9005 skimmer not really skimming

[Thrashie]

i have had this skimmer running by itself well over a month now, have a sump kit installed....it foams up nicely, foam hits the lid of the cup, but thats about it, nothing ever seems to make it INTO the cup, i have yet to dump anything or really had to clean it because it's not really doing much other than making foam (and it's a nice foamy head too!). the collection cup has to to get 100ml of liquid in it evern after running over a week straight without messin with it. I have taken it apart (several times!), checked the venturi, it's not letting air out or loose or kinked. i set the set screw to 4 turns out, make adjustments using 1/4 turns every day or so, with the result still the same. even had the screw all the way out.

again, it gets really foamy in there, dry foamy, but nothing makes it into the cup.



i gave up on it and can't return it so i bought another skimmer, which is skimming like a beast, but i would like to keep the 9005 as a backup, if i can get it to do SOMETHING. What can i do to get this thing to actually produce some sort of muck?

HALP! all the other Tunze products I have are awesome, this one has been a major letdown for me tho.

 

[rvitko]

Can you send me the pump? I suspect something is wrong with the impeller or impeller housing.

Tunze USA
305 Victor St
Austin, TX 78753

 

[Thrashie]

wonderin if ya got a status? pump *should* have arrived early this week.

 

[rvitko]

Took care of it on Wednesday and it is on the way back to you. Those impellers are cut on a lathe for our 60Hz power and yours was cut undersized. I also noticed the venturi wasn't on the pump so I sent a new one incase yours was loose or defective.

 

[Thrashie]

ah..cool, that could explain it, it APPEARED to be working without actually working...har har

I just popped the venturi part off, so it didnt get lost...whoops!

thanx!

 

[Thrashie]

hey roger,

got my pump today, but the output tube on the front housing looks like it snapped in shipping, opened the box and it was floating around seperate in there....

was able to liberate the broken piece from the venturi.

 

[rvitko]

Can you PM me your address and we will send a replacement?

 

[Thrashie]

man i am so ready to give up on this skimmer... i am quite dissapointed with it....i have yet to get it to skim ANYTHING over the past 3 months or so that i have owned it.

it's even worse now....doesnt even make foam anymore....
been runnin it about 3 weeks now since i got it back and nothing, nada, zip.....water roiling/bubbling around the bottom of the skimmer cup and that is about it..

I dont know how many times i have to take it apart to check and see if something is loose only to find everything is in place...or appears to be...

 

[rvitko]

We replaced the venturi and impeller and found no other defects. Are you running two skimmers on this set up?

 

[Thrashie]

only ran 2 skimmers while it was waiting for a breakin to get all slimed up (gave it 1 week)
ran it 2-3 weeks solo to see what it would do since i got it back and give it a 'real world' test (I plan on using it on another tank that i dont have setup yet)...i plugged my other skimmer back in 2 days ago and it started pullin the gunk out in no time...

only thing in the cup on the 9005 is what i am getting from the bubble spray.

it seems like the water level or something just isnt hight enuff, but i really dunno....the water in the body comes up into the bottom of the cup but it roils and bubbles there without foaming up.
I am using the sump kit the pipe height is to the water line and water flow seems to be ok coming out of it..


one thing i do notice tho... there is a light hollow ticking sound, when i pull the venturi screw out, it's more noticeable.....don't know what that would be. (now that i think about it, i wonder if something could be bouncing around in that venturi tube inside the body?...hmmm)

 

[rvitko]

I think that is it, most likely there is a small leak in the silencer and the click you hear is water getting sucked in drop by drop and reducing the air flow. If you have a hand vacuum pump you can check the silencer for leaks. Let me know if you do.

 

[Thrashie]

dont have a hand pump..how about connecting an air pump? i'll try that

 

[rvitko]

It isn't ideal, but you can try the following, you will need a couple pieces of electrical tape. You will want to tape over the hole at the back of the air adjustment screw and remove the screw and tape over this hole as well. Hold your fingers over these holes and blow into the air tube that hooks up to the pump, it should hold pressure. If you hear a whistle or leak inside the skimmer body, this is the cause of the poor performance. We test this by plugging these two holes with plumbers putty and hooking up a vacuum pump and pulling 5 mmmg vacuum pressure and then wait to see that it holds pressure. This is the ideal way to test this component.