BK Supermarin 200 need help/parts

[rockstar]

This skimmer continues to be the most temperamental piece of equipment I have ever encountered.

I've lowered the water level as much as I can so that the pump is barely covered with water. I think things are running smoothly and then it overflows. Just yesterday, it seemed fine, then I added a small amount of food to feed the fish and it immediately overflowed so that I had to turn it off. Didn't even add much food. Now, after waiting about 28-30 hours, I still cannot run it without it overflowing.

I am at a complete and total loss on how to make this thing work correctly consistently.

At some point I guess it makes sense to bring this to Ft Myers for you to look at, but I think I need to go back to my 15 year old Euroreef. To say I am frustrated is an understatement.

 

[slief]

This skimmer continues to be the most temperamental piece of equipment I have ever encountered.

I've lowered the water level as much as I can so that the pump is barely covered with water. I think things are running smoothly and then it overflows. Just yesterday, it seemed fine, then I added a small amount of food to feed the fish and it immediately overflowed so that I had to turn it off. Didn't even add much food. Now, after waiting about 28-30 hours, I still cannot run it without it overflowing.

I am at a complete and total loss on how to make this thing work correctly consistently.

At some point I guess it makes sense to bring this to Ft Myers for you to look at, but I think I need to go back to my 15 year old Euroreef. To say I am frustrated is an understatement.

I am sure you are aware that this is not normal for Bubble King Skimmers. Unfortunately, bringing it to Ft. Myers probably won't help since there isn't a system to run it in to duplicate your issue. And I am based in So. Cal so I can't look at it personally.

As I said before, the nozzle has a huge impact as does the sump depth. In your case, running this skimmer in 8" of water and opening up the nozzle more may help. Or even closing it more.

Now that said, you bought this skimmer used a long time ago and don't know the history of it. It's entirely possible that the original owner put a 2500 impeller in it which would drive too much water and too much air in it. The only way to confirm that would be to set it side by side with a 1500 impeller and compare the two. So if you brought your impeller down to Ft. Myers and had it compared to 115/1-3/9 (RD 1500 impeller for the SM200) which is the correct impeller for that skimmer, that may at least rule out or confirm that issue.

Even if that were the case, you "œshould" be able to tune it out by opening the wedge pipe all the way and adjusting the sump level as well as adjusting the nozzle so you get the line where bubbles turn to foam (in the skimmer) down below the base of the neck where the cup attaches to the body. Whether you have to turn the nozzle all the way in or all the way out, you should be able to tune the skimmer with an appropriate sump depth assuming you have the wrong impeller or even the wrong silicone venturi hose.