Very helpful video , thank you. My gf picked up a free tank and air pump but the pump was weak. After watching the video and opening it up it looks like the previous owner had a back siphon happen through the air pump, the screw head inside the diaphragm was rusty and there was a dry film/residue inside. After cleaning out the tiny airways on the plastic piece and reassembling it worked like new.
Thanks!!!! I was just going to trash mine!!! It's more simple than I thought it would be!! I reckon those seals will harden up after 10 years of use. Saved me $$$$!!!! Thx again!!!
So glad I found your video. I own the Tetra 60 whisper and was having the issue you described. I opened it up and found that one side was missing on of the O-rings. I suppose it could have fallen into another dimension when I took out the part. Either way, I was able to find the right O-rings at my local hardware store, replace it, and now it's working perfectly. Although, that did lead me to find a leak in the line, probably should have looked for that first thing. It all works now though, thanks to your insightful video.
Well, some of these pumps from Tetra are supposed to have lifetime warranties I thought? So them sending the parts free really isn’t them going out of their way. I realize they say the diaphragm is considered “wear and tear” parts. But that is kind of a cheap ploy. Because the boxes say limited lifetime warranty. Then the fine print in the literature must be reviewed to see all “wear and tear” items are not covered. Kind of like saying “all craftsman hand tools have a lifetime warranty”. Then reading it and it saying “normal use is considered wear and tear and therefore not covered”. Really a backhanded way for them to get people to pick up their pumps ahead of everyone else. When they quickly see the lifetime warranty.
I had two of these air pumps that failed in a smaller tank than they were rated for. Yes it was simply a matter of torn diaphragms. After getting an email stating replacement parts were on the way, I never got them. 3 weeks later, looking back at the email chain there was also a message stating that rubber parts were not covered in the 2 year warranty and to go find them myself. Basically the support guy told me to go pound sand after I thought we had worked it all out. As an aquarium owner of 25 years I have bought many Tetra products. I can assure you after my experience with their customer support, I will never by anything from Tetra again. These air pumps are not strong enough to work in the tank sizes they are rated for. Customer support treated was flippant and reckless. We rely on this equipment to keep out pet fish healthy. Don't expect anything from customer support, the guy I spoke to, Scott Bonomo, was clearly either in a bad mood or just a complete @$$.
Jon Tucker Dude, he dealt with me too! I’ll paste response. “At this time the diaphragms are not covered under warranty. You can purchase repair kits online, on our website if available, www.tetra-fish.com or you can try other outlets as well. Thank You Scott Bonomo l Consumer Relations Spectrum Brands - Pet, Home and Garden Division".
I have and they say that the diaphragm is a part that breaks down often and that they sell the part plus shipping is more than what the pump cost brand new. What did you tell them to get them to send you the parts?
Thanks man didn’t have this problem but you gave me confidence to mess with it It turned out it was some type of gasket or built in check valve that was clogged , its connected to what would be your white removable pieces So for mine instead of the white pieces yours has, it’s a black piece with the side that connects to the diaphragm and it shoots the air out of the side of that parallel with the diaphragm Tried to blow air through it and couldn’t Just poked it with a paper clip and had good airflow Next thing yk I plug it in and works very good Sat in a bin for 2 months before I decided to try fixing it before tossing it iut
Get a tube from a spray bottle of appropriate size and stiffness clean up broken part drill hole so the tube fits tight turn pump on to clear shavings glue with your choice of adhesive hot glue/Super glue/ ?? Let glue set up very good cut to length maby cut to size first dry fit to check... Good luck hey not much to lose ....not sure if I'm just cheap or just broke i "try "to repair everything sometimes i spend to much time😳
Take it apart and carefully clean out the tiny holes in the plastic piece and be careful not to damage the the tiny flaps. I used a one of those flat toothpicks
andrew, I don't get why you say that Tetra will send out parts if you contact them if none of us are finding that to be the case? Do you have to tell them you're a big time TH-cam star?
They stopped doing it shortly after I made this video. I ended up just getting a linear piston air pump so I don't have to deal with failed diaphragms anymore.
Man, I contacted support like you suggested and was just told this. “At this time the diaphragms are not covered under warranty. You can purchase repair kits online, on our website if available, www.tetra-fish.com or you can try other outlets as well. Thank You Scott Bonomo l Consumer Relations Spectrum Brands - Pet, Home and Garden Division”.
Thanks for this video. It seems that almost all of my pumps made noise or stopped working so I won some new ones on eBay. Then I found these videos on Air Pump Repair???? So I am going to Fix my other pumps'. I have a few Tetra Whisper 100,Top Fin 8000,Secondnature Challenger II, and some others. I almost tossed them in the Garbage Now I am having a little fun Fixing them Thanks......
for the cost of these they shouldn't go as often as they do.. I have two whispers and both went within a year +/-.... in my opinion this air pump is trash... if they were inexpensive, sure I could see a BIT of upkeep... for the price though they should be good for years... never will I buy another whisper. when working yes they are good though... but durability is very important.
(Sorry was in a rush earlier when I commented on this) This is a really great video for a number of reasons, See, I was trying to explain to my wife how easy air pumps are to repair when we were at the LFS and showing her the parts, So this was perfect, These kind of simple videos don't get enough credit and respect, And you did it one handed... Making my point of just how easy it really is, lol, So again Thank You!!!
Ah, fair point. I actually have a video on this. And one in slow motion. The diaphragm will tear at some point due to wear. This causes air to leak out and not get pumped down the line
I swear they make these break over time on purpose so you can buy more. I have three of these and two other brands of a similar air pump. I’m gonna see if I can get some free repair parts but still this sucks
These piles of crap stop working within 8 months of buying them. I suggest going to a completely different air pump. who wants to go through the hassle of always having to contact somebody and have them send them pieces and parts when you can just buy a good air pump and you ain't got to worry about the b*******. And the best way would be is to go buy a new one and just put the old pile of s*** in the box bring it back get your money back let Tetra choke on the s***. 😉 Garbage pump tho
Thanks. Ordered the kit and fixed our pump. Both diaphragm were torn.
Works like new.
Very helpful video , thank you. My gf picked up a free tank and air pump but the pump was weak. After watching the video and opening it up it looks like the previous owner had a back siphon happen through the air pump, the screw head inside the diaphragm was rusty and there was a dry film/residue inside. After cleaning out the tiny airways on the plastic piece and reassembling it worked like new.
Thanks!!!! I was just going to trash mine!!! It's more simple than I thought it would be!! I reckon those seals will harden up after 10 years of use. Saved me $$$$!!!! Thx again!!!
So glad I found your video. I own the Tetra 60 whisper and was having the issue you described. I opened it up and found that one side was missing on of the O-rings. I suppose it could have fallen into another dimension when I took out the part. Either way, I was able to find the right O-rings at my local hardware store, replace it, and now it's working perfectly. Although, that did lead me to find a leak in the line, probably should have looked for that first thing. It all works now though, thanks to your insightful video.
Well, some of these pumps from Tetra are supposed to have lifetime warranties I thought? So them sending the parts free really isn’t them going out of their way. I realize they say the diaphragm is considered “wear and tear” parts. But that is kind of a cheap ploy. Because the boxes say limited lifetime warranty. Then the fine print in the literature must be reviewed to see all “wear and tear” items are not covered. Kind of like saying “all craftsman hand tools have a lifetime warranty”. Then reading it and it saying “normal use is considered wear and tear and therefore not covered”. Really a backhanded way for them to get people to pick up their pumps ahead of everyone else. When they quickly see the lifetime warranty.
I had two of these air pumps that failed in a smaller tank than they were rated for. Yes it was simply a matter of torn diaphragms. After getting an email stating replacement parts were on the way, I never got them. 3 weeks later, looking back at the email chain there was also a message stating that rubber parts were not covered in the 2 year warranty and to go find them myself. Basically the support guy told me to go pound sand after I thought we had worked it all out. As an aquarium owner of 25 years I have bought many Tetra products. I can assure you after my experience with their customer support, I will never by anything from Tetra again. These air pumps are not strong enough to work in the tank sizes they are rated for. Customer support treated was flippant and reckless. We rely on this equipment to keep out pet fish healthy. Don't expect anything from customer support, the guy I spoke to, Scott Bonomo, was clearly either in a bad mood or just a complete @$$.
Jon Tucker Dude, he dealt with me too! I’ll paste response. “At this time the diaphragms are not covered under warranty. You can purchase repair kits online, on our website if available, www.tetra-fish.com or you can try other outlets as well.
Thank You
Scott Bonomo l Consumer Relations
Spectrum Brands - Pet, Home and Garden Division".
@@Rexl Same experience here-- had me check the diaphragms and then ghosted. Not sure why anyone is saying they were helpful.
Same experience here-- had me check the diaphragms and then ghosted. Not sure why anyone is saying they were helpful.
I also got the brushoff from Scott B. There's something wrong with that guy, assuming it's a real person.
Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with this pump. Your instructions were clear and I fell I can fix my pumps. I too love Tetra pumps
I have and they say that the diaphragm is a part that breaks down often and that they sell the part plus shipping is more than what the pump cost brand new. What did you tell them to get them to send you the parts?
Noob question but if you only need one air thing running can you take out the parts on one side to make it quieter?
I would imagine that wouldn't be a problem. That being said, they do also make single output versions
just done this now i have air luckily i had a spare as ordered two why does it stop working?? thanks for advice!
Thanks man didn’t have this problem but you gave me confidence to mess with it
It turned out it was some type of gasket or built in check valve that was clogged , its connected to what would be your white removable pieces
So for mine instead of the white pieces yours has, it’s a black piece with the side that connects to the diaphragm and it shoots the air out of the side of that parallel with the diaphragm
Tried to blow air through it and couldn’t
Just poked it with a paper clip and had good airflow
Next thing yk I plug it in and works very good
Sat in a bin for 2 months before I decided to try fixing it before tossing it iut
One of my nozzles snapped off on my Tetra Whisper. Do you know if it can be replaced or repaired?
Get a tube from a spray bottle of appropriate size and stiffness clean up broken part drill hole so the tube fits tight turn pump on to clear shavings glue with your choice of adhesive hot glue/Super glue/ ?? Let glue set up very good cut to length maby cut to size first dry fit to check... Good luck hey not much to lose ....not sure if I'm just cheap or just broke i "try "to repair everything sometimes i spend to much time😳
Thanks, been running my whisper 60s for several years and noticed they were getting tired -I'm going to try this out!
Really nice video as always. Thanks for sharing and keep the videos coming.
How can I get that because mine is bad
If I’m just using one side of the pump should I block off the other side to make the one output stronger?
In a dual diaphragm pump, each side works independently of each other. Blocking one side will not effect the other.
Got it, thanks.
Got it, thanks.
Got it, thanks.
WAIT you can get the replacement parts for free??? I need to try this one side of my whisper 60 don't work
What if the magnets arent moving much at all?
I have the same issue
Take it apart and carefully clean out the tiny holes in the plastic piece and be careful not to damage the the tiny flaps. I used a one of those flat toothpicks
andrew, I don't get why you say that Tetra will send out parts if you contact them if none of us are finding that to be the case? Do you have to tell them you're a big time TH-cam star?
They stopped doing it shortly after I made this video. I ended up just getting a linear piston air pump so I don't have to deal with failed diaphragms anymore.
I have the whisper 40 and in only about 2 weeks it has stopped pushing air. I thought it was very loud when I got it.
I did it!!! Thank you for your wonderful tutorial.
I have a broken plastic hose (one of two) and I don't have any idea how to fix it up, the compressor itself works fine.
Yo can get new plastic hoses at home improvement stores
Man, I contacted support like you suggested and was just told this. “At this time the diaphragms are not covered under warranty. You can purchase repair kits online, on our website if available, www.tetra-fish.com or you can try other outlets as well.
Thank You
Scott Bonomo l Consumer Relations
Spectrum Brands - Pet, Home and Garden Division”.
Thanks for this video. It seems that almost all of my pumps made noise or stopped working so I won some new ones on eBay. Then I found these videos on Air Pump Repair???? So I am going to Fix my other pumps'. I have a few Tetra Whisper 100,Top Fin 8000,Secondnature Challenger II, and some others. I almost tossed them in the Garbage Now I am having a little fun Fixing them Thanks......
for the cost of these they shouldn't go as often as they do.. I have two whispers and both went within a year +/-.... in my opinion this air pump is trash... if they were inexpensive, sure I could see a BIT of upkeep... for the price though they should be good for years... never will I buy another whisper. when working yes they are good though... but durability is very important.
ty for sharing
(Sorry was in a rush earlier when I commented on this) This is a really great video for a number of reasons, See, I was trying to explain to my wife how easy air pumps are to repair when we were at the LFS and showing her the parts, So this was perfect, These kind of simple videos don't get enough credit and respect, And you did it one handed... Making my point of just how easy it really is, lol, So again Thank You!!!
But still didn't explain why replace that part?
Ah, fair point. I actually have a video on this. And one in slow motion. The diaphragm will tear at some point due to wear. This causes air to leak out and not get pumped down the line
I swear they make these break over time on purpose so you can buy more. I have three of these and two other brands of a similar air pump. I’m gonna see if I can get some free repair parts but still this sucks
God clean your tank my dude
Clean like god himself? (ha, ha, ha)
Those are bubbles would have to be much, MUCH larger to weigh "tonnes".
Thanks bud
Man the kit costs as much as the pump lol
Please do not leave air pump under lower than your aquarium, power off ,water could back flow down your tubing,
That's why check valves are used
why repair when you can get a new one for 6 dollars off amazon?
Hogwash that plastic piece doesn't remove at all llll
These piles of crap stop working within 8 months of buying them. I suggest going to a completely different air pump. who wants to go through the hassle of always having to contact somebody and have them send them pieces and parts when you can just buy a good air pump and you ain't got to worry about the b*******. And the best way would be is to go buy a new one and just put the old pile of s*** in the box bring it back get your money back let Tetra choke on the s***. 😉 Garbage pump tho