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Skimmer overfill

newhobby

newhobby

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Hi,
This is the 2nd time this happened already and I just don't want to see it happening again.
I have what I believe to be a RS-135 with gate valve mod.
It works fine, except every couple months or so, it just goes bananas and water rises so much that it just goes above the neck and starts to fill the cup with pure water that ends up overfilling the cup and all the skimmate just ends up going right back to the tank.
Not to mention, the worst part... As water cascades out, it hits the body of the skimmer and splashes water on the side of my cabinet, which in turn, end up on my hardwood floor.
It's not a flood, just enough to make it wet and ruin it.
I want to avoid this.
What I did both times this happened was to lower the water level by opening the gate valve and shutting the skimmer off. Then, removed the cup and cleaned.
When I placed the cup back and restart the skimmer, everything works as it should like before.
So, I adjust the water level back to normal again and this works for another couple months.
There doesn't seem to be no obstruction on the intake of air of the venturi. I can feel it pulling air and hear it too. I even close it with my finger and can see the water level rising and when I open it, the water level goes right back to normal.
But I still think this is the culprit of the problem.
So, with all that said, is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening ever again?
Is there any other skimmer that will never do that?
I'm thinking a recirculating skimmer would never have problems with venturi blockage, would it?
Or, a skimmer like Avast that has a sensor on the skimate tank to shut the skimmer off, right? How is the cleaning of a skimmer with separate skimmate container? Does the tubing get nasty and clogs? Do you still have to clean the collection cup?
Any help to solve this problem will be appreciated.
I don't want to see my floor wet anymore. It gets ruined more and more everytime this happens.

Thanks in advance,
Roberto
 
The normal "special trick" is to have the skimmer cup air exit holes go underwater when the cup is full.
The concept: Skimmers mostly shut off if the air cannot escape out through the top easily.
So when the water level in the cup reaches a certain point, the air outlet goes below water,
and the air can no longer be pushed out easily, essentially shutting down the system.

HOWEVER: That will not stop a totally out of control skimmer.

For you, perhaps add a float valve inside the skimmate cup, and have your reef angel turn it off.
 
BTW:
My old Coralife did the same thing at times.

But my AquaC never did, and probably cannot, given the spray injection.

So far my reef octopus has not, but that may be because of sheer size.
Ok, not entirely true, it went crazy once, after I mixed some bubble bath for the kid,
and forgot to wash up enough. Pretty amusing results.
 
I had that problem of overflowing w/my old RS-80 (not onto my hardwood floors though !). I have 3 H&S recirculating skimmers and have no problems w/overflowing collection cups on any of the three. A Avast Davey Jones Locker would be a great safeguard though. Have you tried simply turning off the skimmer instead of dialing down the gate valve and having to redial it in ?
 
LeviT said:
Why not clean it every month or so? That sounds too easy to me and doesn't cost anything.
Click to expand...
That did not help for me.
The concept is that if you get a sizable piece of crud in the pinwheel impeller, it starts acting
more and more like a real pump. Less bubbles, more water flow.
Once that happens, it overflows badly.
So it is not about slow accumulation, but more about a big junk.
And that is why simply turning it off often fixes it. The crud falls out.
I suspect that, partly because of the physics, but also because it correlated twice with
shrimp molting.
 
gimmito said:
I had that problem of overflowing w/my old RS-80 (not onto my hardwood floors though !). I have 3 H&S recirculating skimmers and have no problems w/overflowing collection cups on any of the three. A Avast Davey Jones Locker would be a great safeguard though. Have you tried simply turning off the skimmer instead of dialing down the gate valve and having to redial it in ?
Click to expand...
+1 to the davey jones skimmate locker.
 
Am I correct to assume that a recirculating skimmer will never have this problem?
On the skimmate locker, how is cleaning of the tubing and cup?
Does the tubing get nasty with time? Does it clog?
Do you still need to clean those as well as the skimmate reservoir?
 
newhobby said:
Am I correct to assume that a recirculating skimmer will never have this problem?
On the skimmate locker, how is cleaning of the tubing and cup?
Does the tubing get nasty with time? Does it clog?
Do you still need to clean those as well as the skimmate reservoir?
Click to expand...

I would never say never on a skimmer overflowing. ;)

Use black tubing to keep algae and crud from growing too much and flush with hot water every so often. They also make special brushes with a long wire for tubing.

I still clean my cup every couple of days (habit). The collection cup is a safe guard for instances like you're experiencing.
 
Ok, after some digging, I found out that the problem I had was with the tubing that goes into the venturi.
I don't have a check valve on the tubing. Not sure if it would be wise to use one anyway.
As I turn the skimmer off for maintenance, the tubing fills up with water.
That water is pulled back when the skimmer is on again, but leaves small film of water and salt in the tubing that dries and creates a crust.
Overtime, this very thin crust gets so thick that was blocking the air from being pulled properly.
So, I guess I need to add venturi cleanup on my list of maintenance :)
But I think I'm going to modify the cup to accomodate an external skimmate locker with a sensor to kill the skimmer just in case.
 
newhobby said:
So, I guess I need to add venturi cleanup on my list of maintenance :)
Click to expand...
I read on the internet once! that you should drop some hot water down the venturi periodically to keep it clean. Works like a charm.
 
Coral reefer said:
Come on, can't the reef angel fix this?Lol!
Click to expand...
Easy:
One relay output controls a heater in a jar of water.
Another relay output controls a small dosing pump.
Output of that dosing pump is connected such that it dumps hot water in the venturi.
Program it to turn on the heater and then the dosing pump once a week.

:)
 
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