Protein skimmer help!!!

Marinevrablic · May 4, 2016

No chemicals at all. This is my skimmer. Took it all apart and starting over. Maybe I missed something?

Marinevrablic · May 4, 2016

Yea I got that valve open completly. The one in the pic you circles. Wide open.

sil40sx · May 4, 2016

Where is that air line clear tube connected to? Do you hear loud air coming from it when it was running? If not, it means its not connected properly

bobman · May 4, 2016

SO you have 2 adjustments the valve on the riser tube I circled in the above pic controls water level inside the skimmer. Make sure it is working correctly and the little valve on the airline controls the amount of air going into the skimmer. The more air entering the skimmer the less water can enter. IF you have both of those maxed out and its still overflowing raising the skimmer can help but honestly it looks like a brand new skimmer. Most brand new skimmers contain oils from manufacturing and will have to skim it out. This will cause the skimmer to overflow for a while unless you clean it with vinegar before use even then it will still most likely over flow till it breaks in. I would just run it in the sump without the collection cup on for about a week and it should all level out.

Marinevrablic · May 4, 2016

sil40sx said:
Where is that air line clear tube connected to? Do you hear loud air coming from it when it was running? If not, it means its not connected properly

Airline is to the pump. Making bubbles is no problem makes A LOT of bubbles lol.

Marinevrablic · May 4, 2016

bobman said:
SO you have 2 adjustments the valve on the riser tube I circled in the above pic controls water level inside the skimmer. Make sure it is working correctly and the little valve on the airline controls the amount of air going into the skimmer. The more air entering the skimmer the less water can enter. IF you have both of those maxed out and its still overflowing raising the skimmer can help but honestly it looks like a brand new skimmer. Most brand new skimmers contain oils from manufacturing and will have to skim it out. This will cause the skimmer to overflow for a while unless you clean it with vinegar before use even then it will still most likely over flow till it breaks in. I would just run it in the sump without the collection cup on for about a week and it should all level out.

Everything is open air valve to the max without taking it off lol. And outlet valve is wide open. I raised it as high as I can and the pump was at the surface of the water. Still overflowing like mad. I'll try to run it without cup. That means my DT is going to be filled looking milky white. Right?

Marinevrablic · May 4, 2016

With it running with all those bubbles going all into my sump and tank isn't it bad for the system?

domination2580 · May 4, 2016

Try turning back the adjustment. Maybe they put it on wrong and bigger is actually smaller if u get the jist. See if it helps. Worth. Shot. My skimmer can do the same thing and I had to turn mine down or water would rise to much like you are describing

Marinevrablic · May 4, 2016

domination2580 said:
Try turning back the adjustment. Maybe they put it on wrong and bigger is actually smaller if u get the jist. See if it helps. Worth. Shot. My skimmer can do the same thing and I had to turn mine down or water would rise to much like you are describing

Haha mine is rising and just a little more pressure it would be a cool fountain. Lol

domination2580 · May 4, 2016

O yeah I know what you mean I say it took 2 seconds just for the cup to fill if I turned it up. It is like a waterfall

Marinevrablic · May 4, 2016

Yea exactly what mine is doing. With everything open. I'm just so confused!

sil40sx · May 4, 2016

Marinevrablic said:
Airline is to the pump. Making bubbles is no problem makes A LOT of bubbles lol.

Oh, my bad. Wasn't able to read all the posts.

Like the other guys recommends, looks like water level is too high if the adjustments are already maxed out and its still overflowing. Only option is reduce the water line in the sump, or raise your skimmer.

Fyi, we have same issue. I used a tupperware under the skimmer to raise it. It was raised 2", and no more overflowing

Marinevrablic · May 4, 2016

Guys I want to thank you ALL for not bashing on me for being retarded on a skimmer. Just this was hard with no instructions lol. But guess what. I got it working!!!! No more over flowing!!!! Thanks again for all the advise and help!!!!

bobman · May 4, 2016

What did you do to get it working so the next guy that is googleing his skimmer issue and runs across this thread knows how you fixed your issue. Plus help the rest of us

Lowell Lemon · May 4, 2016

Marinevrablic said:
Guys I want to thank you ALL for not bashing on me for being retarded on a skimmer. Just this was hard with no instructions ****. But guess what. I got it working!!!! No more over flowing!!!! Thanks again for all the advise and help!!!!

@Marinevrablic

You don't have an air pump hooked up to the air line do you? If so take it off the water pump is designed to suck air in through the airline tube without an air pump at all. Try placing an airline tube needle valve on the inlet side of the airline and restrict the amount of air going into the pump. You may have to adjust it until you get the right level of foam. Also check to make sure you have the right size water pump for that skimmer. It is possible someone hooked one up to it that is pumping to many gallons per hour for the skimmer design.
Just a couple of thoughts.

sil40sx · May 4, 2016

bobman said:
What did you do to get it working so the next guy that is googleing his skimmer issue and runs across this thread knows how you fixed your issue. Plus help the rest of us

I was gonna say the same thing as Bob. But he beat me to it, so I'll just quote him.

Marinevrablic · May 4, 2016

bobman said:
What did you do to get it working so the next guy that is googleing his skimmer issue and runs across this thread knows how you fixed your issue. Plus help the rest of us

Well I took it all apart to take the pics. I noticed on the out tubing on the bottom where it connects to skimmer, I had an o ring out of wack. So I pushed it back in and made sure everything on the equipment was tight as can be without cracking anything. Plugged it up after it was in the water and opened the valves to the max and no more over flowing and nice gunk coming out already in the cup. Now just waiting for all the water to be clear again. Thanks again.

bobman · May 4, 2016

Sometimes the smallest thing can be the biggest headache glad you got it working. Never heard of that skimmer but it looks like a pretty decent skimmer.

Marinevrablic · May 4, 2016

bobman said:
Sometimes the smallest thing can be the biggest headache glad you got it working. Never heard of that skimmer but it looks like a pretty decent skimmer.

Yea I was looking it up a little more. It's more or less not top of the line brand name. It works amazing right now. Will update in the future about this skimmer but once I got it working I can totally see the crap being pulled in a matter od seconds. So somethings right lol. But yea not brand named so it's kinda an independent brand? Hell the pump itself is worth 65 bucks.