fluval fx5 - not pumpimg at full pressure

[sysiphus]

Hi,

Just installed an fx5 about two weeks ago, all was hunky dory, output head shaking under the pressure.

now, two weeks later the pressure seems to dropped to about 10%, water is still flowing but very lightly. I had heard a sound like air trapped, but the input is not near the air supply.

I unplugged it and waited a minute, plugged it back in to see if it would reprime, but still the same. I'll disconnect and give it a good clean tomorrow, but in the mean time - any thoughts??

 

[Zagz]

I have an FX5 and have never had that problem. I suspect that perhaps you do have a vapor lock. I would turn off the hoses and disconnect them and then reconnect them. Are your hoses in the fully open position? Is your siphon valve on the lower part of the cannister completely closed? Just tossing out ideas to check for. When I first got my FX5 I had a hairline crack in the plastic housing that was allowing air into the cannister. Fluval replaced my cannister housing and didn't even take back the cracked one! I've had no trouble since. With plastics it can be hard to see hairline cracks. Look for whitish stress marks on the cannister around the rim.

 

[sysiphus]

All valves set ok. After a clean I think I may have found the problem. two off the filter bags of peat had fully compacted and I suuspect that very little water was getting by them, have removed one and thinned the other. All reassembled and and seems to be working again. Will see what happens. Thanks for the reply!