Tunze 9004 DC skimmer issue

markster33139 · Apr 14, 2018

I have been using this skimmer for about 6 months and for some reason it started to very slowly siphon water inside of the power cable into the controller . I couldn't believe it wouldn't short out right away and I had cleaned the visible salt creep away several times over several months, thinking it was some leak that I was never able to find. Anyway eventually the controller did short out, and now I am considering if it's possible to cut the cable going into the controller and splice it into the power supply cable effectively bypassing the controller. Does anyone know if this might work.?

Thank you

Lovemyreef2015 · Apr 17, 2018

Sorry I'm not familiar with your issue but maybe someone on #reefsquad might be able to help?

reeferfoxx · Apr 17, 2018

I would suspect cutting the cable and running it through AC power without a DC converter would be a huge nono.

I would like to know more about how the skimmer was mounted and what could have possibly cause this type of issue. Can you post a picture of where it was mounted?

markster33139 · Apr 17, 2018

reeferfoxx said:
I would suspect cutting the cable and running it through AC power without a DC converter would be a huge nono.

I would like to know more about how the skimmer was mounted and what could have possibly cause this type of issue. Can you post a picture of where it was mounted?

Unfortunately I took it down so no photos, but let me explain. I have an IM 50 and the skimmer is mounted in one of the rear chambers. The controller is mounted under the tank against the back wall of the stand. Somehow water was able to travel inside of the cord going from the skimmer to the controller, and from there it would leak out from the bottom of the controller. I am astonished that this did not short out the controller, and I even suspected that maybe my new tank had a leak that I just could not find. I even took the controller apart and cleaned out the salt build up inside, put it back together and it worked fine. From memory it seems that the water that dripped inside the controller was able to pass through the controller without actually contacting the circuit board. It wasn't until I placed the controller flat to get a better look at what was happening that it eventually shorted out. I replaced it with another Tunze 9004 [NON-DC ] version in the same location and it works just fine so far and no leaks.