jtown Posted December 20, 2002 Share Posted December 20, 2002 Am I the only one with a problem with the Minijet series? I have/still own 2 404's and 1 606 and all of them stopped letting me plug and unplug them. When I'd unplug one that was submerged and then plug it back it, it won't work. It just vibrates and pushes no air. Everytime I have to pull it off the wall and bring it out of the tank and let some air in. What's the deal? Link to comment
SteveC Posted December 20, 2002 Share Posted December 20, 2002 Air? If your problem is that it doesn't push water, try taking it apart and cleaning out the impeller housing. Link to comment
Twins Guy Posted December 20, 2002 Share Posted December 20, 2002 i've had the same issues with mine but still like them very much. i've seen the problem most often when i unplug the pump to do a water change. in the process of draining water from the tank the pump becomes emersed and the impeller chamber fills with air. if when plugged in it doesn't fire right up, try tipping it slightly towards the surface (to allow air to escape). you should be able to do this without completely detaching it from the wall of the tank. just be careful not to shoot water out of the tank when it does start. BTW-i've had this problem with other brands of PHs as well. HTH! rich Link to comment
jtown Posted December 20, 2002 Author Share Posted December 20, 2002 Originally posted by Twins Guy i've had the same issues with mine but still like them very much. i've seen the problem most often when i unplug the pump to do a water change. in the process of draining water from the tank the pump becomes emersed and the impeller chamber fills with air. if when plugged in it doesn't fire right up, try tipping it slightly towards the surface (to allow air to escape). you should be able to do this without completely detaching it from the wall of the tank. just be careful not to shoot water out of the tank when it does start. BTW-i've had this problem with other brands of PHs as well. HTH! rich ya, I can get it to fire back up, but I have to do this everytime I unplug the damn thing. big pain in the ass. I thought mine was broken so I complained to the company and they sent me a new one, but after a week the new onestarted doing it too. I've tried many times to clean it taking the thing apart etc. bah! Link to comment
SteveC Posted December 20, 2002 Share Posted December 20, 2002 If you're turning it off but not taking it out of the water, it shouldn't do that. If you are taking it out of the water (or letting the water level go below the pump during a water change), maybe you should try keeping under the water while it's off. I have two minijet 404s and I never have this problem, even though they do get above the water level during a water change. However, I keep them sideways all the time. Maybe that has something to do with it, since the air can't become trapped in the impeller housing. As Twins Guy said, you'll have this problem with any powerhead. Try running them sideways instead. Link to comment
jtown Posted December 20, 2002 Author Share Posted December 20, 2002 mine is sideways ... haha. maybe I think it get stuck because there isn't enough air to get it started or something. I guess I can try different configurations like upside down right side up. the pump is always submerged and never breaks the surface. Like right now if I just unplugged it and plugged it back in, it wouldn't start. pretty annoying ... maybe I got some lemons. 3 to be exact. Link to comment
LSUtiger Posted December 21, 2002 Share Posted December 21, 2002 Mine does the same thing. I can unplug it, not take it out of the water, plug it back in, and it will just vibrate and not pump water. My other 404 will start back up just fine though. It really is annoying, b/c like you said, you have to let some air in and then it will restart but by that point there are tons of bubbles going flowing through the tank. Mark Link to comment
BCOrchidGuy Posted December 21, 2002 Share Posted December 21, 2002 You said you have taken it apart and cleaned it many times but have you cleaned the inside of the impeller, where the shaft goes? You may have some coral dust in there and it may be giving just enough friction to keep it from starting. Look at the shaft for obvious signs of scratching. You may also just want to replace the whole impeller assembly. Link to comment
jtown Posted December 21, 2002 Author Share Posted December 21, 2002 Originally posted by BCOrchidGuy You said you have taken it apart and cleaned it many times but have you cleaned the inside of the impeller, where the shaft goes? You may have some coral dust in there and it may be giving just enough friction to keep it from starting. Look at the shaft for obvious signs of scratching. You may also just want to replace the whole impeller assembly. ya, I'm going to try cleaning it one more time. Link to comment
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