So my skimmer arrived in great condition. Just as Mark54321s did. No damage to the box or its contents. Packaging was nice and sturdy. I figured no need for pics of that because it looked the same.
Upon initial unboxing I started looking at the quality of the seams and possible glue lines. Very clean and tidy. I then noticed that the pipe that feeds the main body from the pump was made of a (what seemed like) cheap piece of black plastic tube. It had been heated and formed to fit the holes in the body and was not glued in. It is more of a press in fit than an actual glued, screwed fitting.
The next thing I noticed was that the skimmer lid was made of some heavy duty acrylic. Very thick. I wish the rest of the skimmer was made like this because then it could rival a Vertex for quality of craftsmanship. I do like the milling of the name and model in the top of the lid. The one thing about the lid that I did not like was the fact that the turndown for the skimmate was off center by 3/16 of an inch or so. This actually caused me some frustration because it wouldn't have taken any longer to have centered it correctly. I work in construction and am a Glazier by trade so things like this are unacceptable in my line of work. I cant get away with a variance of that much.
Upon assembly I noticed that the bottom plate can be separated from the main body by removing 4 nylon screws. Great for cleaning. The bubble plate is also removable as well with 1 nylon screw.
The outlet pipe is a slight concern for me. When it is inserted into the base, there is just enough tension to keep it in its hole. Although, if you bump it or handle it too rough it pops out with ease. I understand that this skimmer is supposed to be an in sump model and that its supposed to basically just hold water but I would like to have seen a little more heft to this product. I will say that the cup is made very well. The press fit that it employs is quite good. In the recess that the body slips into on the underside of the cup, there is an o-ring to complete the seal. I noticed some leakage from this junction upon initial break-in but it has subsided with time.
On to the pump...
Impressive to say the least. Very quiet. I am very impressed with the grid wheel. Upon removal I found it to be made of a harder plastic than I first thought. It looks as though it may have been made by a 3d printer. It even has a very tiny piece of tubing inserted into the grid acting as a balance weight to eliminate vibration. The venturi is quite good as well. I think the revisions that ATI made here were very good. I've had no issues with clogging as of yet. I don't run filter socks and its only been a week and a half so no real time evidence there. As far as connecting to the skimmer body, the silicone tubing was a bit troublesome but not terrible to get mounted.
The controller for the pump is pretty straight forward. One knob to control the speed up and down. What I did find curious was that when I turned up the speed, the water level inside the skimmer rose only very slightly but the bubble output was phenomenal. It would very easily overflow the cup with bubbles and fill it very quickly all while the outlet pipe was fully open. I still haven't closed the outlet at all yet. I find that the recommended 1500lph for break-in to be too much for this skimmer. I have been running anywhere between 900 -1200lph with great results. It does however cut off if turned up all the way. I played with it some and got it to pull about 2300lph but that was about it. Any more and the pump shuts down. I have found that upon break-in, the restart of the pump is sporadic. I think this is due to it being new. There were a couple of days I didn't mess with it and then plugged the air intake just to see what would happen and it refired on the first try. I feel that it will become more consistent after some time.
The air meter is pretty cool but not necessary. I do like it though. As far as the silencer goes, it seems to be made of some cheaper plastics as well with a couple pressure fittings to hold some pieces of tubing in the end caps. Also, the holes for the air meter looked as though they were drilled and not cleaned up. Rough edges and extra plastic hanging in the opening for the air line don't equal quality in my mind. Clean edges are expected when looking to fit a component together.
Before installation I just rinsed it in fresh water. For the first few days it wouldn't form a stable head of foam. Finally after some slime started to build, it started to produce some skimmate. I have found that the lower the lph, the drier the foam is as it tends to ride lower in the body. Almost the same effect as the gate valve but the water doesn't rise very much. The adjustments are pretty infinite if you start playing with it. Fine tuning might take a minute but once its there and doing its job, I do believe that this skimmer will pull the pooh like an animal. I have emptied the cup a few times now and they are getting progressively worse and worse smelling. The last cup that I emptied was dark and very foul smelling. The bubble column has become pretty stable and the bubbles rise almost straight up with no swirl or change in direction. Did I mention the bubbles? Wow. I have had a couple small overflows but they were due to my own fault in adjusting the lph. It kind of has a learning curve I guess you could say.
It is also a bit sensitive to oils and such from skin. During early break-in I found that if I looked at it wrong the head would fall. Now its mainly food and me reaching into the tank that causes it to fall. The head does however come back quicker and quicker as time passes.
All in all, I am pretty impressed with this skimmer for its capabilities. Even though some of the construction aspects were disappointing, I do find it to be a viable product. If the flaws that I found were addressed and rectified, this skimmer could easily command its original asking price and actually be worth it. As for the state of it right now, I do think that the current discounted asking price is still a bit too much for it. I have decided to give it some time and see what its actually capable of and if it becomes a great piece then awesome. If not, well then I guess my SRO goes back in and the ATI will be up for sale.
I do hope that my review helps if anyone is considering this skimmer. I am in no way bashing or panning this product. This is my honest review and opinion of a product that I have personally purchased and am currently using. I will do my best to get some pictures this week. I have a very busy schedule so its hard sometimes. Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or comments or requests for specific pictures please don't hesitate to ask.
Thanks again, Murderface
ATI powercone 200iS - my overall rating - 3.5
Skimmer construction- 3.5
Skimmer pump- 4.0
Bubble production- 4.5 WOW!
