Tunze 3162 doesn't work.....frustrated

[JayHawkScott]

I purchased two of the Tunze 3162 filters and have had nothing but problems with them. I contacted BRS about the issues and they sent me another unit but they all have the same issues. When you turn on the pump a couple microbubbles come out of the pump head and very little flow. Turning the pump on and off doesn't help either. If you take the filter out of the water while the pump is running and drain the water out of it and then put the pump back in the water while the pump continues to run it starts moving water like it is supposed to. It will run fine but if you shut it off you are screwed and you have to remove the filter from the water again to prime the pump. I have taken all three of the filters apart and can't find any issues, the motor runs just fine but if you try and start the pump while submerged more than likely it won't work. I love Tunze stuff but I'm so frustrated with these filters that I want to throw them in the trash but they weren't cheap. Any suggestions on what I can do?

 

[rvitko]

Here are the causes I can think of-

1) Packing the filter, if you ever used an old fashioned box filter with an air lift output, that is about how these should be packed, lightly. The included floss should be fluffed up and is at least 2 if not 3 fills. Any media should be loose and coarse grained. If it is packed tight, the pump cannot start and pump. A proper fill would be the blue pad, about a fist full of floss fluffed up, just enough to form about a 1-1.5" deep pillow and about a half cup of a coarse grained chemical media or a larger grained bio media.

2) The bottom intake needs to be pulled down to take in water, the pipe is pushed in for packing, it can be hard to pull down as there is not enough to grab, but if you push it down from the inside to get it started, you can grab it and pull it down. The strainer slides up and down the pipe to serve as a flow regulation for bottom vs surface intake. It can run from just teh surface intake but is more prone to being starved for water.

3) Make sure the flow regulation on the pump is not turned down so far it is part of the problem.

Every now and then, we have a pump that the magnet is weak, they struggle to start in that case even stand alone. I would not think this would be likely on 3 pieces and does not match the description.

 

[JayHawkScott]

Here are the causes I can think of-

1) Packing the filter, if you ever used an old fashioned box filter with an air lift output, that is about how these should be packed, lightly. The included floss should be fluffed up and is at least 2 if not 3 fills. Any media should be loose and coarse grained. If it is packed tight, the pump cannot start and pump. A proper fill would be the blue pad, about a fist full of floss fluffed up, just enough to form about a 1-1.5" deep pillow and about a half cup of a coarse grained chemical media or a larger grained bio media.

2) The bottom intake needs to be pulled down to take in water, the pipe is pushed in for packing, it can be hard to pull down as there is not enough to grab, but if you push it down from the inside to get it started, you can grab it and pull it down. The strainer slides up and down the pipe to serve as a flow regulation for bottom vs surface intake. It can run from just teh surface intake but is more prone to being starved for water.

3) Make sure the flow regulation on the pump is not turned down so far it is part of the problem.

Every now and then, we have a pump that the magnet is weak, they struggle to start in that case even stand alone. I would not think this would be likely on 3 pieces and does not match the description.

Thank you very much for the reply. I will try and pull down the bottom return and see if that helps. In an effort to try and get it running I have removed all of the filter material. These filters are going to be used in a quarantine system so I won't be running any filter media.

 

[rvitko]

I assume the surface skimmer is submerged at least a 1/2" or so?

 

[JayHawkScott]

Thank you very much for the reply. I will try and pull down the bottom return and see if that helps. In an effort to try and get it running I have removed all of the filter material. These filters are going to be used in a quarantine system so I won't be running any filter media.

Here are the causes I can think of-

1) Packing the filter, if you ever used an old fashioned box filter with an air lift output, that is about how these should be packed, lightly. The included floss should be fluffed up and is at least 2 if not 3 fills. Any media should be loose and coarse grained. If it is packed tight, the pump cannot start and pump. A proper fill would be the blue pad, about a fist full of floss fluffed up, just enough to form about a 1-1.5" deep pillow and about a half cup of a coarse grained chemical media or a larger grained bio media.

2) The bottom intake needs to be pulled down to take in water, the pipe is pushed in for packing, it can be hard to pull down as there is not enough to grab, but if you push it down from the inside to get it started, you can grab it and pull it down. The strainer slides up and down the pipe to serve as a flow regulation for bottom vs surface intake. It can run from just teh surface intake but is more prone to being starved for water.

3) Make sure the flow regulation on the pump is not turned down so far it is part of the problem.

Every now and then, we have a pump that the magnet is weak, they struggle to start in that case even stand alone. I would not think this would be likely on 3 pieces and does not match the description.

So I tried to extend that return and still no change. I made sure that the flow rate was set to maximum and tried again. When I put it back in the tank it did seem to work better so I turned off the pump and back on but like before no flow.

 

[JayHawkScott]

I assume the surface skimmer is submerged at least a 1/2" or so?

Probably not a half inch, I'll add water and try again.

 

[JayHawkScott]

Probably not a half inch, I'll add water and try again.

Added water, still no difference.

 

[rvitko]

We aren't very far apart, I am in Austin, could I get one back to test? I would provide a return label. I can also send you an impeller, we could try that.

 

[JayHawkScott]

Added water, still no difference.

We aren't very far apart, I am in Austin, could I get one back to test? I would provide a return label. I can also send you an impeller, we could try that.

I would be happy to send you two of them. One seems to be working but the other two are a no go.

 

[rvitko]

We would just need one back, whatever is the cause on the one, will give us the answer for the other and we can send the part. Can you PM me your address and a copy of the receipt?

 

[craiginphoenix]

So I have another thread but have realized that this is my problem. It works until it is turned off and then when it is turned on again it doesn't start working until I pull the entire unit out and let it "cough". I have tested it 3 times and this result occurs every time.

 

[rvitko]

Check my reply in your other thread, I believe this is the cause, it is a very simple fix, the flow adjustment is off by one notch so the flow is nearly completely blocked.