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Filter doesn't pump

by Kyle
(San Jose, CA)

I recently replaced & cleaned the canister filter media in my rena filstar xp2 and the next day the input tube had come loose and the filter was sucking air, so I turned it off, refilled the tube with water and plugged the filter back in again. The filter didn't pump but made a sort of grinding noise. I took apart the filter and made sure all the parts were seated properly, but it seemed like the motor couldn't overcome the friction of the bottom shaft bearing. After trying various things for about an hour, I got the motor to pump by removing the bottom bearing entirely. This seems to work ok, but I'm not sure if I'm causing damage to the impeller assembly and whether or not replacing just the bearing will fix the problem.

A: I always recommend watching the startup video before troubleshooting a filter. You can see it at MarsFishcare.com. From your description I don't think any of your problems stem from a bearing. These rubber pieces just hold the shaft at either end and absorbe vibration. The rotor spins around the shaft. If your filter ran for some time without lubrication then the most likely problem is with the rotor impeller or a bad restart of the filter.

Comments for
Filter doesn't pump

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Feb 25, 2010
 New Impeller...
by: Kyle

I tried replacing the impeller, and realized that the old impeller was seized on to the shaft so that the impeller would only rotate if the whole shaft rotates, which likely is what caused the buzz sound and no movement when both bearings were attached. With the new impeller, however, the blades don't rotate, they just bounce around all over the place. (I verified it by running it for a brief amount of time with the cover off to see what was going on) Since the old impeller could spin freely if I remove the bottom bearing I don't think there's anything wrong with the motor itself, but why is the new impeller not working properly?
A:The rotor/impeller rotates around the shaft. The rubber bearings (also called bushings) fix each end of the shaft and holds the shaft perfectly straight. If the shaft is not connected at both ends the rotor will not centered and therefore it does not spin true (bounces around). Even if you fix the shaft at both ends by putting the impeller cover on and then plugging in the pump you will get rotor noise. Why? The rotor/impeller is lubricated by the water flowing through the pumping chamber. Without this lubrication the will run hot and make noise similar to trying to run a car engine without oil. If you hear this type of rotor noise while the filter is hooked and operating then you have a flow problem of some type that is not allowing water to freely get into the pumping chamber of the pump. Many suggestions for fixing the problem can be found in the performance section of the FAQ section to the web site.

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