I'm a big fan of Marineland Emperor filters. They are true work horses. I ran a Emperor 280 for 23 years. Never an issue with the impeller.
I eventually replaced the Emperor 280 with a couple of AC 110'S. After years of dealing with the noisy AC's, I decided to go back to the Marineland Emperor, and bought four Emperor 400's.
All went well for four or five months, then one by one the impellers began to fail. After replacing six impellers in as many months, I came to the conclusion that Marineland's new impellers are garbage and greatly inferior to the 23 y.o. impeller of my old Emperor 280.
The 400's impeller has a sliding, expansion joint located near the base fins, which slightly pull apart when in operation. The impeller breaks down when the expansion joint fails and pulls too far apart. Although the broken impeller still marginally functions, it makes a lot of noise and is far less efficient.
Evidently this is a common problem with Emperor 400 impellers. A fishkeeper - YouTuber found a solution to the problem.
Super gluing the upper and lower parts of the impeller together, which eliminates the sliding action of the expansion joint, makes the impeller one solid piece, which repairs the unit.
I superglued all six of my broken impellers as described above. I had four successes and two failures. The repaired impellers run quietly and efficiently. The resulting flow rate is even greater than before.
Why are the Marineland Emperor 400 impellers made with a unnecessary sliding expansion joint?
I used too much superglue on two of the impellers, which made them unbalanced & wobbly. My bad. Lol
We have all learned how to customize HOB filters to make them more efficient and economical simply by filling the media box with sponges and ceramic media, and never using the commercial replacement filter pads.
The manufacturers of HOB filters and replacement filter pads have probably suffered a huge monetary loss.
I spent $120 replacing six impellers for four relatively new Marineland 400's. I would hate to think that Marineland is purposely manufacturing subpar impellers, which necessitate replacement, just to increase profits.
Well guys, spending $5 on a tube of Reef superglue is far better than constantly spending $20 on a Marineland Emperor 400 replacement impeller.
I eventually replaced the Emperor 280 with a couple of AC 110'S. After years of dealing with the noisy AC's, I decided to go back to the Marineland Emperor, and bought four Emperor 400's.
All went well for four or five months, then one by one the impellers began to fail. After replacing six impellers in as many months, I came to the conclusion that Marineland's new impellers are garbage and greatly inferior to the 23 y.o. impeller of my old Emperor 280.
The 400's impeller has a sliding, expansion joint located near the base fins, which slightly pull apart when in operation. The impeller breaks down when the expansion joint fails and pulls too far apart. Although the broken impeller still marginally functions, it makes a lot of noise and is far less efficient.
Evidently this is a common problem with Emperor 400 impellers. A fishkeeper - YouTuber found a solution to the problem.
Super gluing the upper and lower parts of the impeller together, which eliminates the sliding action of the expansion joint, makes the impeller one solid piece, which repairs the unit.
I superglued all six of my broken impellers as described above. I had four successes and two failures. The repaired impellers run quietly and efficiently. The resulting flow rate is even greater than before.
Why are the Marineland Emperor 400 impellers made with a unnecessary sliding expansion joint?
I used too much superglue on two of the impellers, which made them unbalanced & wobbly. My bad. Lol
We have all learned how to customize HOB filters to make them more efficient and economical simply by filling the media box with sponges and ceramic media, and never using the commercial replacement filter pads.
The manufacturers of HOB filters and replacement filter pads have probably suffered a huge monetary loss.
I spent $120 replacing six impellers for four relatively new Marineland 400's. I would hate to think that Marineland is purposely manufacturing subpar impellers, which necessitate replacement, just to increase profits.
Well guys, spending $5 on a tube of Reef superglue is far better than constantly spending $20 on a Marineland Emperor 400 replacement impeller.
