Skimmer help!!!

fireman23 · Feb 16, 2013

HeI have a warner marine mf 181 skimmer. It has been working great until yestery. O was painting my Livingroom and heard water splashing. I go over to stand and notice skimmer is overflowing. I hadnt adjusted it at all. I closed the inlet valve and air valve all the way to keep it feom flowing over but the bubbles come out the bottom where the outlet is. If i open the air valve any it overflows. I have taken it completely apart and cleaned but still isnt working right. Any advice??

.AcroKiller. · Feb 16, 2013

fireman23 said:
HeI have a warner marine mf 181 skimmer. It has been working great until yestery. O was painting my Livingroom and heard water splashing. I go over to stand and notice skimmer is overflowing. I hadnt adjusted it at all. I closed the inlet valve and air valve all the way to keep it feom flowing over but the bubbles come out the bottom where the outlet is. If i open the air valve any it overflows. I have taken it completely apart and cleaned but still isnt working right. Any advice??

Could it be the paint. Or check the venturi and the air inlet for salt build up

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

gmoney243 · Feb 16, 2013

Yea i would try clean the venturi and the tube thay intakes air. Turn the pump and and suck some hot ro/di water through the air tube to help clear any salt buildup. If the air gets restricted thw pump sucks.more water into the chamber which could cause an overflow. other than that i duno

Sent from my VS930 4G using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

fireman23 · Feb 16, 2013

I took it all apart and cleaned with hot water. It still creates bubbles like crazy just overflows. I havent toucjed it in a month. Then all of a sudden it started overflowing

gmoney243 · Feb 16, 2013

Is it new? Maybe it.just.now.broke in? If it is new did you vinegar bath it first?

Sent from my VS930 4G using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

fireman23 · Feb 16, 2013

No its, not new. Its been running since sept. I bought it used .

Dowtish · Feb 17, 2013

Without any pics, it's kinda hard to tell what might be causing it.

Warner MarineContact Â» Warner Marine

Call the number on the screen and talk to Jon Warner. He is an awesome guy and will help you troubleshoot the problem.

fireman23 · Feb 17, 2013

Chris i tried calling that number yesterday but closed for weekend im assuming . Was hoping you guys might have some advice for me until i talk to Jon. Thanks again.

Dowtish · Feb 17, 2013

Yeah, just try him tomorrow. Talking to the man himself who designed it, would give you better advice than we could.

gmoney243 · Feb 17, 2013

Only other thing i can think of is if u have to much air it can randomly overflow like that. Happen to me on my old aqua c ev skimmer till i started using lowest ammount.of air possible while still creating enough bubbles to skim.

Sent from my VS930 4G using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

Bueller · Feb 17, 2013

I had the same problem recently, while doing research a few people had mentioned that painting can cause it to happen. Have you added anything like red slime remover? I saw that can cause it too. I took mine apart and put it back together and it started working normally.

p woodard · Feb 17, 2013

I think its from you painting the paint fumes are getting sucked in to the skimmer and caused the skimmer to start over flowing

fireman23 · Feb 18, 2013

I was wondeeing if that would be the case. We painted ceilings, walls, trim, baseboards, crown molding. Never had problem with skimmer until Friday.

fireman23 · Feb 21, 2013

Ok so i talked to jon warner and he said that its more than likely feom the fumes and nothing wrong with skimmer. He said it should go away in a couple of days well i havent been running skimmer. Should i have been running it all along and just let it flow back.into sump??

.AcroKiller. · Feb 28, 2013

fireman23 said:
Ok so i talked to jon warner and he said that its more than likely feom the fumes and nothing wrong with skimmer. He said it should go away in a couple of days well i havent been running skimmer. Should i have been running it all along and just let it flow back.into sump??

Have you tried this? Buy a long piece of hose and run your air intake outsize to see if it works

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app