Review on Fluval External Fish Tank Filter by Audrey Ortiz

Update: I have to say the Hagan/Fluval customer service is pretty good. However, the first person I spoke to a few weeks ago did not provide such a comprehensive analysis of the filter issue as this second person did yesterday. However, a second person told me that the leaks I found in the filter were due to the o-rings on the pipe assembly and throughout the filter. I thought the leaks were due to the large o-ring surrounding the entire pump assembly, but that wasn't the case. God, another leak! This time a tiny drop came out of the connection between the hoses and the connectors on the filter. I suggest that you unscrew the red nuts from the end of the pipe about 1 inch, leaving only 1 inch of the pipe exposed. Cut this tube straight and clean with a knife. Then slide the tube all the way down until it hits the plastic rim. If you have trouble with this, use some silicone to help you out. Then tighten the nut until it stops. Basically it was anywhere my filter could leak. In addition, it is a powerful and excellent filter. Great care must be taken when installing all o-rings and hoses as mentioned above. The leaks I found on both filters were a small trickle near the handles. That immediately lit a light bulb in the customer service representative. She said the small o-rings on the connector assembly needed to be properly lubricated with silicone grease. Long story short, I used a small brush and went over the periphery of both rings a few times to make sure they were covered in grease. After about 12 hours I checked, there are no leaks at all. She told me that the water actually went through one of the o-rings and back into the pump assembly and then down the handles. Long story short, I would use a brush to apply a thin coat of lube to all of those o-rings when opening the filter for service. With lube on the large Orion, the pump assembly should slide onto the main body fairly easily. Both customer service reps suggested pushing one side of the handle all the way until there is no gap and then locking that handle fully. Repeat the process on the other side. There should be almost no gap around the entire perimeter. In other words, don't rely on the handles alone to lower the pump assembly. ------ LEAKAGE! I am a mechanical engineer by trade and have tried to stop this filter from leaking about 6 times without success. Yes, I know I can return it and get an RMA from the manufacturer. I found a few things that could be the cause. First, there are a number of voids or scratches related to the cavities of their injection mold. This is caused by overused molds that are not properly maintained. The O-ring cannot seal such small cracks. However, I have carefully sanded and polished them, but the leaks are still there. I have found that it takes a lot of force to place the motor assembly onto the main reservoir with the o-ring installed. With the O-ring removed, however, both parts can be connected quite easily. Therefore, I believe that the large forces required to fully seat the two parts are causing one of the parts to deform due to the forces of the o-ring. Bad bad design. Just for fun I'll try to find a smaller diameter o-ring to reduce these forces and see if that solves the problem. At the same time, I suggest that you DO NOT buy this filter assembly due to this leakage problem. I would say I changed about 10 gallons of water in a week. My floor is tiled and is on the first floor, so the house hasn't been damaged. Do you want to take a risk? Much luck.