Hmm his post is very low so I wouldn't expect him to own up to the issues your having with your pump. I recently bought a SWC180 on MR and I went to his place and checked it out first before purchasing it. I haven't had much issues with mine except it overflows sometimes when I add too much food. Also wet epoxy will make it overflow for a few days if not careful. I can't believe you got screwed with 3 broken bumps. I guess when it sound too good to be true... But I saw on MR that someone is trading for a sk2500 http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/sale-trade/118701-sicce-psk-2500-ft.html is that the same pumps your using?
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Inherited 90
- Thread starter redfishbluefish
- Start date
Paul are you having water flow problems or is the water flow steady. I'm wondering if you or the seller didn't clean this thing with something that is making it go through a break in period. I washed my infamous bubble king skimmer with vinegar when I got it and it took a couple days to break it in again .
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
I guess you can say I’m having water flow problems…..the water isn’t flowing. All three pumps are crapped out. I’m sure what this a-hole did was eventually go through three pumps and said, “that’s it!” And so now I have it.
If I knew I could buy a mod’ed pump that worked, I’d go for it. But my searching hasn’t turned up any other pumps that would fit. I wouldn’t mind spending the bucks for a Sicce PSK 2500 or Tunze Hydrofoamer on this thing if I knew it would fit, or be easily mod’ed. With this guy going through three of these pumps, they are obviously pieces of crap. I’m not sure what I’m going to do….probably eat the 210 bucks.
If I knew I could buy a mod’ed pump that worked, I’d go for it. But my searching hasn’t turned up any other pumps that would fit. I wouldn’t mind spending the bucks for a Sicce PSK 2500 or Tunze Hydrofoamer on this thing if I knew it would fit, or be easily mod’ed. With this guy going through three of these pumps, they are obviously pieces of crap. I’m not sure what I’m going to do….probably eat the 210 bucks.
Keep your distance today…..I’m not having a good day. I just opened up the MAG 24 to give it a cleaning, and the impeller is shot! Of the six fins, one is totally missing, and four are being held on by a thread of rubber. Only one impeller blade is fully attached. Don’t know how this happened, considering all water first runs through a sock, and the pump had the little screened thing on it as well. It must be age…I think this thing has been running since 2008!
Crap, crap and crap!
Crap, crap and crap!
Things aren't going well for me today either Paul.
First, I tried to copy my 1.4 GB mov file to my work's cloud drive. Well, it wouldn't even copy from my camera to my PC's hard drive, let alone let me add it to a network drive.
Second, tried to see if the cloud drive is active anyway (thought of setting it up so I could connect from my home PC and upload from there tonight) and it's not active anyway. Placed a call to our IT guy and hopefully I can get that worked out before I leave today.
Then, after reading your last post, I remembered seeing a forum somewhere out there where someone modded their skimmer (can't remember if it was an NAC7 or a SWC 160) and they were able to remove their Atman ph2500 and use a Sicce pump externally. They had it piped directly into the bubble plate... and it was a fix for him. Sadly, I've been searching for it for hours and can't find it now. If only my PC wasn't setup to clear my history daily... I might have found it that way.
Sorry Paul. I know this is frustrating and really wanted to give you some hope. Maybe you can have better luck googling it?
First, I tried to copy my 1.4 GB mov file to my work's cloud drive. Well, it wouldn't even copy from my camera to my PC's hard drive, let alone let me add it to a network drive.
Second, tried to see if the cloud drive is active anyway (thought of setting it up so I could connect from my home PC and upload from there tonight) and it's not active anyway. Placed a call to our IT guy and hopefully I can get that worked out before I leave today.
Then, after reading your last post, I remembered seeing a forum somewhere out there where someone modded their skimmer (can't remember if it was an NAC7 or a SWC 160) and they were able to remove their Atman ph2500 and use a Sicce pump externally. They had it piped directly into the bubble plate... and it was a fix for him. Sadly, I've been searching for it for hours and can't find it now. If only my PC wasn't setup to clear my history daily... I might have found it that way.
Sorry Paul. I know this is frustrating and really wanted to give you some hope. Maybe you can have better luck googling it?
Found it!
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/79074-mod-bubble-magus-nac7-cone-skimmer.html
Maybe you can try that and get rid of the Atman pump(s) altogether?
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/79074-mod-bubble-magus-nac7-cone-skimmer.html
Maybe you can try that and get rid of the Atman pump(s) altogether?
George, thanks for the perseverance in attempting to find a solution.
I’m going to cross my fingers and say that I just might have one pump that might be working……for the last three hours anyway….and that’s a record.
I started getting ready to put the MRC back on line when I found the MAG 24 impeller was destroyed. I considered pulling the MAG 18 I have in the basement on my waste-water drum, and then decided to go with one of the Panworld pumps I have (and planned on installing after I drilled the sump.) So as I started to assemble the plumbing, I saw the post from AO (HERE, Post #16), about lifting the skimmer out of the water to restart the impeller. I tried that with the pump that was on the skimmer, and was able to start bubble formation when it was in about five inches of water, but as I lowered the skimmer into the sump, the column would collapse at about 7 ½ inches of water. I tried this multiple times and gave up on that pump. It’s not simply an impeller problem!
Since I was back playing with this skimmer, I once again pulled it out and put another pump on the skimmer. I played with those nylon washers I had, and finally got a decent bubble column with three nylon washers on the impeller side, with none on the magnet side. The bubbles are different than what I’ve seen and look pretty good. Again, with fingers crossed, it’s been going for about three hours and acting like an unbroken in skimmer, overfilling the cup five or six times.
So now I’m playing with the knobs to break this thing in and get it pumping out some nasty skimmate….with fingers still crossed. If not, I’m looking for a tall building to test the effect of gravity on plastics.
I’m going to cross my fingers and say that I just might have one pump that might be working……for the last three hours anyway….and that’s a record.
I started getting ready to put the MRC back on line when I found the MAG 24 impeller was destroyed. I considered pulling the MAG 18 I have in the basement on my waste-water drum, and then decided to go with one of the Panworld pumps I have (and planned on installing after I drilled the sump.) So as I started to assemble the plumbing, I saw the post from AO (HERE, Post #16), about lifting the skimmer out of the water to restart the impeller. I tried that with the pump that was on the skimmer, and was able to start bubble formation when it was in about five inches of water, but as I lowered the skimmer into the sump, the column would collapse at about 7 ½ inches of water. I tried this multiple times and gave up on that pump. It’s not simply an impeller problem!
Since I was back playing with this skimmer, I once again pulled it out and put another pump on the skimmer. I played with those nylon washers I had, and finally got a decent bubble column with three nylon washers on the impeller side, with none on the magnet side. The bubbles are different than what I’ve seen and look pretty good. Again, with fingers crossed, it’s been going for about three hours and acting like an unbroken in skimmer, overfilling the cup five or six times.
So now I’m playing with the knobs to break this thing in and get it pumping out some nasty skimmate….with fingers still crossed. If not, I’m looking for a tall building to test the effect of gravity on plastics.
Maybe I wasn’t clear. The pump that only worked in five or so inches of water is toast. I tried all three impellers, various combinations of washers, etc, and no go. It also had a hot iron smell when I’d pull it out of the water, after trying to get it to work.
Of the three pumps I got, one is totally fried, the other, explained above, doesn’t work more that an hour or so, and one appears to be ok….with three nylon washers on the impeller side.
Now the real good news is that I’m making SWC 160 skimmate……woohooo…..finally!
Of the three pumps I got, one is totally fried, the other, explained above, doesn’t work more that an hour or so, and one appears to be ok….with three nylon washers on the impeller side.
Now the real good news is that I’m making SWC 160 skimmate……woohooo…..finally!
Better go knock on some wood, quick! Glad to hear you got some combination of the pumps to work.
how deep do you have the skimmer sitting in the sump? my 120 is prob. only 5-6'' deep and pulling very well
Good to hear you finally got it running. What are the pump options for the 160, only sicce & the atman? Maybe you could find an ATB or something similar for a decent price.
You should definitely post feedback on RC.
You should definitely post feedback on RC.
fatoldsun
NJRC Member
Not sure if I missed a detail but if you're trying to elevate the skimmer (had to do this for my NAC6A which also uses an Atman and we have similar sump setups) I did a PVC stand for the aquaC I tried. Very simple concept. 2 pieces of 4" cut to the height I wanted
I lined up and drilled holes to use zip ties to hold them together.
Turned out I can't use the skimmer but I plan to make a smaller version for the NAC6 and it will be a lot easier to clean than the current egg-crate stand. Only tip for the next one will be some holes to allow water flow through them so they aren't nitrate traps
I lined up and drilled holes to use zip ties to hold them together.
Turned out I can't use the skimmer but I plan to make a smaller version for the NAC6 and it will be a lot easier to clean than the current egg-crate stand. Only tip for the next one will be some holes to allow water flow through them so they aren't nitrate traps
The SWC 160 calls for 7 – 10 inches of water. I actually measured and marked the side of the skimmer….and it’s in 9 inches of water.
The non-cone SWC 160 came with a Sicce PSK 2500 pump while the cone version comes with an Atman 2500. No other pump fits in the cone 160….just the Atman.
Dave, thanks for the heads-up on how you made your risers, but it was serendipity that put my skimmer at 9 inches. The sump was originally designed to have an external pump to feed the MRC, with a bulkhead in the side of the sump. A “bubble guard” was installed just above the bulkhead to keep bubbles out of the skimmer. It just so happens to be that the cover to the bubble guard puts the skimmer at 9 inches……serendipity baby!
I forgot the pump is inside these skimmers. How difficult would it be to mod for an external pump?
George, it’s kicking skimmate like crazy…..fingers still crossed.
That mod to a Bubble Magus was pretty neat.
It basically involved putting a bulkhead in the hole of the skimmer body and putting the pump outside the skimmer. What concerns me (with doing this to an SWC) is the torque on the skimmer body from both internally (from the bubble plate), and externally (from the pump.) The skimmer body is circular and the bulkhead wouldn’t fit flush to the body. (I know special bulkheads are made to fit circular containers…but still.) The acrylic on the SWC is also relatively thin, and I don’t think it would take much to crack it. I would prefer to put a large grommet in the hole and slipping the pipe through that hole. That would lessen the pressure on the skimmer body.
But I’ve got a bigger problem with the modification; I don’t have the room to put a pump on the outside of the skimmer!
That mod to a Bubble Magus was pretty neat.
It basically involved putting a bulkhead in the hole of the skimmer body and putting the pump outside the skimmer. What concerns me (with doing this to an SWC) is the torque on the skimmer body from both internally (from the bubble plate), and externally (from the pump.) The skimmer body is circular and the bulkhead wouldn’t fit flush to the body. (I know special bulkheads are made to fit circular containers…but still.) The acrylic on the SWC is also relatively thin, and I don’t think it would take much to crack it. I would prefer to put a large grommet in the hole and slipping the pipe through that hole. That would lessen the pressure on the skimmer body.
But I’ve got a bigger problem with the modification; I don’t have the room to put a pump on the outside of the skimmer!
I figured you could use a Uniseal bulkhead (http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/829/Uniseals) for the curved body or possibly go through the bottom plate of the skimmer.
With the external skimmer now gone, I tackled the spaghetti-like mess of wires on that side of the tank. For the past two years, whenever anything new was added, it was simply plugged in and left on the table or floor to the left of the tank. I didn’t take a “before” picture, but believe me when I tell you it was a knotted mess of wires.
With a scrap piece of plywood and a bag of screws, I untangled, organized and mounted everything up. Here’s what it looks like now:
With a scrap piece of plywood and a bag of screws, I untangled, organized and mounted everything up. Here’s what it looks like now: