Fluval 404 BROKE it's seal.. I need info guys!

[KCK]

Hey I've been reading around but I feel this is a pretty specific problem.


I had an old 404 who's prop went out, after 2 days of incurable awful grinding. I was away from home too much to do anything about it.

Since then, I unplugged the 404,
And replaced the output tip in the aquarium with the intake for a powerhead, using it to pull water through the output hose of the filter. I figured I would pull instead of push since they're designed that way.

It worked for a day or two until I opened the top and put it back on.
When I plugged the powerhead back on,

I watched the canister top slowly pry open, and then just popped one side off and started pumping water on the floor.

On inspection, the canister buckets locking clamp had broken off, and now the top has nowhere to lock to.


This canister bucket is done without extreme gluing and rebracing,

But I need to know what I did wrong because I have another broken fluval 404 sitting around that I want to rig up.



My question is what the hell happened that caused the 404 to (overfill?) and burst?

And is there a better way to mechanically override a 404 with a powerhead?

Did my powerhead have too much or not enough flow?

 

[Ihsnshaik]

It can clogged up the media or sponges and caused too much back pressure...Rather escaping it had no where to go and burst open.

 

[smitty03281964]

That is a big problem with the 404, 405, and 406. They Fluval replaced mine 2 times. It is a crappy design and poor quality. Hagen is full of crap and they know it. You did nothing wrong. The plastic is not thick enough to handle the pressure. So you can try this. I purchased some small pull down straps and placed it on my unit to attach the powerhead to the bucket. Not sure how your unit broke. You can post a picture if you like. BTW the 2nd one they sent me broke 2 weeks later.

 

[KCK]

I had cleaned out the sponges earlier so I know it wasn't clogged..

I understand what you're saying with the straps,

But if pressure is building wouldn't that just eventually burst elsewhere? Or worse, explode the entire bucket?

 

[convict360]

I sold my 406, just got bad vibes from it; that was after it clogged up, despite frequent cleaning

 

[smitty03281964]

I do not believe the sponges clogging cause any more pressure in the unit. Also one of mine broke after 2 weeks. I remember the guy from the fish store where I got it from said that he could not keep taking them back. So he sent customers back to Hagen. It is simply a bad design and very poor quality. Remember these are simply gravity fed systems so I know pressure is not the issue.

 

[smitty03281964]

convict360 that was a very smart move to get rid of it. Also what makes matters worse is that they don't even do any modifications after knowing this for the past 7 years.

 

[tbrown7552]

I have 2 Fluval 404s and have had no issues with them. They came with a tank i bought. They were used of course. When i got them the orings were pretty bad so i bought new ones for the head of the canister and new aquastop valves. Lubed the seals with vaseline to help seal and prevent pinching of the oring. I also ran both of mine for months on end without cleaning them. Maybe mine are exceptions but i guess this explains why they never sold even at 40 bucks each so i just kept them.