SWC300 questions?

SDguy · Aug 29, 2012

I have some questions about my SWC300 skimmer. I finally have it running on my new 240g FO upgrade. A couple things I noticed first off.

1. The air intake is LOUD! I thought the adjustment device was also a silencer since it looks like other silencers I've seen, but apparently not? How can I make this quiter?

2. Any recommendations on the oulet of the skimmer? That's quite a bit of water and bubbles exiting. Can I add a 90 degree elbow facing down to try and control it a bit?

3. How do I set this thing? My biggest issue is the way the "gate" valve works on the outlet. I can't tell when I'm closing or opening it. Is there a trick to that? Do I set the water level first, with the air off, and then slowly increase the amount of air?

Thanks for any tips and tricks. I'm sure I'd be able to figure it out eventually, but I thought, heck, why not just ask

Saltgator · Aug 29, 2012

I'll do my best to answer your q&a as I have the 230 swc cone and have/had the same issues. The air adjustment is super load, almost like a Turbo charger! I added a piece of air line hose with a adjustable valve and it greatly refused the noise. I ended up not using it as I found the reduced air intake makes my skimmer work well/better.

The gate valve on mine is set up where both dots line up meaning the gate is closed. After I had my water level at 9.5 inches, I slowly turned it to adjust for a wet skim.

I haven't been able to adjust the micro bubbles or the amount of water exiting the Skimmer. I like your idea of the 90, so I may try that or use a circular sponge filter in the exit slot.

Country Boy using tapatalk on his EVO

luke33 · Aug 29, 2012

I'll try to answer the questions you got.

1) Strange as i run the same skimmer and its quiet. I can't hear the air. Can you take a pic of how its set up? The 230 you can hear but every 300 i've ran is silent.

2) Don't add a 90, if its just set up its going to be pushing out a ton of micro's especially if you are trying to adjust it to skim. When first set up i would have the water 4" below the neck connection. The foam head is super large so if you have water above that your going to be getting tons of micro's. So let it break in first before you worry about micro's. If its new sw its going to take a couple weeks to get going as well. It will skim some really light cloudy water for a while.

3)When the two dots line up its completely open. When they are opposite, one front and one back its closed as much as it will close. either direction to the left or right does the same thing as far as adjusting. Its like a wedge pipe that has a controller on top.

HTH and just yell if you have any other questions.

Decalf · Aug 29, 2012

Filter sock on output will fix bubbles most likely

azjohnny · Aug 29, 2012

you can make a silencer out of a small pill bottle filled with a cotton ball

k2parkstar · Aug 29, 2012

luke33 said:
I'll try to answer the questions you got.

1) Strange as i run the same skimmer and its quiet. I can't hear the air. Can you take a pic of how its set up? The 230 you can hear but every 300 i've ran is silent.

2) Don't add a 90, if its just set up its going to be pushing out a ton of micro's especially if you are trying to adjust it to skim. When first set up i would have the water 4" below the neck connection. The foam head is super large so if you have water above that your going to be getting tons of micro's. So let it break in first before you worry about micro's. If its new sw its going to take a couple weeks to get going as well. It will skim some really light cloudy water for a while.

3)When the two dots line up its completely open. When they are opposite, one front and one back its closed as much as it will close. either direction to the left or right does the same thing as far as adjusting. Its like a wedge pipe that has a controller on top.

HTH and just yell if you have any other questions.

I also use an SWC, albeit its a 160, not the 300. However I did experience all the same items you mentioned. After about a 2 week break in mine was working perfectly and quiet. My tank was brand new when I set it up so that's why my break in took longer. Yours should break in in a matter of days. The above is good advice. I've also got mine raised up to the minimum suggested depth. That helped for me also.

SDguy · Sep 4, 2012

Thanks for all the replies. Because of the angle and setup under the tank, it took me FOREVER to find the "dots" you guys were talking about LOL!

Question about the air. I know on something like a beckett skimmer you don't want the air fully open because of the effect it has on bubble size. But is the same thing true for a needlewheel skimmer? Since the air gets physically chopped up by the impeller....

azjohnny · Sep 4, 2012

you dont want any restrictions for the air, if the skimmer is a little out of control its usually due to the skimmer needing a break in, you are using a new filter sock or you added some sort of chemical to the water and that includes an epoxy for connecting corals to liverock and additives

SDguy · Sep 4, 2012

azjohnny said:
you dont want any restrictions for the air,

Then why is the air intake adjustable on this skimmer?

azjohnny · Sep 4, 2012

I don't know

my expierence is with Reef Dynamics, Euroreef and SRO skimmers and none of those have valves on the air intake...Either SWC use over powered pumps or its to try to help when the skimmer might go crazy...I have tried an air valve on a ER skimmer before and got negative results

it was either lots of air or none

Dowtish · Sep 4, 2012

The air intake is just another way for you to dial in your skimmer. Some folks prefer more dry over wet and vice versa. I have found on my SWC, that if it is open all the way that there is a large bubble or 2 that will break up the smaller ones. So I dont run the air intake wide open. I have it dialed down just a bit.

SDguy · Sep 5, 2012

Dowtish said:
The air intake is just another way for you to dial in your skimmer. Some folks prefer more dry over wet and vice versa. I have found on my SWC, that if it is open all the way that there is a large bubble or 2 that will break up the smaller ones. So I dont run the air intake wide open. I have it dialed down just a bit.

OK, I'll play with it a little more. It still hisses like a steam locomotive though

SDguy · Sep 6, 2012

So it seems the air intake is only loud when it is set to one particular position. Any more open or closed, and it's fine, so that solves that! I'm starting to get really happy with this skimmer purchase!

SDguy · Feb 22, 2013

Thought I would update this thread. The skimmer is great. Once I set it, no further tweaking was required. It pulls out the grossest, and I mean grossest crud from my 240g FOWLR. I actually have to open all the windows when I clean the cup, which is once a week!

I did have to make one modification. The water level of the sump is at just the right height to cause quite noisy splashing of the water exiting the skimmer. This also created a lot of salt water spray/mist in the area.... not sure how long the stand/hindges would last with that going on. I installed extra pipe, with three 1.5" openings pointing downward. This fixed the noise and salt spray issue, without affecting the skimmer performance.

One other thing I noticed... the cup lid is a bit light (weight-wise)... and the foam will actually push it up if the holes get clogged, which is often. I find myself cleaning the lid/holes more frequently than the cup.