Priming a canister filter

[Insane79]

So, I have my 120 on a Rena XP3.  And I am starting to think it is a piece of cr*p.  I have a miserable time priming it after I have taken it apart to clean (which I have to do weekly cause the thank has turtles in it).  I spend more time trying to prime then I do cleaning it!!

It says to pop open the little valve on the bottle, fill the line until there is no air in it, cap the line and put the valvy thing back down.  Then the water should start flowing.  The only thing is I have to do it, litterally 20 times before it actually starts working.  Any suggestions (or things I may be doing wrong) to get this thing to prime on the first try?

[darkdep]

Yep.  I use Fluval 403's a lot, which have no self-priming mechanism.  What I do is put the intake in the water, seal everything, then suck on the output nozzle until water comes out.  Then plug it in and away she goes.

[Aiglos]

Insane:  I do not understand what you are trying to do to prime it but the XP3 is probally the EASIEST thing I have ever primed.

When you first setup your XP3  you will set it up where you want it to go,  ensure that the canister is below the tank,  undo the black cap on the filter and with the funnel fill the intake tube put the cap back on and then pull the lever on the canister and it will start filing up by itself.

once you have done this,  for cleaning just pull the lever up and clean the canister,  the with the empty canister connect the lever and push it down and it will fill up.   I have 2 xp3s on my 125 and I clean them both every week  it honestly takes me 5 minutes to clean both canisters and prime them and start them up.  

I have probally explained wrong but thats a sticker that should have came with your xp3 and should be put on the canister that has step by step instructions

[manytanks]

We have the same filter, and I once had the same problem: after 20 minutes of effort I could not figure out why it wasn't priming. Figured it out eventually, and then <blush> saw that the main problem was actually described in the manual's fine print about priming. Here are two things to check:

1. Make sure when you flip the lever up to remove the inlet/outlet section prior to cleaning the cannister that you don't let any air get in the lines that lead to the tank. If this does happen (unlikely) then manipulate the line/s to make sure the air rises back towards the tank. This is actually more important for the line feeding water into the cannister.

2. More importantly, make sure there's no excess tubing between the tank and the cannister, especially if this lets the tubing fall below the level of the cannister (ie. the extra length is resting on the floor before entering the filter). If this is the case, try to keep the line up at the level of the top of the cannister by shortening the tubing length or placing something under it.

Unless there's a blockage in one of the spigots inside the section that dis/connects to the top of the filter with the flip-latch (had an SAE get stuck in the inflow spigot once...!!) this ought to solve your problem...

[manytanks]

One more very useful thing: you need to pull the AC power plug at the same time you flip the latch up. This maintains the prime and ensures that no air is drawn into the two tubing lines.

However, you don't need to flip the latch down at the same time that you plug it back in once you're ready to go again. Just re-seat the latching section, flip the lever down...and then plug the unit back in.

Let us know how you make out...

[kennyman]

I do not clean the lines. Once every other month I do the following:

unplug, lift leaver / carry unit to sink  and Clean / reasemble and carry back to tank "empty of water" / insert and clamp hose unit / leave for few mins untill it has self primed / plug back in.

I have never had to re-prime mine ever. Read your maual. There is a trouble shooting guild there that helped my when I first got the thing.

[Insane79]

So you guys don't open the black cap and refill that line it every time you clean it?  Maybe that is where I am going wrong.  I got the impression from the manual you had to do it every time you flipped the lever.  But you still wait the 2 min before plugging it back in right?

[kennyman]

Thats right. You are losing all the water in the line that creates the siphon if you are opening the cap when the canister is filling.
The canister should be empty from cleaning. The cap should not have been opened. When you reconect the valve uint it opens the valve and the water siphons from the tank to fill the canister body. If you crack the cap at this time air comes into the line and breaks the siphon. You need to wait to plug it in untill all the air from the canister body is forced through the outflow line, otherwise you get air traped in the housing and it gets noisy.

[Insane79]

I was opening the black cap (and pouring more water in) before putting the lever back down again (after cleaning the canister).  Umph! That sounds like it is my problem.  Thanks!

[manytanks]

"So you guys don't open the black cap and refill that line every time you clean it?"

Heck no! Kennyman is dead right about there being a siphon in the line leading to the cannister. When you unlatch the cannister top the siphon is still there, waiting for you to re-seat the top after cleaning and start the siphon flowing again. Removing the cap breaks the siphon, so no water flows (actually, gets "pulled)" into the cannister.

But try this: clean your cannister and then top it up to its normal operating level with water. Then carefully (it's heavy) carry it back to the tank, re-seat the top, and plug it in at the same time as you secure the latch. Not only does this maintain the siphon as Kennyman says but it makes it unnecessary to wait several minutes for the siphon action to fill the cannister and for the cannister itself to get cleared of air - it'll start to operate right away.

Try it, and forget the cap! <grin>  You only need to refill at the cap if you've somehow lost the siphon priming.