Hi there, great question, and I'll do my best to articulate this one, and to not to sound too much like commercial or ramble on .
One thing that really sets Deltec apart from the competition is air. And lots of it! Deltec pumps produce a tremendous amount of air, which is the single most important factor in effective and efficient skimming.
But a very close second, is strict attention to matching of all that air and pump and pinwheel size, to the actual size of the skimmer body and neck diameter. These are specifics that will greatly affect performance. When pumps are not properly matched you will loose efficiency, and performance will suffer as well. All of these metrics are carefully measured and matched.
Deltecs are designed to allow for, and utilize the maximum amount of air and water through each specific size. A bubble plate is incorporated into the bubble chamber as well which greatly reduces turbulence that can pull waste laden bubbles back down, which in turn reduces the need for those towering beasts of the old line. And the design is so efficient that dwell time isn't a concern anymore, So Deltecs don't recirculate anymore either.
Those extra tiny bubbles attract all the dissolved organics they'll pick up within an instant of entering the water. From Deltec,
"The air to water ratio is so high, that there is almost immediate reaction with the waste, therefore there is no requirement for the tall reaction chambers found on other low air skimmers, thus keeping the units compact. The new Deltec pumps also include innovative bearing design. The top shaft bearing now sits under the needle wheel itself thus optimizing the suction side of the pump."
I have mentioned this before, but I was really skeptical of the new line when they came out. Coming from the bigger is better camp i could not see how such a small design could outperform their older versions. But its more about air than column size, and once I had one of the new guys on my own system I was convinced it worked just as well if not better as they claimed. In fact it worked too well. You can actually go back and find posts on RC about my first 3070s, and me asking why did it stop skimming. lol. What's wrong with my wallet busting new skimmer I cried!
Well, the 3070s is rated for double what my water volume was, (like I said I couldn't wrap my head around getting smaller one at the time) and it only took a few weeks to really catch up. Once it did, there wasn't enough DOC's in the water column to produce a thick head of foam. The skimmer literally worked too well.
Here is the 3070s in the first week. Mind was blown. totally sold on the new design!
Then after about three weeks the foam tricked off to this lol. I was distraught till I figured out what was going on. I think my thread title was "whats wrong with my new Deltec" or something like that.
I have since put the 2560 on this system, and it throws foam like the first pic very consistently
Which brings me to another area that does need some attention. Properly sizing the skimmer to the system will ensure a steady flow of glistening dry foam, rather than simply neck and lid build up, while the skimmer desperately seeks out any thing thats left to skim. I have found that with Deltec, there is no need to oversize, unless you have plans to grow your existing set up in the future.
Anyway, I'll stop there, but if you've got any other questions about specifics, please let me know.
