Gill Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Hi off to Hollywood Fish Farm to see what they say about the FX5 , Just 2 years old and this morning I found a cloudy tank and the filter not running. Un plugged and powered up again and nothing .... tried several times checked plugs and power source ... Tank loaded with Zebras... I have the bank statement showing when purchased... Warranty is 3 years ... Just hope they get it sorted ASAP Called Albany and they said I had to take it back to Mt Roskill as that's where i bought it from, so now waiting for them to open ... Gillian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.Eagle Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 ohhh crap!!! zebra plecos? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 No Lake Malawi Cichlids (Zebras) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.Eagle Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 ohh ok. well hope it all works out for you bro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Sorry to hear that but that is why, if I had a loaded tank, I would have more than one filter working for times like this &c:ry Hope they are able to fix it quickly. In the meantime, water changes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Have you stripped down the impellor housing and had a look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Hi off to Hollywood Fish Farm to see what they say about the FX5 , Just 2 years old and this morning I found a cloudy tank and the filter not running. Un plugged and powered up again and nothing .... tried several times checked plugs and power source ... Tank loaded with Zebras... I have the bank statement showing when purchased... Warranty is 3 years ... Just hope they get it sorted ASAP Called Albany and they said I had to take it back to Mt Roskill as that's where i bought it from, so now waiting for them to open ... Gillian Have you tried cleaning the impeller housing? What do you mean it's not running? Pump running but not pumping any water, impeller not spinning at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Filter at HFF, Some background info for you Since September sometimes the filter would run and others it wouldn't but it always fired up after unplugging and plugging back in ... This morning it wasn't running , so unplugged and plugged back in and waited ages for it to finally start, it ran for a couple of minutes stopped started to purge and then stopped ... didn't re start after 30 minutes (usually starts after about 2 minutes ) , unplugged and re plugged again nothing happened. Impeller clean, at HFF the motor ran , they are going to test it and talk to rep on Monday. To me it seems like a power problem.. loose wire perhaps .. I have several spare filters but they are smaller, but will be ok in the short term, and daily WCs . I am seriously going to look at a sump ... This filter has been lots of trouble . Will keep you posted Gillian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted January 3, 2014 Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 Faulty circuit board probably. Could be something screwed up with the shutdown and purge sequence and its randomly turning motor off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 OK I just hope it gets sorted once and for all . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 Well still waiting apparently the staff member I gave the filter too told the store manger I had two fx5s running on the tank so she didn't know it was urgent. Anyway shes going to call the rep and let them know ... I explained as nicely as I could that the unit is still under warranty so please can you get it sorted . :an!gry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Update i have to wait until tomorrow , the motor is being tested/run at the reps . If it doesn't stop working its coming back to me as is and then if it goes wrong again i will have to take it back to HFF . I was told that if the motor wasn't working at all the process would be much simpler,,,,it seems intermittent faults are tricky to deal with . Anyone would think I was making this up... :facepalm: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Update i have to wait until tomorrow , the motor is being tested/run at the reps . If it doesn't stop working its coming back to me as is and then if it goes wrong again i will have to take it back to HFF . I was told that if the motor wasn't working at all the process would be much simpler,,,,it seems intermittent faults are tricky to deal with . Anyone would think I was making this up... :facepalm: Nope, that sounds like I'd expect. Intermittent faults are a PITA, and I wouldn't expect them to replace it solely on your word that it sometimes doesn't work without some testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 A waiting game ... I hope the fault reappears so I can get the filter back in the tank . Should know more on Wednesday ... Fish seem ok I am running an Eheim and daily water changes. Hindsight is wonderful I should have sent the unit back in September when it first started playing up .But then again it was an intermittent fault and seemed to fix itself until this week . Looks like I will be trekking out to HFF Mt Roskill again...I just wonder as the fault is random and if when tested it doesn't show how many times I am going to have to take the motor back, before whoever decides to replace it. I might just leave the Eheim running as a back up. Gillian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottscape Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 Hi Gillian I had pretty much the exact same problem from new with my FX5 which I bought last year, stopping, not restarting after purge etc. Since I have taken to stripping it down and cleaning out the impeller when I clean it out (really easy so long as you have a decent length phillips head) it has run with no problems whatsoever. I put it down to a sensitive sensor or something like that. My substrate is argonite sand and it pulls in a decent amount of that which should cause more problems then it does, I think they are really good filters Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 Yes they are great filters when they work. I did some investigating and managed to get the phone number of the area rep ( Petware ) and explained the problem to her, she hadn't been fully informed of the problems i had been having and great news they are going to replace the motor . So off to HFF tomorrow to pick it up. Gillian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 Finally got the filter sorted, new motor has been sent , but somehow a different unit by that i mean the filter casing was returned to me I know this as the number on the motor unit is different to the one I sent in and it looked decidedly older and it had the filter basket holders in which we didn't leave at HFF . one of the screws that you tighten to secure to top to the bottom is broken ,so I will order a new one. On the plus side I have a FX6 replacement motor, which i thought wouldn't fit but it does... All seems ok . I wont be using HFF Mt Roskil again, and just hope this is filter will now be ok Gill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottscape Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Good to hear its sorted Gillian, these things can be a little frustrating but speaking from experience in customer service sometime things just take time to sort out. I doubt you will get any more problems with a new fx5 motor, but if you do let us know and perhaps we can help troubleshoot. Cheers, Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.