need advice priming Rena xp canisters

[Samantha_p]

lately theirs been power outages in my area and everytime
that happens my Rena xp2,xp3 canisters get full of air.the
worst part is priming the filters.I do as the instruction say,but
boy does it take a long ,long time to get these babies primed.
does anyone out their know of a short cut,any advice please.
if I had known this,I wouldn't gotten these filters.

 

[mgamer20o0]

make sure all the fittings are air tight. as long as tne intake and out put are under water it shouldnt be getting air into the canister. the intake has a cap on top you can unscrew. i just poor water into that until the air stops coming out. then plug it back in.

 

[bs6749]

I've used an XP3 before and it was extremely easy to prime. Just make sure that the canister portion is filled with water and then fill the inlet hose with water via the unscrewable cap as mentioned. Then screw the cap back on and plug it into the outlet and you should be good to go. The only time I ever had to prime it was when I disconnected everything for a thorough cleaning.

 

[cjldad]

Are you using the spray bar out over top of the water? If both the intake and output are not below the water line, it will pull air in.. Also, make sure the fittings are pushed together well.. Especially the ones out of the water on the output...

 

[bs6749]

Even if the spray bar is out of the water, when you put water into the intake line to prime it water will take the place of the air and force it out.

 

[cjldad]

Yeah, but what was said is that is happens during a power outage... Another option would be to put a fairly small UPS system on just the filter.. The XP3 pulls 19 watts... It would run quite a while on the UPS before using up the battery..

 

[newfound77951]

I have an XP3. I find that after filter maintenance, I hook up the intake/output lines again, let the filter fill up, and before I plug it in I tilt the filter towards and away from me (not left to right) and that helps purge out a lot of the air that gets trapped under the baskets etc. I find that often I have to hold it at an angle for a while and a ton of air will go up the return line. Seems to work for me, and I've never had a problem with it restarting itself after a power outage.

 

[Samantha_p]

thanx for all the replys, I had the spray bar a lil bit above
water, (I like the sound it makes).I lower it and checked all
conections for leaks. I will also be getting a ups

 

[tmcgee]

How far down in the tank is your inlet? I have two of the XP3's but my inlet is only 3 inches or so from the sand. they are both on a 75 gallon tank and even when I unplug it for cleaning, I don't lose the water in the lines. Another trick that I like to do is after rinsing all of the gunk out of the filter pads and canister, I will fill it up with water in the sink so there is already no air before I hook it all back up. Very minimal air needs to be purged when I plug it back in and get it running. HTH

 

[Samantha_p]

my spray bar is about 3-4" from button of tank, on my
next water change, I will be filling up the canisters with
water in the sink, something that I didn't do before.,great
advice......than

 

[cjldad]

I would not suggest filling with water from the sink unless you treat it with some type of dechlorinator before you put your media baskets back in.. If you do not, the chlorinated water will kill any nitrifying bacteria living in your filter....

 

[bs6749]

I would not suggest filling with water from the sink unless you treat it with some type of dechlorinator before you put your media baskets back in.. If you do not, the chlorinated water will kill any nitrifying bacteria living in your filter....

Not everyone has chlorines/chloramines from their tap water.

 

[cjldad]

Perhaps I should of said IF you have chlorine.. But still believe it needed to be said if someone was to read it and think there was no need to treat before filling their canister back up... Better safe than someone posting they have dead fish and noone can figure out why...Thanks for pointing out that not everyone has chlorine in their water though..

 

[tmcgee]

True, I didn't think about that disclaimer. I have a well so I have no chlorine in the water. If you do, it needs to be filled with treated water. Thanks for the heads up. That might have confused some people.