it thanks mate. I'll give them a call friday morning. Hope to get this sorted soon, because I love everything else about the filter.

 

[Madhav]

Easier way fix the issue is to bring it the bath room that has an electrical outlet. Fill a pail with water and leave it on the camode. Remove all the baskets from the canister and try to run the filter and see if it is still noisy. If this doesnt fix, remove the head from canister and hold the head in the pail of water such that impeller housing is in the water, if it runs silent, nothing wrong with impeller.

If LFS said everything with it is alright, I assume impeller shaft is not broken.

I need to touch and feel the filter to make sure its working as my tank is covered and I cant really see the flow below water surface. My eheims are that silent. Yours should be too once you figure out the issue.

Keep us updated...


Sent from my HUAWEI GRA-UL00 using Tapatalk

 

[Harvoification]

Honestly want to put my head through a wall. It's gotten louder. Are Fluval meant to be good filters?

I will try your suggestion later today or tomorrow morning. I have no electrical outlet in my bathroom, can it be anywehre else?

 

[Iain mlaren]

Silly question but you haven't got a rubber foot missing on the bottom have you? Had this happen on 1 of mine (not fluval) caused it to vibrate more. Just a suggestion dunno if fluval have rubber feet.

 

[Harvoification]

It does have rubber feet, but none of them are missing. It sounds like the noise is coming from the top of the filter.

To give everyone an idea of what I'm talking about, I took a video:

That's happening all day... and night

 

[Iain mlaren]

That defo sounds like impeller to me. I recently set up a friend of mines fluval and it made the same noise. Have you taken out the impeller and checked there isn't anything in there? Check that the 2 rubber parts are on the ends of shafts. They can go sometimes or get lost accidently as there tiny and often clear

 

[Parablennius]

Sounds to me like it's "pulling" air, you can here it rushing through when you lift the lever. Anywhere between the intake and the impeller will create a vacuum whilst running and a slight leak, at a connection for example, will pull air into the system. Check the output under water to check if any bubbles are leaving the system. Even if not, it could still be air trapped in the impeller housing rattling around. Even normal, standalone powerheads will do this, albeit briefly, on a dry startup.

 

[shrimpy1]

ok - firstly, you should not run the filter with the white lever all the way up as this shuts off all flow. I think it says in the manual to restrict it to halfway.

However, this is nothing to do with the noise. It sounds as if the impellor is not mounted correctly or is damaged.
Its very difficult to help with this as we can only ask questions - its a bit frustrating when you can't get your hands on the thing!
If the rubber bushes are correctly seated at each end of the ceramic shaft, the ceramic shaft is not broken and the impellor cover is correctly snapped in place with the ceramic shaft seated the only reason can be a damaged impellor which is readily replaced.

Phone them

 

[Harvoification]

I don't recall there being any rubber parts? i just took it apart to show you, here's some pictures: