Fluval 406 Noise!!

[Warren705]

Hi Everyone, First Post ever on the site, been reading for ages, thought it might be time to join in.

Anyway my issue,

I bought a new Fluval 406 Canister yesterday, which is being advertised as "Whisper Quiet" That says to me that I should not be able to hear it outside of the cabinet, or accross the room, or in another room? But I can..

I have had various canisters from Ehiem, Tetra Tec, All Pond Solutions (Very good). Which all have a soothing hum, but the Fluval is oddly loud?

I have never had a Fluval before so if anyone has one in particular the 406 I would appriciate your experiences with these canisters. I plan on exchanging it for another tomorrow morning, so I will let you know how I get on with that.

Things I have checked :

Air locks - I am certain I have cleared all the air from filter. Tipping it and shaking it out. No more bubbles at all coming out.

Impeller - I have taken out the impleller looked for damage, it seems okay except for what look like scratches on the plastic ends. No damage to the magnet part though. 2 small white "chips" fell out of it, But I have no idea where they came from. These are my main suspects for the scratches and issues.

Ceramic Shaft - took this out, looks un damaged, seems to to be the right length. The rubber gromit is not attached to the shaft but seems to be stuck inside the chamber? Is this right or should the shaft have the rubber gromit on it?

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks all

Warren

[Retired_AF]

Without hearing it, it's hard to say. I would check the impeller again closely. Those 'chips'(assuming they are the same color as the impeller) may be small pieces of the impeller blades and losing them has put it out of balance causing it to vibrate much like a car tire that is out of balance. Make sure the impeller seats fully without rubbing against anything. The shaft and grommits are supposed to do that, but if they are off-center the impeller can rub against its housing.

They could also be parts of the ceramic. Does the filter pump water at all? if not, then the ceramic is broken (I had that happen on a different filter) and the magnet is turning but not the impeller blades which is very noisy.

My 305 is totally silent, so yours should be as well.

[Warren705]

Hey Jim,

Thanks for your reply, i didn't think to check the blades, but it would make sense. I will take a look.

Spoke to swallow aquatics, they are going to exchange it for me tomorrow.
I will let you know how the next one is.
Cheers

[Mogurako]

They can be noisy if they aren't primed correctly and there's to much air in the canister or hoses.

[Phranque]

Originally Posted by Mogurako

They can be noisy if they aren't primed correctly and there's to much air in the canister or hoses.

My thought. Does it sound mechanical or "gurgly"?

I have some older '04 series canisters, and after being cleaned out, there are inevitably some air bubbles trapped in the biomax that work their way out once flow resumes and gurgle around the impeller..... it just takes a jiggle or two to get them out. Once they're gone, I can sit 4' away from my tank & not hear it running.

[Warren705]

Well when I'm across the room, And I do mean 10 feet away its a loud hum /buzz, when i get up close its def a mechanical sound, like grinding. The unit is vibrating quite a lot. I think the impeller is out of balance or something.

My issue now is, I have to shut down my tanks only filter, and switch to an Eheim Ecco 2232, move the media from the fluvial into the ecco and hope that the bacteria are not too affected by it. Seriously concerned about destroying my bio filter. Anyone had to do this? I will loose over half the turn over for about 2 hours. Then fingers crossed my new 406 will be fine and I will be able to move it all back.

Hope i do not trigger a spike!

Anyone got any tips..

[Mogurako]

I normally get that sound if there isn't enough water in the canister.

[Phranque]

Originally Posted by Warren705

Well when I'm across the room, And I do mean 10 feet away its a loud hum /buzz, when i get up close its def a mechanical sound, like grinding. The unit is vibrating quite a lot. I think the impeller is out of balance or something.

My issue now is, I have to shut down my tanks only filter, and switch to an Eheim Ecco 2232, move the media from the fluvial into the ecco and hope that the bacteria are not too affected by it. Seriously concerned about destroying my bio filter. Anyone had to do this? I will loose over half the turn over for about 2 hours. Then fingers crossed my new 406 will be fine and I will be able to move it all back.

Hope i do not trigger a spike!

Anyone got any tips..

You'll be fine. You won't destroy the BB by having it out for a while, as long as it doesn't dry out for too long.

Check the impeller for damage, and pull the impeller out & check the shaft. I've never delt with the 06 series, but my 04's are ceramic shafts, and if it's broken it will let the impeller wobble around in the housing, which will create quite a racket. If neither of those apply, run the filter with no media in it using an elevated 5 gallon bucket of water and give it a few gentle shakes to see if it's air bubbles.

[Warren705]

Thanks for all the replys I got a new 406, although the shop just wanted to give me a new impeller. Its only 2 days old, so I argued and got a whole new filter. with all the extra media hoses etc. Handy to have spares.

Changed it over, the new one is quieter that the old one, still not as whisper quiet as I had hoped, its not silent. So I have no idea, I will let it settle down and hope its just some trapped air somewhere in the system.

It anyone is interested in the 406 let me know and I will put some info up about it.

Cheers

Warren705

[Warren705]

Still annoyingly loud! Must be something I'm doing? What are the chances of 2 dodgy filters.

Are there any tips for getting air out the system? Where can air get trapped? Could it be something I've Done with the pipes or valve?

[paytertot]

The only time I've had a loud noise with mine is when I first got it and didn't prime it enough. If i remember right, i believe My instructions also told me that you shouldn't remove the impeller shaft unless it is broken. But I could be wrong. I really hope you can resolve this problem, because I've always had good experiences with fluval filters. Keep us posted!

[richpowell1989]

I had this but what I did was prime the filter then plug it in it worked fine and so quite I didn't hear a thing

[paytertot]

Originally Posted by paytertot

The only time I've had a loud noise with mine is when I first got it and didn't prime it enough. If i remember right, i believe My instructions also told me that you shouldn't remove the impeller shaft unless it is broken. But I could be wrong. I really hope you can resolve this problem, because I've always had good experiences with fluval filters. Keep us posted!

Ok I'm sorry, I just did my research (as I should have before I opened my mouth) and found that since I have a smaller fluval, I would be the only one here who can't remove my impeller shaft, but YOU can. My apologies.