Skimmer pump leaking bubbles?

[MnFish1]

have you tried customer support? I cant see a leak. but your set up does not look like the pictures on the companies website - so I would start there good luck

 

[mfollen]

I'll take this up with customer support. Thank you for all your help everyone.

If I get to a solution I'll update here so if anyone else gets this problem they can find a solution.

 

[Mjrenz]

Based on the company's "explosion charts" I'm going to take a wild guess that they're not made in the us

 

[Mjrenz]

One other possible theory: maybe since it's now on the stand the seal that it's leaking out of was good enough when it was submerged deeper but now there's too much back pressure from the extra water height in the skimmer body and it's not holding?

 

[cracker]

Whats the red , round seal looking thing? is that the seal for the skimmer body. Is it seated properly? Sorry if the pic throws me off.

 

[Mjrenz]

Whats the red , round seal looking thing? is that the seal for the skimmer body. Is it seated properly? Sorry if the pic throws me off.

Looking at the manufacturer's info it's hard to even tell if it's supposed to be an actual seal. They show it pictured but don't even list it as a part

 

[mfollen]

The red part is the plate where the skimmer inlet enters the skimmer chamber.

 

[Mjrenz]

The red part is the plate where the skimmer inlet enters the skimmer chamber.

Does the pipe even fit tightly into it?

 

[mfollen]

One other possible theory: maybe since it's now on the stand the seal that it's leaking out of was good enough when it was submerged deeper but now there's too much back pressure from the extra water height in the skimmer body and it's not holding?

You might be on to something. There looks like slight bend down in the middle of the horizontal top of the skimmer stand, which could be sinking the skimmer and tweaking the union between the skimmer and the pump, making it not flush. But when I lifted from the center, to make the stand more flat, it didn't change anything.

Going to give this one more go.

 

[mfollen]

Does the pipe even fit tightly into it?

Yes.

 

[Mjrenz]

I just looked at brs, they recommend 7" to 8 1/2" of sump depth

 

[cracker]

Good mfollen, Onething to check before moving on to the next. You will find the reason !

 

[mfollen]

Aaaaannddddd that’s a fix!

O-ring (not provided by the manufacturer).

I had one laying around that was a perfect fit. Popped it in, turned it on, and back in operation!

 

[Mjrenz]

Aaaaannddddd that’s a fix!

O-ring (not provided by the manufacturer).

I had one laying around that was a perfect fit. Popped it in, turned it on, and back in operation!

Awesome!

 

[mfollen]

@Mjrenz that’s why I got the stand!

Very happy that the skimmer is running again, now at full operation.

I have green hair algae & dinos spreading in my new display.. needed this skimmer running. Next is to set up the UV!

 

[mfollen]

Yea crazy this whole thing happened.. I guess moral of the story.. have a slew of o-rings around! Never know when you may need one.

I know they sell packs on amazon for cheap.

 

[Mjrenz]

Yea crazy this whole thing happened.. I guess moral of the story.. have a slew of o-rings around! Never know when you may need one.

I know they sell packs on amazon for cheap.

I always like when I can get something working instead of trying to deal with the manufacturer, it's so seldom that they even understand how their own product works

 

[mfollen]

Lol. Yea it is a good feeling. Especially when you have one less thing on the to-do list!!