Tim and I experienced our first 'hitch' with the new filter.
Sunday night as I was taking dictation for a message from him over chat to one of his fans, the filter said "ka-CHUNK!"
Flow stopped. The motor hummed. And all I could think of was that that damned Nemo had gotten into the filter again to cast a stone into the impeller. Tim thinks Nemo looks tasty...
Anyway.
Tim stopped dictating long enough to demand I fix it and got distracted and a little miffed when I said "Huh? Fix it how?"
I was initially frustrated by the design because from the top it appears to be an enclosed impeller without access. Tim started blabbing about checking the instructions before I started eyeing the tank-draining-hose. He went into hiding while I continued grumbling about throwing away the instructions.
It turns out the whole motor/impeller assembly comes off the bottom of the filter with a simple counter-clockwise twist (over a sink unless you enjoy wet floor). Cleaned the impeller the impeller well and then changed the carbon and added another sponge just for fun (and to reduce flow/noise as well).
All said and done it took me about 14 hours to fix it (I had to go to the store to buy a new filter before I learned the impeller/motor assembly was removable).
Tim has learned to appreciate greater flow again... after catching his breath...
(No, Nemo isn't really in the tank.)
((Thanks again from Tim and I for all the kind words and PM's - makes typing these in worth it for certain)) 