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JBL noise

GraemeVW

Member
Joined
27 Jun 2022
Messages
150
Location
Chesterfield
After reading waaaay to much info on filters, I think I'm going to give the jbl e1502 a try.
Only thing that is nagging at me is reports of them being noisy.

Are they? Anyone use one? How do you find it?
 
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I have the smaller e702 in my home study. The plug in mechanical timer for the CO2 makes more noise than the filter- I can barely hear it.
Sometimes the impeller does make a little bit of a rattle and all I do then is unplug it and plug it back in. The impeller deems to align itself properly and then I just hear the noise of the plug-in timer again.
 
Thanks, good to hear.
I've heard varying reports but ended up ordering the e1502 today.

I almost swayed to an eheim experience but eheim put their prices up yesterday which added nearly £50 to the cost!
Their heaters went up too so I bought a job heater to go with it. Hopefully that's something I won't regret!
 
Hope your experience is as positive as mine and you don't regret the purchase 😱
Maybe I should have added that my filter is on the floor (carpet) by the side of the tank and not in a cupboard. It is my only JBL filter which I received many years ago on subscribing to Practical Fishkeeping 😀
Enjoy
 
Well, my e1502 arrived.
First impressions are good. Plastics could maybe feel a tiny bit better, but I like it.
Had a screw missing from one of the handles though which doesn't bode that well. The shop I bought if from are sending me a replacement, can't fault them. Jbls fault. No big deal in itself, but makes me worry slightly about slap dash production.

Bet you don't get missing screws in eheims 😉

Will be a week or 2 untill I get to turn it on and find out how well it's been put together and how noisy/silent it is.
 
Early days yet, only been running a couple of hours, but it's so loud!

There is still some air in it, it will need to bed in, and I don't think the rubber feet are very good, but I don't see how it's going to quiet down enough.

I'm sat 8 foot away and it's loud enough to be annoying. It sounds like an old air pump!
The filter head vibrates too.
I'll give it a while to bed in and see what happens.

Edit...
Just fitted the spray bar instead of the wide jet and it makes its own high pitch whine!
No idea how that's even possible. It's as loud as the filter.
Can hear both above the TV even though I'm on the other side of the room.
Never heard a spray bar make a whining noise before!
 
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Sorted the spray bar issue.
It's very odd. Block any one of the last 4 holes and it goes away. Blocking the second from last hole cures the whine best. The spray bar is 2 pieces, swapping which one is the last piece makes no difference. I assume the water gets to the end plug, swirls back on itself, and creates a whining sound on the last output. Not too dissimilar to what goes on in wind instruments. I enlarged the hole a little and it seems to have pretty much cured that.

As for the filter noise, it still hums very loudly, but I cured the clattering sound.
A small plastic 'wall' is inserted to the impeller well when its made. This was a little high and the impeller vanes were catching it. I scraped the wall back with a file, used a scalpel to sort the damage to the impeller and the clattering sound has gone.
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I'll see how the him goes, but the entire head is hollow. Might fill it with something to deaden the sound, see if that helps. Along with sound proofing the cabinet, I may get it livable with.

I like the filter, but jbl build quality is pretty poor imo.
 
Noise issues can be luck of the draw. Some will be very quiet and others quite noisy. I suspect design is part of the issue but care in assembly at the manufacturers may have a bearing. Having said that I’ve got two Tetratec external filters. The EX400 is all but silent and the EX600 produces just a little noise. Eheim Classic 250 and Sera 130UV were both taken out of use due to noise.

Placing a PTFE washer on the shaft under the impeller can reduce the noise on some filters.
 
Noise issues can be luck of the draw. Some will be very quiet and others quite noisy. I suspect design is part of the issue but care in assembly at the manufacturers may have a bearing. Having said that I’ve got two Tetratec external filters. The EX400 is all but silent and the EX600 produces just a little noise. Eheim Classic 250 and Sera 130UV were both taken out of use due to noise.

Placing a PTFE washer on the shaft under the impeller can reduce the noise on some filters.
I did think about spacing up the impeller to solve the clipping issue, but I assumed the impeller wants to be close to the bottom of the well to pump at its best.
I may try it though, see what changes.

If the impeller is touching nothing, and there is no water, I don't really understand how it makes noise. It's a loud 50hz hum like you would get from a transformer.

I agree, luck of the draw in how it was assembled. The missing screw didnt fill me with confidence.
 
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