Need help with BM Curve 5 Elite

Jefdav84 · Apr 22, 2020

Just finished putting together my BM Curve 5 elite. I let it run in a bucket of rodi water with a little vinegar for about 30 minutes or so and seemed to be doing fine.

All of a sudden now that I have it in my sump it's barely doing anything. No matter how much I adjust the settings it stays that he exact same. Now I know that these call for 9.5 - 11.5 of water. I have talked with people that run them them in 6 inches of water. I run my sump water level around 7 inches. Here is a pic of what it looks like even on Max.

Jefdav84 · Apr 22, 2020

Just took everything apart to see if something beast loose, but everything looks correct. I am at a loss here. No matter the setting the water is barely going above the bubble plate.

pecan2phat · Apr 22, 2020

And this happens if you start closing the outlet effluent dial also?

Jefdav84 · Apr 22, 2020

pecan2phat said:
And this happens if you start closing the outlet effluent dial also?

Yep. I've tried every thing from 1-5 and then MAX. Still same amount of flow. It seemed to work fine in the bucket before putting in to the sump. I know there are break in periods but from what I've read it's normally overflowing during this. I can't even get the water halfway up the neck.

lpsouth1978 · Apr 22, 2020

I don't know what to tell you on this one. I had the opposite issue when I set mine up. It just wouldn't stop overflowing. Turned out I did not have the bubble plate installed in the correct orientation. I can say that mine is in about 8.5" of water.

My guess is that something is not installed quite right. I would just check it ll again. also, cover the hole on the top of the silencer and see if there is a change in the water height. You obviously can't run it like that, but the water should rise dramatically for a moment. at least then you will know it is pulling in air correctly.

KrisReef · Apr 22, 2020

Is there any obstruction in the intake?

pecan2phat · Apr 22, 2020

What I cannot understand is with any type of skimmer, if you start closing the effluent dial/knob, door/gate or whatever term your skimmer utilizes, it should restrict the amount of water exiting the skimmer body hence raising the water level within the skimmer so while this might not be the absolute end result settings it still should raise the water level to at least where the neck and cup attaches.

Michael Gray · Apr 22, 2020

Did u out it together right. That dial. Make sure u have the min setting when the bottom hole is fully closed.

Not saying u did. But that's what I did. Lol

Jefdav84 · Apr 22, 2020

lpsouth1978 said:
I don't know what to tell you on this one. I had the opposite issue when I set mine up. It just wouldn't stop overflowing. Turned out I did not have the bubble plate installed in the correct orientation. I can say that mine is in about 8.5" of water.

My guess is that something is not installed quite right. I would just check it ll again. also, cover the hole on the top of the silencer and see if there is a change in the water height. You obviously can't run it like that, but the water should rise dramatically for a moment. at least then you will know it is pulling in air correctly.

If you close off the silencer the water does rise to about the bottom of the cup. Idk if setting is off with this dial or what. It seems correct but I can't find much info as the elite dial is different from the regular BM Curve 5

Jefdav84 · Apr 22, 2020

Michael Gray said:
Did u out it together right. That dial. Make sure u have the min setting when the bottom hole is fully closed.

Not saying u did. But that's what I did. Lol

I am double checking this now. It is a little odd, and I couldn't find much info on the setup. It didn't even come with paper instructions.

Jefdav84 · Apr 22, 2020

So am I looking at this right? Or is it the other way around? Here are pics of the dial on MIN, and the bottom hole is barely open. Should this be completely closed or is this right?

Michael Gray · Apr 22, 2020

Ya that looks right. Min and it's closed. Max should be wide open

Now make sure that the bubble blocker is correct. Take a photo of inside

Jefdav84 · Apr 22, 2020

Michael Gray said:
Ya that looks right. Min and it's closed. Max should be wide open

Now make sure that the bubble blocker is correct. Take a photo of inside

Michael Gray · Apr 22, 2020

I know with mine I had to go to 9.5 inch of water. And I skim on max or almost max. When I had it 8.5 it wasn't doing much but yours seems super low on max

Jefdav84 · Apr 23, 2020

So this is the correct way for the bubble plate ?

Michael Gray · Apr 23, 2020

Ya the part with no holes should be directly over the pump. Looks like the clear plastic plate with.holes needs to rotate counter clockwise some

Michael Gray · Apr 23, 2020

Do I make any sense. Sorry

That will probably fix it. U want the pump to push the microbubbles up against that plate if the holes are right above it it won't operate correctly

Michael Gray · Apr 23, 2020

Align it like that

Jefdav84 · Apr 23, 2020

Michael Gray said:
Ya the part with no holes should be directly over the pump. Looks like the clear plastic plate with.holes needs to rotate counter clockwise some

Yep I fixed that before putting it back together. Have it back in the sump now and same thing. What is strange is that it seems to go a tad bit higher when on MIN- 3. Either way it still isn't right.