Cleaning Collection Cup

[NEWSALT]

This morning, I cleaned the collection cup on the new MRC skimmer for the fisrt time. To clean it, I unplugged the pump, took off the cover and wiped the inside of the cup as well as the riser tube. When I plugged the pump back on, the bubbles climbed really fast up the riser tube. I had to to back the valve on my pump to keep anything from spilling into the collection cup. I didn't want to open the gate valve on the outlet of the skimmer since that seems to be in the correct spot when the skimmer is operating properly.

Is this normal after cleaning the cup and neck?

Thanks

 

[Carlo]

Most skimmers are pretty touchy after being cleaned and/or restarted. I got tired of playing that game a long time ago so I drilled a hole in the skimmers collection cup to drain to a bucket.

I never need to empty the cup this way and every few days I take a paper towel and go around the inside of the riser tube to clean it while the skimmer is running. Works well for me.

I don't know if doing this will work for you but I thought I'd mention it.

Carlo

 

[JohnS_323]

We have the MR3 and it does basically the same thing after we clean it. It seems like it has something to do with building up the right backup pressure or something. Anyway, what we do is clean everything the same way you do and then when we turn it back on we block the air flow until the bubbles settle down. We have an external waste collection cup so the way we block the air flow is to disconnect the waste line and fold it over. This works really well and has the system back in tune is less than 30 seconds. Once we figured this out, we pretty much never had to mess with the gate valve or beckets again.

HTH.

 

[Phyl]

I tried Carlo's method of cleaning the collection cup and riser, but I didn't like the gunk that got left behind. As John said we never touch the gate valve or becketts anymore. If the skimmer drops production I clean it. If you find yourself turning it up over time then you'll have to turn it back down when you clean it again.

 

[NEWSALT]

Thanks everyone. John & Phyl, When you block the air flow in the external collector and the bubbles settle down (or disappear), how high up the main column should the water level be before introducing air?

 

[Phyl]

When we first adjusted ours the water is barely above the box when we start introducing air. Once we start introducing air the bubbles come all the way up the riser, just a few inches shy of the collection cup. When I block off the hose I'll let the bubbles back down and bring them back up the tube a few times to allow the bubbles to coat the riser. After doing this a bit it calms down and stops overflowing.

 

[NEWSALT]

Wow, just above the box. That's pretty low. I guess I'm running it too high. When my air is off, the water level is about an inch below the flange that connects the main column to the riser/collection cup.

 

[Phyl]

I think Steve68 runs his water level much higher than mine. If you like what it produces when it is running then I don't think it matters.

 

[Brian]

I have the same problem when restarting my MRC. I basically play with the valve on my pump (turning it on and off) until the water "settles in" to the right height. I usually disconnect the waste container before I do this, the rush of air into the skimmer will usually trip the float in the waste container. FWIW I just raised the height in my skimmer, I now run it up to the quick disconnect, which is basically the same height as the flange on your skimmer.

 

[NEWSALT]

Sounds good. Thanks everybody.

 

[KathyC]

I have 2 of these skimmers (one only has a single beckett installed on it, the other has 2) and both have waste collectors attached.
I keep my water level just below the flange on both. When I want to just clean the collection cups I do turn my gate valve down just a bit so the water level drops (I don't turn off the skimmer pumps at all)and I then disconnect the waste collector and empty whatever may be in those and then I clean the top part of the skimmer thoroughly ..reinstall and turn the water back up to where it was.
I don't find thet mine fill to a different level when I clean/adjust them like this maybe because I skim more on the dry side.
The only time I have to make adjustments to the skimmers is when I remove the becketts and clean them.

This may be a silly question but I have found that some (very experienced) folks that didn't know this...can I safely assume you all know the becketts can come apart totally for cleaning? (in particular I am talking about the little 4" black piece inside the tube). If not, I have some pics on how to clean them that I can post up later on today.

 

[bconn]

Kathy,

I just picked up a MR3 and would be interested in learing how to clean the tubes. When you have time would you mind posting the pictures?

TY

 

[Brian]

I take apart my beckett's about once a month for a total cleaning. I have to say, disassembling them and cleaning the becketts makes all the difference!

I also squirt a little RO into air intake on the injectors at least once a week, this helps keep the air intakes from getting clogged.

 

[Phyl]

I keep cotton balls in my air in-takes. Doesn't the cotton get funny if you put water in there? I change my cotton balls one a week or so when they start to look a little dusty. Squeezing that drain tube has the same effect for me as turning off the pumps.

 

[NEWSALT]

Is this normal?

That's the injector with water shooting out of the holes.

 

[Brian]

I keep cotton balls in my air in-takes. Doesn't the cotton get funny if you put water in there? I change my cotton balls one a week or so when they start to look a little dusty. Squeezing that drain tube has the same effect for me as turning off the pumps.

I haven't used the cotton balls in a long time, I have better air flow without them. At one time I used a little piece of carbon filter pad in there...I thought it might help clean the air a little before it went into the skimmer...

Is this normal?

That's the injector with water shooting out of the holes.

It's hard to tell from the size of that picture...I don't have my magnifing glass!


From what I can tell it looks like it's working properly.

 

[NEWSALT]

It's hard to tell from the size of that picture...I don't have my magnifing glass!

Is this better?

 

[Brian]

Yup!

It looks like it's working perfectly...and now I want to go clean my becketts because they sure don't look like that right now!

 

[NEWSALT]

Thanks

 

[KathyC]

Sorry for the delay, had to go back through 2 months of crappy pics to find these..

Not sure of the technical name of this part..might actually be the injector..if anyone can tell me for sure

Unscrew it from the piece (to the right) and gently remove the plastic ring from the top (it's on the end with the threads in it)

Open the piece up and local all the crud inside.
I was originally told to simply run water through this piece to clean it.
One day when I was screwing it back onto the pc in the first pic, I screwed it too tightly and cracked the plastic ring and wham..I found out the entire piece comes apart intentionally.(The ring is what holds it together)
If you do happen to crack that plastic ring you can fix it with Weldon Glue..I should know! lol

Ta-da! Nice and clean. Reassemble in the same order you removed it and replace the teflon tape by the threading (not easy to do but necessary)
Your Beckett will work like new again!

To clean the clear acrylic tubes, I have a thin old rag that I run around the inside using the wrong end of one of my filter brushes & lots of water. It helps to have a lot of unions on your becketts