# Quick, preliminary review of Sunsun HW-402B canister filter



## ranchialex (Dec 4, 2011)

After a great ordeal and delay and much confusion, I finally got a canister filter. Not the size I ordered but I thought I'd been stiffed on the deal so I'm happy that at least something showed up. I'll do what I can to make things square with the sketchy Indian online dealer.

ANYWAY the filter is great. I've never had a canister, but during my 3-week delay I watched lots of YouTube installation videos and it went easily. I had been using a 'top filter' that's popular here in Asia (like a HOB but in something like a plastic shoe box that goes back-to-front over the tank) so I took that media and slammed it into the 3 trays in the canister. I think 4-5 presses on the primer and it was set, could have actually filled up after 1-2 presses had I been patient. Not 1 drop of leakage in any connection. I doubt I'll be so lucky when it's cleaning time.

The unit is silent. I heard a buzz for like 2 seconds when I first fired it up and that's it. Even the spray bar delivery is virtually silent (a dozen small streams that drop maybe 1" into the water).

The UV has a nice rubberized water proofing over the switch (that's in a hidden door anyway) and it comes on. I don't have an algae problem (despite having an open, direct-light window for a couple hours a day) but I'm glad I have the option for an extra $20. I won't run it much.

Most tellingly, I already had 11x water volume turnover in my tank (with the aforementioned top filter and 2 internal powerheads) and I actually reduced that to 9x by switching to the Canister, but my water is more polished and clearer than ever before, and I just added sand yesterday! Quite happy.

I think it's cheaper on eBay, but these guys sell some souped up plumbing, and the stock stuff is weak in that regard, so maybe this is a good vendor. I bought from someone totally different, just wanted to provide a link.

_**The link to the online vendor was removed. See the policy here. Please keep reviews of retailers, whether local or online out of the open discussion forum, thanks._


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Do they include any specs on how often the UV bulb will need replaced? Since UV is not something we can see or know if it is working, I have often wondered when to change a bulb on other items using UV. I notice on the ad that there is mention of a ball valve to better control the flow for UV. Is there any advise on what flow will work for the UV? 
The reason for the questions is that I have used UV for drinking water while hiking and it gives me questions on how to use it for a tank.


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## ranchialex (Dec 4, 2011)

Interestingly, there is a little window in this model where I can see the UV fire up (bulb illuminates blue). So I know it's on. This model doesn't actually have as high flow as I'd prefer (from a filtration perspective) but that's probably good for UV effectiveness. I've read other reviews that say the UV cleared algae issues in 24h, but obv take that with a grain of salt.

There are remarkably few specs. Just directions on the box with notoriously poor/comical English. Since I plan to use the UV sparingly, I don't think bulb replacement will be a problem. I'll only use it as needed (ie. algae bloom).


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## inurocker (May 9, 2011)

I have always replaced UV bulbs yearly. My thinking is it would be like other florescent bulbs and start to loose power and or shift spectrum in that time frame.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

I was looking and still am...at one of these filters....hw-304b model. 525gph plus UV

Still doing research. I wish I could afford the fx5.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

> I have always replaced UV bulbs yearly. My thinking is it would be like other florescent bulbs and start to loose power and or shift spectrum in that time frame.


That's always been my question. I know the bulb is still burning as I can see it but as it ages, it is no longe UV, so the question is how to know if it is working or not. With the little we know of the product only being that it looks much like a Marineland knockoff which is made much cheaper, I would guess it would be safe to assume there is very little coating on the inside of the bulb to make it produce the UV. Since judging the clarity of our water is pretty suspect at times, it will be hard to find out if the bulb is working and doing a good job or if we are just running a clear tank without an algae bloom.

On the other point of how much contact time it takes to kill the things we wanted killed, I still have the doubt of how much one would have to choke down the output of the filter to get the correct amount of UV to the organism. Whether it is the same as what we want to get out of our drinking water or not is doubtfull. But then for drinking on my little UV sterilizer the contact time is way up like 1/2 to a full minute. That would mean you would almost have to kill the waterflow from the filter to get any portion to stay in contact with the light for 30 seconds or more. Seems like a situation where we would have to almost lose the filtering to gain the UV. They could reduce the contact time by building a bigger/better bulb but at the price that seems out of range.

I quess I'm still wondering if it works or if it just feels like it must be working. It's pretty hard to tell if something you can't see is working or not.

I guess I'm still looking for more info on that part.


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## ranchialex (Dec 4, 2011)

The other thing I see is that other dedicated ($80-100) UV filters do have a bit of a slower flow rate (600l/m vs 1,000 in mine) but also have 9w bulbs. That's an encouraging sign.

BTW the choke or whatever to control the flow controls both the in and out at once. I've read somewhere that it's not really designed to be a flow throttle, but just part of the disconnect mechanism, although I'm sure it'd work for both. I forget why they said it was a bad idea.

Razarbackfan, do you need help finding a link to the product you want or...


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

ranchialex said:


> The other thing I see is that other dedicated ($80-100) UV filters do have a bit of a slower flow rate (600l/m vs 1,000 in mine) but also have 9w bulbs. That's an encouraging sign.
> 
> BTW the choke or whatever to control the flow controls both the in and out at once. I've read somewhere that it's not really designed to be a flow throttle, but just part of the disconnect mechanism, although I'm sure it'd work for both. I forget why they said it was a bad idea.
> 
> Razarbackfan, do you need help finding a link to the product you want or...


Nah...I found a few different places online for fairly cheap. Just trying to do a bit more research and making double sure it is the one I want.


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## ranchialex (Dec 4, 2011)

There's an epic thread with a broad consensus that it's great value for money (90% in favor, 5% regret cheaping out) here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/equip ... er-hw.html


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

ranchialex said:


> There's an epic thread with a broad consensus that it's great value for money (90% in favor, 5% regret cheaping out) here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/equip ... er-hw.html


Yeah...I read that thread a few days ago. I have found several others. The one major complaint I have seen...which is not a real major issue...the bottom media tray seems to be hard to pull out of the canister.

I think I am going to go with one of these but still not 100%.


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## ranchialex (Dec 4, 2011)

I haven't done a cleaning yet (set up yesterday) but without water, it was easy to get the trays out. I'm using the smallest size model (ordered the medium but whatever) so that might be a contributor.


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## Brookforest_Lane (Mar 31, 2010)

I actually have two of these White, about 300g per hour, 3 media basket canister filters. Both have been running almost exactly one year with no problems Except for the UV lamps.

The UV worked for about 6 months when I finally noticed that the lamps were not on (through the little indicator window). I purchased 2 replacement bulbs and changed them, but when tested they still did not work. Therefore the ballast that powers the UV lamps on both units has failed. Since the ballast is internal in the lid, and the overall low price of the unit (disposable), I doubt I will ever find replacement ballast for them.

The Good News is both units still filter perfectly! The impeller shaft is ceramic and shows no signs of wear. The units both run quietly with absolutely no chattering or other obnoxious sound. They are easy to maintain, self prime, and in my opinion a very good canister filter for the money. The only other downside is the inlet and outlet plastic parts. They are a bit "cheap" and need to be treated gently as I could see them braking pretty easily.

If you have a choice, I would stick to one of the units that are sold without the UV.


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