damn it, for some reason, i cant get these to work. I have 3 brand new ones that i hear the motor running but water wouldnt suck up.. I could imagine if one was broken but all 3? Anybody use them? I have always used ACs and they are very user friendly.

O BTW, i just realize that alot of these filters like AC110 only run on 14 watt of electricity. With that said, i had to cut down on my heaters and instead ran more filters to keep better water condition. 1 300 watt heater = 20 x AC110? Am I right?

1x300watt not = 20xac110 LOL
your heater is not on 24 7 lol unless u have no heat in ur house....
14watt ac110 better than emperor they use like 28watts i think...
u may have to full up the back of the emperors with water b4 u turn them on...

This maybe stupid but, if you fill them before you turn them on it will suck up the water easier. You probably already did that , but the first question in tech support is "is it plugged in?"

Its true that Emperor are really hard to start up. What I usually do is make sure that the filter is off, fill it up with water, put it in the high position then plug it in. It is also important to make sure the tank water is high and that you have a bucket of water to make sure you continuously pour water until it circulates water on its own.

Good luck!

haha i could have sworn i did all those steps but still cant get them to work. I tried all resort bro!! :chop:

i may have to hook a local brotha up with cheap emperors

Correct me if I'm wrong but if you do a 10-20% water change, the back of the filter is still full of water so why would you need to fill it up again to start it up ? Only if water level drops BELOW the strainer, it will break the siphon on the intake tube.The only time you would need to refill with water is during filter maintenance itself. One trick I use to quickly prime my Emp400 is to turn the spraybar nozzles completely downwards towards the "sumps" before plugging it in. When the filter starts to prime itself (usually less than a minute), you just turn the spraybars back upwards facing the biowheels.

problem is i having even got it to work after opening the box lol..

maybe when your around here next time. give me some pointers

shoot I would put them buggers right back in the box and get my money back

Anybody who wants to sell me their used Emp 400s for cheap, just PM me.

rofl! you charge for maintanence services?

hey bro what i have noticed is this... First fill the tank up with water so you have a full water level, second take the tube that sucks the water in out, and make sure the filter is full of water, third stick your finger where the magnetic propeller is, then stick the sucking tube back on. I have the same problem both with my ac's and emperor. for some reason you can hear it trying to work but the magnetic propeller isnt turning to create sucking, so once i stick my finger in it or a pen what ever you want to use, then it starts spinning and start to move water! i hope this helps!

if you want you can call me, at my house right now and try it while im one the phone, pme me and i'll give you my number!

Thanks will for the help, i actually thought i figured it out too when i notice that the propeller werent spinning. But even after i got it spin, the water wasnt getting sucked up. I m at my gf's place and i left it running, so hopefully when i get back, it may work, its a long shot but WTH!

Make sure the 1st and 2nd intake tubes are below water.. and I usually just fill it up all the way until it starts flowing over.. but I've never had a problem with emperors or penguins.. it may be the source you're buying it from?

Ken any update, im sure my technique should have worked, you must make sure the filter is full of water and that your water level matches the water level of the water in the filters. i noticed someof the pics you posted of your tanks where the water level in the tank isnt all the way full, you need to have to level equal to the level in the filters!

really.. i gotta try that. so water level must be same as filter.. i know i dont have that problem with ac series

yeah me neither but my emperor does that, so i think thats your problem! try it and get back to me!