malfunctioning (?) heater

[mgkaelen]

hey guys, any help on this will be greatly appreciated. the filter in my 30 gal is not working well. i got it on october (came with my setup); it's a tetra whisper 30... i know it's not a GREAT filter, but it definitely shouldn't have just broke after 6 or so months... right?
i mean, it WORKS. water is trickling out of it, the motor is fine, but something is stuck or SOMETHING. when the water gets sucked up from the tank, it should go through the filters and come out through the waterfall thing, you know? but some of it is just getting backed up and coming right back down into the tank. also, it's coming out really slow/soft. i've changed the cartridge, and nothing has changed. did something get jammed in it? is it just a piece of junk that needs to be replaced? please help!!!!!!

 

[loganj]

The Whisper is actually a pretty good filter. Pull the intake tube and make sure it's not blocked. Make sure the flow valve on the intake tube is fully open. Pull the impeller out and be sure 1) it's not jammed or excessively dirty 2) the magnet spins freely on the shaft 3) the magnet is still glued to the impeller...if the magnet turns, the impeller should turn.
Make sure the impeller and intake tube are properly seated when you put it back together.

 

[mgkaelen]

hey logan,
thanks for such a thorough response. i'm glad i have a few options and hopefully i'll be able to fix it from one of the methods you suggested. HOWEVER, i'm not too hip to the filter parts, so let me try to reiterate what you said so i know i'm doing it right

the intake tube is the tube that sucks up the water into the filter i assume. is this correct? how do i make sure it's fully open? just look in it to see if something is jammed?

what is the impeller? how do i pull it out?

where will i find the magnet on the filter? where is the shaft?

thanks in advance; sorry for all the questions!

 

[dralarms]

Do you still have your book? It would really help in identifying parts. But follow the tube in to the filter, at the base of the tube there is a plastic piece, pull it out, the impeller should be attached to the bottom of it. If not just reach down and pluck it from the base. Also get a tube cleaner, they work great, just shove it through like a gun cleaning rod.

 

[dansemacabre]

Yeah, it's not a bad filter at all. When was the last time you changed the filter media? Mine always backed up when it was time for a change. On a 30, it should have a black bio-sponge. Squeeze that into a bucket. Don't rinse it under tap water or anything, it'll kill your bacteria, just squeeze it out, or rinse it with tank water. They can get pretty blocked up sometimes. HTH!

 

[mgkaelen]

yeah, i always do that! i actually took out the bio sponge completely (i just forgot to put it back into the tank-- should definitely do that) so i don't think that's a factor in it, unfortunately... i thought maybe at first, which is why i took it out, and i've changed the cartridge/media already! i took out the tube and there was a lot of goo in it which i got out which improved it a little but it still has kind of a wimpy output if i push the cartridge all the way down to the bottom.... the flow is alright if i keep it about 1/2 inch from the bottom ("locking it in"), but then that water is just going right through it on the bottom and not getting filtered! weird.