I have a penguin bio-wheel 100 that I bought less than a month ago I believe and it quit on me a few weeks ago, not long after I got it. I tried to get it working again today and it's still not doing anything. Help?
Why won't my penguin bio-wheel work?
- Thread starter Kayota
- Start date
I might be wrong on the timeframe. Also I was wondering if sand might be the problem. This is the second filter I've had quit on me when I was trying to upgrade the filter on my 10 gallon with sand substrate. I gave up and went back to the old one.
I've had four of the penguins eventually wear out due to the impeller being degraded away by sand particles. Worst filter I've ever had when it comes to sand, the emperors are great with sand though
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Thanks. It was less than a week but I figured the sand was it. I was trying to use it on my 55 today since it needs a little extra filtration but I still couldn't get it working.
I would disassemble the filter, clean all the parts, check the impeller also. Reassemble the filter, fill it with water and plug it in.
I agree with the emperor line of marineland filters. They do handle sand pretty well, you may need to rinse/clean the filter out occassionaly.
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I had the same problem with penguins when I had sand, it would burn up the impeller. If you saved your receipt you should be able to return it. If not, go to the store and tell them exactly what say you bought it and explain that it doesn't work, sometimes they can look it up.
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+1 but you may want to trade it in doe an emperor if possible otherwise you'll be having to take ir apart quite often.
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I've had great experiences with my penguin filters even with sand. I did have a problem with one that I bought a year back. What I found the problem was... the impeller on this particular one (newer model) seems to come loose once in a while (only during maintenance), and comes apart just a little making the impeller unable to function properly. It's kind of hard to explain... At the top of the impeller (oposite side of the magnet) it seems to come a bit loose. Just make sure that everything fits together tightly. On the ONE that I own that comes loose there is this piece of plastic that goes into the part where the "blades" of the impeller sit. This piece of plastic holds the "bladed" part tightly together to the impeller assembly. Once in a while after a cleaning out the filter this piece of plastic comes loose and I have to push it snugly back together. As long as the main motor still works the filter will function...
I have penguins that work great from the 90's. I also have newer ones ranging from when they first came out to my newest one I bought a couple months ago. They all work flawlessly. I got eight penguins running right now in fact... That being said I really like Aquaclears and Fluval C4's in tems of HOB's.
In some instances because of space requirements (really hard maintenance), fear of flooding in certain areas, and cost... Penguins will still find a home on some of my setups. I've had the opposite luck with emperors than most of you. Bought an emperor and a penguin at roughly the same time. The emperors flow seemed to become really weak overtime (motor still works and still could replace the impeller), I decided to just replace it with a newer penguin. The penguin that I bought at the same time still runs like a champ and is one of the most quiet HOB's I have owned... even though its from the 90's. Over time the impellers on both models become damaged (plastic becomes brittle and breaks, thus making the impeller sit on the shaft loosely). When the emperors impeller gets damaged they become really weak, but when the penguins impellers become damaged they still work fine.
I have penguins that work great from the 90's. I also have newer ones ranging from when they first came out to my newest one I bought a couple months ago. They all work flawlessly. I got eight penguins running right now in fact... That being said I really like Aquaclears and Fluval C4's in tems of HOB's.
In some instances because of space requirements (really hard maintenance), fear of flooding in certain areas, and cost... Penguins will still find a home on some of my setups. I've had the opposite luck with emperors than most of you. Bought an emperor and a penguin at roughly the same time. The emperors flow seemed to become really weak overtime (motor still works and still could replace the impeller), I decided to just replace it with a newer penguin. The penguin that I bought at the same time still runs like a champ and is one of the most quiet HOB's I have owned... even though its from the 90's. Over time the impellers on both models become damaged (plastic becomes brittle and breaks, thus making the impeller sit on the shaft loosely). When the emperors impeller gets damaged they become really weak, but when the penguins impellers become damaged they still work fine.