# Cascade 1500 Air leaks - ideas?



## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

Hello!
I'm running 2 Cascade 1500's on my 75 g tank.
One is either sucking air, or just not clearing the air out; I can't tell.
Penn Plax typically takes a full 3 days to answer each and every email... painfully slow and I'm frustrated.
gasket seems fine. changing hoses does not move problem from one unit to the other...
I made a video - what should I try? pipe tape? shotgun?
OK, let me try the video like this...


----------



## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

I watched your video and the first thing I noticed is that you are running a bubble wand in the tank. If your filter intake is ingesting those air bubbles, they will accumulate in the filter. The second thing I noticed is that your filter hoses droop below the top of the canister, this can contribute to air pockets in the filter.

Correcting either or both of these problems should eliminate the possibility that they are contributing factors to air pockets in the filter.


----------



## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

Deeda! you are brilliant... will try those suggestions tonight and tell you how it goes. Thanks so much!


----------



## Bertz (Dec 7, 2011)

hisplaceresort1, Hello.

Deeda's suggestion's are great, I've been running mine for well over a year and had similar concerns/issue as well.
And those suggestions were the solution, But it happened again, This time when i primed it on a restart, I didn't let the canister fill completely. 
So if it is still happening try emptying your canister out and re-prime until its full and then restart it.
Hope it helps.


----------



## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

No problem. I also suggest you follow Bertz's suggestion for priming/repriming the filter. I have discovered if there is water in a canister filter, depending on the mfg and/or brand, it is more difficult to evacuate the air fully when priming. I often refer to the manual when I run into the occasional problem.


----------



## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

So, in the midst of switching things around, I got air into the 2nd one as well. But, following the suggestions above 1.) keeping the lines above the canister filter, 2.) turning down the bubble wand and 3.) emptying the canister filter and repriming I got rid of all the air in the 2nd canister filter. Unfortunately, it did not help the first. But still, all great to know information!
As for the one that still has the air in it, Penn Plax has agreed to send me another one at no charge, and not require me to send in the defective one. I will say that they are going above and beyond my expectations. Even though their initial response was slow, they escalated my problem and are being very helpful now, and I appreciate it.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions!


----------



## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Good to know, keep us updated on the new unit.


----------



## Bikeman48088 (Nov 13, 2013)

hisplaceresort1 said:


> Hello!
> I'm running 2 Cascade 1500's on my 75 g tank.
> One is either sucking air, or just not clearing the air out; I can't tell.
> Penn Plax typically takes a full 3 days to answer each and every email... painfully slow and I'm frustrated.
> ...


I run a Cascade 1500 in my 110 gallon tank and it occasionally shoots out some bubbles. I don't see any problem with that considering I have a Maxi-jet 1200, with the air bleeder almost wide open and a Whisper AP150 pumping out huge volumes of bubbles.


----------



## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

I came across the phrases over-saturation and supersaturation when I was looking for information on how much aeration I should put in my mbuna tank. The problem this can cause is called by a couple of different names, but if you google "gas bubble disease", you will see that it is indeed a problem for your fish - look at this Wiki article - http://en.wikivet.net/Gas_Bubble_Disease


----------



## Bikeman48088 (Nov 13, 2013)

hisplaceresort1 said:


> I came across the phrases over-saturation and supersaturation when I was looking for information on how much aeration I should put in my mbuna tank. The problem this can cause is called by a couple of different names, but if you google "gas bubble disease", you will see that it is indeed a problem for your fish - look at this Wiki article - http://en.wikivet.net/Gas_Bubble_Disease


I seriously doubt that you can give aquarium fish "the bends" unless you had zero airspace in your tank or it was pressurized than the pressure released suddenly. My Mbunas hang out in the heavy bubbles all of the time.


----------



## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

OK, so I'm updating my old thread here because I found the answer by reading another post on this forum... after having PennPlax send me different units and trying to re-prime over and over again to get the air out, I had given up! very frustrated... However, it seems the final answer was...

Crisco... :lol:

Yup, I'm sure a better, fancier, more appropriate type of lubricant to seal gaskets is in order, but at the moment it was all I had. I used Crisco around the top rim of the canister where it seats onto the gasket in the top motor/pump assembly. And it primed and filled with no air in the top, immediately. Then I did it to my second 1500 to make sure... and it primed and filled with no air in the top... and no, my instructions for the Cascade do not tell you to lubricate that in any way.

Another thing I'd have never figured out if it hadn't been for the forum!

So, in the end, it was a combination of all the things suggested:
1.) bubble wand a little too close to the air intake
2.) hoses that needed to be lifted up so they did not droop below the canisters, thereby accumulating air
3.) letting the canisters fill completely before restarting the pump
4.) lubricating the seal between the pumphead and canister all the way around

just wanted to share that in case someone else has the same problem...


----------



## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

That will work as you have discovered! I'm glad you were finally able to solve the problem with air getting in the canister filters.


----------



## Ron J (Nov 30, 2021)

Also, to get more sealing pressure, put pieces of paper between the handles and the housing. I ended up putting 5 pieces thick on each handle before it stopped sucking air.


----------

