Help w/ Rena Filstar XP2!! -- Update

[JenNewbie]

I got the filter media in today, so I set up my Rena Filstar XP2, and as far as I can tell, it's not doing anything. I've stopped and started it half a dozen times, there are no leaks, I've cleaned and checked and rechecked the impeller and I'm about ready to pound my head against the wall to see if that helps. At one point, I did discover I had the hoses hooked up backwards, but after that I can't find anything that I may have hooked up wrong or that is loose/tight/whatever.... ARRGH!! It sits there and makes noise, but no water is moving out of the spray bar. I guess everything is pointing to the impeller, but other than cleaning it, how do you fix an impeller?

[savga]

Is it primed? Did the canister fill with water when you connected the hoses? You can take a look at the impellor by removing the hoses, taking the top off and removing the disk-like cover. You should be able to see the impellor then. Make sure it can turn. You can breifly plug it in to see if the impellor will turn but dont run it while dry. It also seems that I had a hard time priming it when it was new. The water did not seem to want to flow through the dry sponges. Try wringing them under water a few times to wet them well. Hope this helps

[JenNewbie]

I cleaned the impeller twice, and as far as I could see, it was turning freely. Every time I unplug it, the outgoing water drains back into the filter. When I plug it in, I get a satisfying "whoosh" sound and the outgoing hose goes up to the tank, but nothing comes out of the spray bar. Meanwhile the filter sits there humming away, but not doing anything. I'm going to break it down again tonight and reassemble it and maybe it will magically work. And the HOB filter I'm running it on for backup sounds like it's trying to rattle itself apart... *sigh*

[olavito]

You have to make sure that the IN hose is filled, if you bought the filter new it should have come with a funnel like device that you use, the top part of the IN hose attaches to a plastic tube that opens from the top, you pot the funnel there and fill it with water then turn it on, try that.

[JenNewbie]

Well, after some trial and error, it's working! It wasn't running with the activated carbon pillow in the filter. I took it out and it's running fine on the sponges alone. Should I use the ceramic material in the top compartment, then, or just use the sponges?

Did you have one of the mesh trays placed on top of the carbon? If not, maybe some of the carbon's bag material got sucked up into the impeller and caused it to turn to slow to operate correctly.

Also, did you read the instructions manual? The intake and exhaust are clearly color coded. The manual also clearly explains how to prime the filter before each start up.

Not trying to be hostile or a smarty pants by any means, but the instrution manual on XP's is clearly written and shows how to set the filter up. Is'nt it men that never read instructions or ask for directions?????

[JenNewbie]

All I can say is, I wish I had your manual, because mine has vague text and it was the pictures that were most helpful. I don't know if the hoses were color-coded at some point, but my filter was bought used, so all I got was the manual and a million plastic pieces in a bag. I wasn't thrilled about using a carbon filter anyway, so I'll get some ceramic cylinders and use them instead. But, as of this morning, filter's running strong and no leaks (yay!).

[malkore]

You should have 2 coarse sponges in the very bottom, with 2 medium sponges on top. then in the second basket, you'd run the ceramic rings, or the bio-stars (kinda spongey, porous things), with the plastic grates on top. If you wan tyou can run their micro filter pads (or filter floss) sandwiched between the two plastic grates. then you snap on the top for the second basket.