RO Elite 220INT Air Intake Issues

ithk21620 · Jan 7, 2016

I have RO Elite 220INT that I have owned for about 9 months now, the first 6 months the thing ran great and I didn't have a bit of trouble with it. Now for the last three I have been fighting with it non stop. The air intake clogs with salt creep every other day.

As you can see it clogs to the point there is only a small pin hole. This was happening every other day so I did some research and people suggest to not use the muffler which doesn't bother me because of the location so I tried that. Once I removed the muffler I get about 3 days out of it but that's it. I travel for a living so I can't go clean out the salt creep every 2-3 days and quit frankly I think it's ridiculous to have clean it that often anyways.

Nothing has changed on the system since owning the skimmer.

Any suggestions or ideas would be great!

kschweer · Jan 8, 2016

Do you dose near your skimmer? It may be precipitation.

ithk21620 · Jan 8, 2016

kschweer said:
Do you dose near your skimmer? It may be precipitation.

My sump is in the basement and I dose upstairs, also my doser doses Ca / Alk offset from each other at 30 min intervals so I doubt that's the problem. I haven't changed anything since installing the skimmer and I just find it weird that it never had an issue for 6 months or so and all of a sudden it does this

Dk638 · Jan 15, 2016

Funny coralvue didn't respond to this? You think they would at least have a suggestion

ithk21620 · Jan 15, 2016

Dk638 said:
Funny coralvue didn't respond to this? You think they would at least have a suggestion

I know, customer service at its finest....

Dk638 · Jan 15, 2016

Yeah I'm having a problem with my pump now, they want me to send it in. So I have no skimmer for who knows how long

ithk21620 · Jan 15, 2016

Dk638 said:
Yeah I'm having a problem with my pump now, they want me to send it in. So I have no skimmer for who knows how long

My pump went out on me within the first couple months, I have to send it in as well. I had a new pump in about a week, maybe a little longer. Most places like Ecotech have you give them a CC number and they ship you a new one out, then you have to ship the bad one back to them within so many days. If they don't receive it they charge your CC for the parts. That's a way better system imo.

Right now with how quickly my skimmer air intake plugs I am with out a slimmer for 5 days a week since I travel for a living

Dk638 · Jan 15, 2016

Right that's the way customer service should be. I'd gladly send it back after I get a replacement. Last time I buy coralvue.

ithk21620 · Jan 22, 2016

Since no one at coralvue cares to chime in on my problem I decided to build my own air intake assembly for my skimmer. I am happy to say that after a week it has not clogged once!

stunreefer · Jan 22, 2016

Coralvue has a customer support portal on their website that's fantastic. They get back to you very quickly.

Remember that many companies like this sponsor many forums.

Eckolancer · Jan 22, 2016

Are you running the skimmer part time? Like off for an hour on for 4? If so it could be building up in the tube and then the dry salt gets sucked down to the input where it builds up and clogs. May just need a new airline in place.

atlorange · Jan 22, 2016

I just started having a similar issue with my Regal 150-SSS. I wonder if it's something related to winter? More creep during winter months because of evaporation?

ithk21620 · Jan 22, 2016

Eckolancer said:
Are you running the skimmer part time? Like off for an hour on for 4? If so it could be building up in the tube and then the dry salt gets sucked down to the input where it builds up and clogs. May just need a new airline in place.

The skimmer runs nonstop so that wouldn't be the problem.

ithk21620 · Jan 22, 2016

atlorange said:
I just started having a similar issue with my Regal 150-SSS. I wonder if it's something related to winter? More creep during winter months because of evaporation?

My problem started about 3 months ago or a little before so I don't know if that would be the culprit. Also I am using about the same amount of top off water as the rest of the year so I'm not seeing more evaporation now versus the summer.

ithk21620 · Jan 22, 2016

stunreefer said:
Coralvue has a customer support portal on their website that's fantastic. They get back to you very quickly.

Remember that many companies like this sponsor many forums.

I just sent a ticket in

Eckolancer · Jan 22, 2016

Have you tried to run the piece in the picture under some hot water for a while? Depending on how that intake is made it could be clogged up inside of it. Like the vertex one I have allows the air to come in and forced into a tunnel like area with sleeve. I have found a small snail in there before causing for less air being sucked in.

ithk21620 · Jan 22, 2016

The response I received from Coralvue was:

During the winter months, salt creep is very common as the air is very dry. What we usually recommend is to inject water into the air intake every couple of days to keep the airline clear. Another option is to T your fresh water top off right into the air intake so every time water tops off, it keeps the skimmer intake clean.

So then I have to ask this, does everyone have this problem? Do you all "clean" out your skimmer air intake every two days?

This makes me want to go back to a downdraft skimmer even though I saved about $20 a month on electricity switching to the reef octopus...

ithk21620 · Jan 22, 2016

Eckolancer said:
Have you tried to run the piece in the picture under some hot water for a while? Depending on how that intake is made it could be clogged up inside of it. Like the vertex one I have allows the air to come in and forced into a tunnel like area with sleeve. I have found a small snail in there before causing for less air being sucked in.

Yes, I actually made up a tool the same size as the inside of the air intake to clean it out since it was happening every other day. I would push all the salt creep out and then run it under warm water to get any remaining salt off before reinstalling the fitting to the pump.

Eckolancer · Jan 22, 2016

That's strange I would like to know what they say is causing it or what they do to make it right.

stunreefer · Jan 22, 2016

FWIW I have a POV-1 skimmer, which is the first gen version of what you have, with the pump inside the body (now called Elite 200SSS). Runs on the RO DC 3500, so a bit smaller pump and neck as well. I have not had the issues you're experiencing.

To me that does not look like salt creep, rather two part. I saw you said the two part is dosed upstairs half hour apart from one another. Is it dosing into the overflow? Did the power on dosing pumps get reset causing them to dose at same time? Almost seems like pieces of the alk component solidify and are being sucked into the skimmer pump down in sump. I don't see how salt creep could form like that in only a few days... certainly not arguing with you, trying to help figure out source of problem

I have several ATO's going into skimmer silencers on clients' systems. Seems to help keep intake lines clean and clear, but I don't think it should be absolutely necessary.