[WaldoDude]

Hi all,

Today I've gotten my first cannister filter. It is a Dynamic Power AQ-HW504A. It was $60.90 AUD ($46 USD) on Amazon and I grabbed it as it was a bargain. Plus most reviews were positive.

After assembling and getting it running, I immediately noticed that the canister is leaking. Not a lot but around a drop every 2 seconds. The drops are coming from 4small holes where the head of the cannister connects to the main cannister body. From what I've found online, these holds are there to warn you of leaks etc...
I've noticed that the leak isnt consistent, it would leak one particular side for a bit but then might stop before starting to leak from another hole on the otherside. Sometimes it would stop leaking for a few minutes but then start leaking again.

I suspect that I may have forgotten something or did something wrong. One thing I did do wrong was that I hooked up the outlet pipe into the inlet port and vice versa. I've fixed that but it has not solved the leak (I hope I did not damage by hooking it up wrongly).

I've tried cleaning the O-ring and the groove where it sits but that hasnt helped. In a video I saw on youtube (

), whereby this exact leak problem was shown, it demonstrated how using plumbers tape under the o-ring in the groove solved the problem. I tried it but it didnt do anything. If anything it seemed to make it worse because with the tape in there I found it much harder to push down the cannister head into place and to latch it and more water would leak from the head as it wasnt tightly shut.

Now Im wondering if I had missed a step or something that you're meant to do with cannister filters. I've seen mentions of priming and letting air out etc... but I have not done these things. A small air hose and valve (like the ones you'd use for an air pump) was also supplied but I did not use it as I did not know how it was meant to be used with the cannister.
The instruction manual that came with the filter is not the best. It is almost identical to this one: https://www.wiltec.de/media/manuals/50/50369/EN/HW504A_en.pdf but with poor english and doesnt have the problem solving section. I think this filter is a copy of the Sun Sun HW504 as it is almost identical.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[WaldoDude]

Ok so I left the cannister filter running all night in a 9l bucket. This morning, I checked it and I'd say there was about 2 litres of water in the bucket, however it didnt look like it was leaking anymore. I took it out and placed where its supposed to be understand and can confirm it was leaking. Seemed to be going alright for the next hour or 2 until I then noticed a pool of water I figured maybe its because I moved it, and it has to sit still for a while leak excess water or something. So I've let it sit for a bit and eventually theres a pool of water. Urghh should I return it?
I suppose you get what you pay for and its ridiculously cheap price and generic branding should've been a warning sign. All those positive reviews confuse me though.

 

[onlycrimson]

I don't have any experience with this filter, but my go to for a leak is petroleum jelly/Vaseline on the o ring as a first measure. If that is of no help I would say measure the dimensions of the O ring and see if you can get a generic replacement.

 

[WaldoDude]

Thank you, yes I've read about that too, but I decided I'll return it. I figured if I'm having issues with it already, I'm probably gonna have more issues down the road.

 

[minorhero]

Thank you, yes I've read about that too, but I decided I'll return it. I figured if I'm having issues with it already, I'm probably gonna have more issues down the road.

This is a good decision. I've owned 3 canister filters in the last 2 years and none leaked even though 2 were a cheaper variety. I'd look into a less bargin centric brand.