Frustrations w/ Penguin 350's. Help appreciated...

[Myarbro]

I have 2 Marineland Penguin 350's that I am extremely frustrated with. A week or so ago, they both started to make grinding sounds. I tried doing a quick cleaning to see if any of my sand got inside the impeller area but there wasn't any there. Yesterday, I completely pulled them out and washed them in the sink. Removed the intake shaft and impeller and they both look fine. There are no scratches on the impellers magnet (which I read could be causing the sound). I sprayed water into the hole that the impeller sits inside too. Set them back up and the sound was STILL there.

Here is the odd thing... For those of you that are familiar with the assembly of the Penguins, you should understand this. If I pull up on the intake shaft, and thus pulling up the impeller housing, and impeller slightly, the noise significantly reduces. However, since it is sitting a little higher, the flow rate is reduced, and when I put the tops back on, there is a slight rattling because the tops are directly sitting on the intake shaft.

I have searched all over the place for posts and threads about noisy penguins and I have tried everything but I am still having this problem. Do you guys have any ideas or suggestions?

I haven't even had these things but a month or two. I am considering just getting 2x AC 110's but if I can make these darn Penguins work silently, I don't want to have to spend more money.

 

[gveng]

i've never had the 350's, but when i got a free 20g it came with a 150. what solved my noise problem was playing around with the intake tube that sits on the impeller (the U shape). when the filter was on i lifted the tube slightly and the noise went away.

 

[CLDarnell]

i've never had the 350's, but when i got a free 20g it came with a 150. what solved my noise problem was playing around with the intake tube that sits on the impeller (the U shape). when the filter was on i lifted the tube slightly and the noise went away.

+1

Both of my 150s were the same way. A little finessing of the intake tube got them to quiet back down again.

 

[Myarbro]

Yeah, I tried that and like I said, the noise reduces, but not completely. Could it be that I have the intake tube pushed into the Impeller housing too much?

Also, I haven't pulled the motor unit out to do a thorough clean. It seems pretty tight and didn't want to force. Are they capable of being removed?

 

[Jc1119]

I have two 350 that I don't use and two emperors that I do. The intake tube could be pushed too far into the housing... I'd definitely mess around with that

I gotta tell you though, out of all the filters I've owned the marienlands are the noisiest. They work great but I've always found them to be the loudest of the bunch compared to ac's or canisters. Just my experience

 

[pi-eyed]

I have 2 marineland 350's. They can be a pain to keep them quiet. If the intake tube is pushed to far down it wears the rubbers out on the impeller shaft, causing the impeller magnet to vibrate in the motor housing. You can also disassemble the filter and put vinegar in the impeller housing. Let it soak for a while,swab with a Q-tip, rinse and reassemble. Marineland filters are notorious for being loud and for the impellers going out.

I also have 2 ac110's --fabulous filters!!!! I need to replace one of the impellers though--lol. If given the choice I would take the ac 110 over any marineland filter--my 2cents..

----Chris

 

[insanity0x1]

its definitely a known problem you just have to play around with, or you can just be certain and grab the AC's.. i had a 350 and that was the worst buy i ever did, i think within an hour of buying it, it was back on the shelf.. -_- way too noisy for me.

 

[PufferFace11]

Honestly im running 2 Penguin 200's and they work awesome IMO.

Granted i have nothing to compare them to noise wise but mine arent very loud at all.

 

[89must]

i have a 350 for about 3 years never took the impeller out never a problem and silent also have a 200 same no problems soak it all inj vinager over night clean out every thing with a swab and hope fully that works for you

 

[NgaNasty]

i had 2 penguin 100's and a penguin 200 and they worked for about 2 weeks, then made the grinding sound then stopped working. will never buy 1 again