Has anyone modded a MRC 1 skimmer?

[Dburr1014]

My beckett I think stopped working and the air intake is getting clogged every few days with calcium deposits. Currently I'm running a gen-x 55 pump with it. (teed off to run to the display also)
I bought it used and it was missing the original air intake so it now has a small ball valve to control the air intake.
It's just not working right.

So I was thinking of modding it to use a skimmer pump with a needle wheel and taking out the beckett and air intake all together.

I can't see why it wouldn't work. Has anyone done this or similar? Any problems you foresee?

Thanks.

 

[Engloid]

I have an MRC 2, and have noticed its performance declining also. I have cleaned the beckett and it seems nothing helps it.
I have been considering drilling the base part, putting bulkheads in and hooking up a good bubble wheel pump to it.

 

[MIKE NY]

I ran a MRC QR-2 for many years. I added a second Beckett and drilled the holes larger. I then put the Beckett housings on longer pipes, they were as high as the skimmer cup. I also put PVC U tubes inside the box from the Beckett inlets up into the reaction chamber... these mods dramatically increased the performance.