Eden 501 - noisy?

[ankank]

Hi there,

First of all: I have been a lurker for about a month now and gathered many useful tips and hints. Thanks a lot to anyone providing them. This is a great forum, especially for small tank owners like me. I am from Germany, by the way.

To the matter at hand: I have read many good things about the Eden 501 filter many of you seem to be particularly fond of. So I got one for my 1.5ft planted tank. While I am really satisfied with its build quality and its function, I am not so much with its noise.

I have written to the Eden support. They have been really great, sending me 2 spare impeller wheels within a few days without charge. Unfortunately, they don't solve the rattling noise I get from the Eden filter.

I have gone through great lengths to record the rattling noise. Which is not as easy as it sounds because the magnet coil induces a strong 50 Hz hum into any microphone nearby. Finally, after extensive filtering, I ended up with a file which when played on speakers sounds really close to what I am getting from the Eden.

http://rapidshare.de/files/28074096/eden_noise.mp3.html

Can anyone of you confirm or deny that this is the default sound an Eden 501 makes? Thank you very much in advance!

[celticfish]

welcome to AQ ankank!

i have two eden 501's myself.
if the cannister works well it should be silent.
my first unit was silent all the way.
but when i commissioned my second it had the rattling sound.
i think its sometime loose on the inside but i can't be sure.
i opened the unit and replugged the spong filter and air tube.
but that didn't work too.
what i did was rock the cannister unit left and right then gave it a shake.
took a while but the rattling sound went away.

[ankank]

I tried opening and re-pluggin everything, I tried shaking and tilting it, I even tried putting a little spacer into the impeller socket to make the impeller run a little more "free". I even let it run for a few days in hope the rattling will "wear off". Without any success.

Sigh. This thing is supposed to go into a bedroom. Not this way it won't.

[Wackytpt]

Hi ankank,

Welcome to AQ. My 501 is working perfectly fine. It is as silent as a lamb. Could there be air lock or a loose impeller in the unit?

[ankank]

I don't know what you mean by "loose impeller". As I said I got two spares from Eden customer support so I tried three impellers already. There definitely is no air left in the filter, when I prime it I tilt and shake it all out until there's no bubbles left even if I turn the unit upside down.

[oblivion]

Thats odd. I'm using mine on a 1.5 ft tank in my bedroom.
Works perfectly. No noise at all.
I have to put my head right next to the unit to hear anything. And even then its just a very soft humming.

Only times I ever heard anything were when I first used it and whenever I open up the thing to clean/change the coarse filter wool.
I attribute it to excess air inside. Cause after running/restarting it a while it goes back to silent mode after all the air have been expelled.

You may want to check that the little ventri pipe (or whatever its supposed to be called) for expelling air is in order.
Perhaps its not positioned properly or loose or something.

[ankank]

Thank you for all your advise, it is well appreciated. Unfortunately, I already did all of those things myself or after being asked to by the Eden customer support. Without success.

I guess I will get the unit exchanged.

[oblivion]

Thank you for all your advise, it is well appreciated. Unfortunately, I already did all of those things myself or after being asked to by the Eden customer support. Without success.

I guess I will get the unit exchanged.

Is Eden support changing it for you for free?

[ankank]

I don't even know who is supposed to exchange it yet. I now wrote both the Eden customer support and the seller about it. One of them HAS to take care of it. Essentially, in this condition, the unit is useless to me.

It should be mentioned again: The Eden support are usually really great folks, they answer very fast (think 10 minutes!) and they even sent me spare parts for free. However, they are on vacation in the next two weeks, so there might be some delays.

I will let you know about any progress in the case ... if you want.

[ankank]

The Eden customer support is unbelievable. They phoned me from Italy to check up on the unit. Turns out the whole motor unit needs to be exchanged (for lack of a better word, they don't want the old unit back). The scratches in the impeller tube indicate there's an inexactness of some sorts, causing the impeller to slightly touch the inside of the tube.

I will get it replaced, either by Eden or by their local distributor.

I am a happy camper.

[oblivion]

thats pretty good!

great people they are it seems. great customer service

[Wackytpt]

The Eden customer support is unbelievable. They phoned me from Italy to check up on the unit. Turns out the whole motor unit needs to be exchanged (for lack of a better word, they don't want the old unit back). The scratches in the impeller tube indicate there's an inexactness of some sorts, causing the impeller to slightly touch the inside of the tube.

I will get it replaced, either by Eden or by their local distributor.

I am a happy camper.

great to hear that. The eden 501 is one of the most silent filter i ever come across for a small tank

[ankank]

great people they are it seems. great customer service

To quote Mrs. Soncini of Eden customer support:

This is simply our "way to work" (sorry for the Italian translation, but I think you will understand the meaning..), we noticed that retailers (shops) generally cannot help fishkeepers in tech. matters, giving them a real good assistance in case of small problems like yours. This is our "policy".

Their support is superb and exceeds any expectations. One more reason to recommend them to others.

[firethorn]

WOW! That's great customer service!!

[lEddyl]

great service. it will never happen in SG

[firethorn]

great service. it will never happen in SG

haha.. one does wonder..

[vincentlii]

In Singapore? You are lucky if they listen to your problem over the phone, don't even dream about getting one exchanged for free.

[ankank]

don't even dream about getting one exchanged for free.

You mean ... even if an item is already delivered or bought faulty you wouldn't get it exchanged for a working one? That's harsh.

We (read: the European Union) even have laws over here saying if it's ordered online you can return it within 14 days without even stating a reason (not applicable when bought in a store). And if it's faulty you are entitled to at least one exchange within 2 years anyway (after 6 months there's a change, tho: before that point the seller would have to prove it was NOT faulty, after that YOU have to prove it was faulty).

[celticfish]

ankank,
gald to hear your problem is being attended to.
we don't have such laws to keep them straight.
it depends on the shopkeeper or agent.
and the "governing" body just "recommends" or "suggest" good practice.

[ankank]

Just wanted to tie up this thread I started.

After two exchanges, I now have a really silent working item in hands. The first exchange with the vendor got me another defective unit making the exact same noise. The second exchange with Eden brought a unit without the noise.

The contact at Eden wrote that the unit had a manufacturing error, namely a slightly bent impeller shaft causing the impeller to touch the tube's inside making that rattling noise.

As a sidenote: Eden requested that I send in the power head only ... and sent back a complete package including a pot, filter material, and all accessories, as well as two spare sponges. They called it "free samples". Those guys rock, I feel like a child receiving free Lego bricks ...