BK Mini 160 problem

[docwells]

I am looking for a little help here. I have a 1st generation BK mini 160.It has been skimming great since I bought it up untilabout 1 week ago. I noticed a that it did not produce it's regular amount of skimmate. So I figured it was a daily variation. Well this has continued. I figured the water inlet was blocked or the air intake tube was blocked. Both were clear. I have taken the skimmer apart 3 times in the last week. It feels like the skimmer is barely pulling water in when I put my hand near the water intake. I seemed to confirm this as I can see a slight film over the water in my sump that was not there previously. I have not changed any food, chemicals, etc.

Could my pump be going bad? Is there something else I can do? I am at a lost.
Thanks

 

[Jeremy B.]

Hi,

Let the pump run in a bucket of vinegar for a few hours and see if this helps. Other than that, you could check your silencer by completely disassembling it and ensuring that it's not clogged up inside.

 

[docwells]

Thanks Jeremy. I also contacted Proline. They had me remove the bearing seating in the motor block. There was no calcification, but it was dirty. So I cleaned it and skimmer seems to be working better. I will see how it does in the morning.

I also looked at silencer and it was clean.