Injector filter

[Rmckoy]

What does everyone use for replacement filters on skimmer Beckett air injector ?

I grabbed a pack of cotton balls from the dollar store .
cut one in half but curious if there are other suggestions .

how often should they be changed ?

 

[Vette67]

interesting idea. I have been running a Beckett skimmer for about 20 years and I have never filtered the incoming air. I would imagine a cotton ball would work. But I’d be afraid as a filter gets dirty, that it would restrict incoming air and your skimmer level would drop. But maybe that would be a way to indicate it needed to be cleaned!

Just out of curiosity, how dirty does your filter get?

 

[TexanCanuck]

Very interesting.

I too have run a Beckett-style skimmer for years and never had a "filter" on the air inlet.

I purchased mine from Bashsea and they don't even offer an option for that.

Can you post a picture?

 

[Rmckoy]

The skimmer is a Mrc mr-2 skimmer .

single Beckett with the option to add a second
In the picture . Water in at the top ,
Air inlet 1/2 way up and comes with a ball of Cotton .
Surprisingly enough and I believe it’s because my apartment is humid .
it collects a fair bit .

 

[Vette67]

I have an MTC skimmer from the late 90’s, and I retrofitted a volume meter to my air intake. So I could put a filter on it, and when I saw the meter drop below 10 liters per minute, I’d know it was dirty.

I may have to try that to see what happens. My skimmer and sump are in my basement, so it may be dirty down there, or it may not. Almost nobody goes down there, except me.

I’m also thinking that after 20 years, if things haven’t crashed yet, I might just be fine. But I’m always willing to try something new.

 

[Rmckoy]

Mtc or another Mrc ( my reef connection )

 

[Cory]

Its a good idea except for the plugging and reducing air draw.

Maybe use those cigarette sponge filter things.

 

[Vette67]

Mtc or another Mrc ( my reef connection )

MTC. They are out of business now. Marine Technical Concepts. If I ever had to replace my skimmer, I would almost definitely go with an MRC. I really like their skimmers. Good choice. They are similar to the old MTC skimmers.

 

[Rmckoy]

MTC. They are out of business now. Marine Technical Concepts. If I ever had to replace my skimmer, I would almost definitely go with an MRC. I really like their skimmers. Good choice. They are similar to the old MTC skimmers.

I really like it ..

After a older reef octopus external recirculating skimmer. .
I will never use a in sump design again.
This one recommended a mag 18 or equivalent for a pump .
it was not enough so went with a jeabo dc-15000

 

[ca1ore]

Ran MTC beckett skimmers for decades .... never used (nor did it occur to me to use) any kind of air filter. Hard to see why it’s necessary. Although I still use a modified MTC HSA 3000 skimmer I replaced the Beckett’s with mazzei injectors. I much prefer them.

 

[Vette67]

Ran MTC beckett skimmers for decades .... never used (nor did it occur to me to use) any kind of air filter. Hard to see why it’s necessary. Although I still use a modified MTC HSA 3000 skimmer I replaced the Beckett’s with mazzei injectors. I much prefer them.

Not to hijack this thread, but my first skimmer was a 48" venturi skimmer. I retrofitted it with a 1" Mazzei injector (I still have this skimmer and use it when I run a hospital tank). My problem with venturi injectors is that the air intake always seems to scale over with salt. I don't have that maintenance problem with the Beckett injectors. Probably twice in the last 20 years, I have had to clean my Beckett with muriatic acid to get some calcium crust off of it. Whereas it seems almost monthly, you have to clean the salt scale off the Mazzei injectors. How have you dealt with this? I have seen systems that inject water into the air intakes of the Mazzei's to prevent salt crust buildup. But anything that causes more effort to me is a turn off to my lazy reefer beliefs...

 

[Rmckoy]

Inside the injector of the Beckett
If not seated and sealed properly the inside of the injector does collect a lot of salt .
I used T tape and made a tight fit

i have no issues with it at all

 

[ca1ore]

Not to hijack this thread, but my first skimmer was a 48" venturi skimmer. I retrofitted it with a 1" Mazzei injector (I still have this skimmer and use it when I run a hospital tank). My problem with venturi injectors is that the air intake always seems to scale over with salt. I don't have that maintenance problem with the Beckett injectors. Probably twice in the last 20 years, I have had to clean my Beckett with muriatic acid to get some calcium crust off of it. Whereas it seems almost monthly, you have to clean the salt scale off the Mazzei injectors. How have you dealt with this? I have seen systems that inject water into the air intakes of the Mazzei's to prevent salt crust buildup. But anything that causes more effort to me is a turn off to my lazy reefer beliefs...

There are certainly pros and cons. Beckett is extremely sensitive to back pressure, and I had a hard time getting consistent performance out of it. Mazzei is much more prone to salt blockage. For me, that is easier to solve than the back pressure issue thus my preference for the latter. I was one of the earliest to use a periodic water injection into the mazzei, but that messed with consistency also. Now I just pull air though the skimmate container. Extra humidity prevents the salt buildup.

 

[Vette67]

There are certainly pros and cons. Beckett is extremely sensitive to back pressure, and I had a hard time getting consistent performance out of it. Mazzei is much more prone to salt blockage. For me, that is easier to solve than the back pressure issue thus my preference for the latter. I was one of the earliest to use a periodic water injection into the mazzei, but that messed with consistency also. Now I just pull air though the skimmate container. Extra humidity prevents the salt buildup.

Oh for sure. Limpets are my nemesis. When I clean my skimmer cup, I have to back flush my Beckett by spraying it with strong hose pressure to get the stupid limpet shells out of the injector. So I can't say it is maintenance free. I guess I'm just so used to tinkering with the skimmer level, that I don't think much about it. I can tell when it's starting to get clogged, because my water level drops in the skimmer, and I ever so slightly close my gate valve to raise the level back up to compensate.

That's a good idea about the skimmate container. I've never thought humid air would make a difference. I just made a little plastic piece that fits perfectly between the Mazzei air intake valve blades to knock off the salt crust when I have it in use. Either that or I manually dump a cup of RO water in it.