# Rena filstar xp parts



## rjordan390

A few months ago, I complained to Mars Fish Care, the distributor of the Rena Filstar XP series pumps. I told them that the inlet pipe should be manufactured to better specifications. There are problems with the inlet pipe. This is the part that sits on the edge of the aquarium. Now I have two of these pumps and one is a backup. Well thier cannisters will accumulate air and I narrowed the problem to the inlet pipe. This inlet pipe also has a pipe cap and the pipe cap seal is nothing more then paper. Its the same as what you would find on the inside of a ketchup bottle cap. I can also see and feel a rough edge at the top of the plastic counterpart where the seal meets this edge and is supposed to prevent air from being sucked into the inlet pipe.
The other problem is where the suction hose fits onto this inlet. The wall thickness is too narrow to support a clamp properly; be it made of plastic or metal. It appears that using a clamp and securing it tight enough so that the suction hose has no chance of slipping off creates a distortion of the plastic which allows air to enter. 
So when I mentioned these two problems to the distributor; thier answer was to send me two inlet pipes. Well soon, they too failed and the cannister would start filling up with air.
How do I know that the inlet pipe is failing? Well I made my own inlet pipe out of schedule 40 pvc.
An overnight test proved me right. There was no air in the cannister.


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## jaysee

Wow, I have 4 XP filters and my only complaint is that the intake tubes are blue instead of black. I'm glad you solved your problem - I always find it satisfying to fix something myself.


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## rjordan390

Glad to hear yours are working out well for you. I may have made my clamp too tight but knowing how vinyl hose will soften under warm temperatures makes me feel uncomfortable If I did not tighten up on the clamp. If a hose just has a snug fit, it may expand enough to slip off and there goes your living room rug.


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## jaysee

How warm do you keep the tank?


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## rjordan390

Between 76 and 78 degrees F.


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## jaysee

I am missing a clamp or two. That is not warm enough to have that kind of an effect on the tubing, IME.


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## rjordan390

I like to plan ahead. If I go away for a few days and my air conditioning breaks down, then the aquarium temperature could easily reach over 80 degrees.


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## jaysee

My tanks (unheated) are all over 80 for the summer.


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## Tazman

I have had 6 of these filters and currently have 4 running and not one of them has ever had air sucked into it. Everything worked right out the box and has been since I bought them.

Good for you for solving your problem though


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## rjordan390

Then my fear of the hose slipping off must be unwarranted because the hose itself must be better quality then what one finds in Home Depot. When I had a 120 gallon reef tank with sump, I was using thier clear vinyl hose from my overflow to the sump and I noticed that it was starting to collapse where it was touching the edge of the sump. I find it easier to replace this hose with the type that has been reinforced with line rather then try to solve a way to prevent the collapse. The reef tank was running at the same temperatures.


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## Tazman

It could the added heat created by the high intensity lights used for a reef tank that did it. Where they Metal Halides or T5H0's? 
One of the reasons that many who do reef tanks do not use canister filters, the lighting could in theory melt the hoses and cause them to slip off.

When I hooked up mine, I softened the hoses in a cup of boiling water, pushed them on and now the only physically way to remove them from the barbs would be to cut them, they molded very tightly.

80F is not nearly hot enough to cause the hoses to collapse. 212F is the temperature of boiling water and even then it took a few minutes of being immersed before it became soft enough to manipulate easily.


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## Brandonl87

I picked one of the filters up im amazed how quite they are. but i did throw out all of those plastic clamps and use metal clamps that screw on also.


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## rjordan390

Be careful how tight you make the clamps on the suction side. Like I said earlier, the clamps can distort the plastic and it will suck air.


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## Oldconductor

That has been my experience too. I have 2 on my 55-gal and two on on my 56-gal no problems (1XP2 and 1XP3 on each). I understand they are not quite the quality of product as they historically have been, since being made in China but what is not being made there? Even with that said mine have been operating successfully for months since in installed.


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## rjordan390

The problem we face when buying from China or any other country where slave labor is prevalent, is that we are subjected to inferior parts. It's a sign of the times and blame "Wall Street". Buyer Beware!


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