Question about Magnum 350

[Kash]

I just set-up a 50g tank today and hooked up a Magnum 350 I had gotten from another forum member on it. I have a couple of questions about it. First off, I made sure I filled up the canister as much as I could before putting the lid on, but even though I had heard Magnums are supposed to be quite, it's multiple times louder than my Rena XP3. Is this normal? One other question that I had is about the flow rate. I used a T connector to set-up the bio wheel system on one side of the tank and the regular output on the other side. The flow rate is fairly slow because of the T but there seems to be enough water agitation. From your experience, do you guys think I should do away with the regular output and have all the flow directed to the bio wheels, or will this set up work fine? I've never used bio wheels before and these two seem to sometimes turn all the way around, but usually just rock back and forth really fast which covers about 75% of the wheels.

Thanks,

Kash

 

[Jojocircus]

Id do away with the t. A new biowheel should spin all the way around freely & increase airation. An old ( 6 weeks or so ) biowheel should slow down & stutter but still turn all the way.

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[terror27]

I never uses the bio wheel I like the movement of the water with the standard out port . I run a second hob like ac 30 with sponge and fluval rings and even crushed coral . Or a sponge filter in the tank . I never have a problem with amonia

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[Kash]

Did away with the T and both wheels seem to be turning great.

Terror27, right now I don't have access to another HOB, so the 350 is all this tank is gonna get, for a little while at least.

 

[808_fairladyz]

Mines is loud also :what::thumbdown:
Never liked that thing, but it does it's job well enough.
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[Gill Blue]

what kind of loud? a knocking or chattering noise could be a damaged impeller or impeller casing. if you mean a gurgling sputtering noise I'd go with air in the system.
the air in the system was a normal thing for me until I quit filling it up before I put it back together. after I figured out the better way of assembling it and then filling it through the hoses worked much better for avoiding air contamination.
I don't know if this applies to yours though, mine is about 30 years old and is only kept in case of emergencies. I haven't used it full time for around 20 years and the last filter emergency I had was around 10 years ago. I don't even think they had biowheels when I got mine.

 

[Kash]

I don't think I have any air trapped in there. The majority of the noise seems to be from vibration. Part of it is probably from the impeller magnet which seems to have been slightly scratched from some sand that got in the canister.

 

[jdhuegel1]

Even if the impeller magnet is scratched up, it should still be quiet as it 'floats' in the housing. I'd turn the unit off, remove the housing and double-check there's nothing in there with the impeller magnet. Even the most tiny particles can bring out noise. Also, put some rubber feet on the bottom of the filter if it sits bare on a wood floor.

FWIW I have 3 of these. All the impellers are beat to crap from years of abuse and they're still quiet as a mouse. Make sure your lid seal is good as they start getting noisy when all the air doesn't purge out. You can also replace the magnets for about 20 bucks if you're sold on them being the culprit.

 

[Kash]

Thanks for the suggestions. I took it apart and didn't find anything in there. I did however happen to press down on the top of the unit and for a few seconds the noise went down considerably, but I have no idea how to make the lid stay on any tighter as all the clips are properly closed. Also, when the noise came back after a few seconds, pressing the lid no longer made it go away. I also went to Lowes and got some plastic furniture pads I put under the unit which took some of the noise away, but the majority of it is still there.

 

[jdhuegel1]

Thanks for the suggestions. I took it apart and didn't find anything in there. I did however happen to press down on the top of the unit and for a few seconds the noise went down considerably, but I have no idea how to make the lid stay on any tighter as all the clips are properly closed. Also, when the noise came back after a few seconds, pressing the lid no longer made it go away. I also went to Lowes and got some plastic furniture pads I put under the unit which took some of the noise away, but the majority of it is still there.

Sounds like you have air getting in there. Take the lid off and put silicon lube around the O-ring as it helps seal. Make sure the mating surface inside the canister where it seals is clean too. You can use pliers to adjust the metal clips if they're worn and not holding the lid down too. I think the o-ring seal is gettin ya. Hope you get it worked out!


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