Bubble King Setup, Tuning and trouble shooting thread. Post your questions here!

[badfinger]

Someone was talking about on the deluxe version that the number on the box will have 2 differnt sets 1 that is guessing and actual wattage. Does the DC 200 not do this? Is there a chance that it will say 28 watts and be 30watts?

I set it to 30watts while I was at work, came home liked the 28watt setting better. Moved to 28 watts and the foam didn't drop nor did the water line.

 

[vhuang168]

My DC200 does this. When you press the buttons to adjust the power, it will show a number then flash back to actual watts.


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[slief]

Someone was talking about on the deluxe version that the number on the box will have 2 differnt sets 1 that is guessing and actual wattage. Does the DC 200 not do this? Is there a chance that it will say 28 watts and be 30watts?

I set it to 30watts while I was at work, came home liked the 28watt setting better. Moved to 28 watts and the foam didn't drop nor did the water line.

Yes. When you press the buttons up or down, it will first show estimated wattage and then once the pump gets to speed, the number it settles on is the actual wattage. This happens because of variances in head pressure from one skimmer to the next. That said, once you make an adjustment, it can take up to an hour or more for the skimmer to fully settle in. Also, with your size skimmer, an adjustment of 2 watts at those speeds won't make a huge difference but much of what you see is going to be load dependent. As I said in a previous comment, the 200 series skimmers seem to perform between between 28 & 32 watts and the sweet spot usually being between 28 and 38 watts. In some case, a slightly lower speed may be helpful but in that range, you are truly fine tuning so the differences are going to be more negligible and the lower the load, the less of a difference you will see within that adjustment range.

 

[Mortie31]

F8 displays on doublecone 200 controller

F8 displays on doublecone 200 controller

Hello
Hope some one can help, I've had my doublecone 200 RD3 for 6 weeks or so, and every 24-36 hours the controller will display F8, I know this is insufficient air, but I don't understand why this is happening, it's in a 900L heavily stocked system in 9" sump water depth, I've cleaned and checked air inlet pipe isn't restricted, kinked or twisted, have tried various power settings between 28 and 32 and various effluent pipe openings but still get this error message appearing, if I turn the unit off and back on then sometimes it runs normally again straight away, others I have to turn on and off a few times, obviously I'm fed up with this now on a brand new £850 skimmer. Current settings are 9" depth, 32 power and 90% open on effluent pipe, any advice please
Paul

 

[slief]

Hello
Hope some one can help, I've had my doublecone 200 RD3 for 6 weeks or so, and every 24-36 hours the controller will display F8, I know this is insufficient air, but I don't understand why this is happening, it's in a 900L heavily stocked system in 9" sump water depth, I've cleaned and checked air inlet pipe isn't restricted, kinked or twisted, have tried various power settings between 28 and 32 and various effluent pipe openings but still get this error message appearing, if I turn the unit off and back on then sometimes it runs normally again straight away, others I have to turn on and off a few times, obviously I'm fed up with this now on a brand new £850 skimmer. Current settings are 9" depth, 32 power and 90% open on effluent pipe, any advice please
Paul

Is the ozone port on the pumps nozzle connected to the red ozone tube and is it capped off? Because of the 9" depth, you will want the ozone tube connected so it can draw additional air from there. The 9" depth creates a bit of head pressure and the pump is sensing that the airflow is impeded or restricted. The additional depth makes it a bit harder for the pump to draw air. If the ozone port is left open at the nozzle without the airline connected, it will draw water from the venturi which further reduces air draw & will exacerbate the issue.

 

[Mortie31]

Is the ozone port on the pumps nozzle connected to the red ozone tube and is it capped off? Because of the 9" depth, you will want the ozone tube connected so it can draw additional air from there. The 9" depth creates a bit of head pressure and the pump is sensing that the airflow is impeded or restricted. The additional depth makes it a bit harder for the pump to draw air. If the ozone port is left open at the nozzle without the airline connected, it will draw water from the venturi which further reduces air draw & will exacerbate the issue.

Hi Slief
Thanks for answering, Yes the pipe is connected to the ozone port, I have then tried leaving this open to the air and capping it off both make no difference after awhile I get the F8 message.
Paul

 

[Mortie31]

I actually think I have been supplied with the wrong or incorrectly made nozzle having looked at the pictures supplied by Makalodo on page 12 of this thread, my nozzle only has about 1mm between the inner tube and the nozzle housing, his clearly has 4-5mm. This could explain a choking of the air supply, what does anyone think?

 

[slief]

I actually think I have been supplied with the wrong or incorrectly made nozzle having looked at the pictures supplied by Makalodo on page 12 of this thread, my nozzle only has about 1mm between the inner tube and the nozzle housing, his clearly has 4-5mm. This could explain a choking of the air supply, what does anyone think?

Please post a picture of your nozzle. I don't think that is the issue nor do I think the space between the inner tube and outer is actually that much. That said, I would suggest raising the skimmer up about .25-.5". The depth range on the skimmer takes into consideration a fairly wide range of pump settings. The ideal setting for the 200 skimmers as you know is between 28 and 32 watts. That lower speed results in less water flow and less air flow and makes the smaller skimmer more stable and more efficient. This same pump is also used on the 250 sized skimmers as well and those skimmers demand a higher flow rate. At 9" of sump depth, there is more draw pressure on the sir intake and you are likely right at the threshold for that pump. By raising the skimmer up to a depth of 8.5", you will reduce the draw pressure and get more air into the skimmer. That said, there is one more thing you can look at. The silicone air hose goes up into the wedge pipe and then connects to the bottom of the silencer. The silencer snaps into the top of the wedge pipe. You might pop the silencer off the wedge pipe and make sure the hose is connected to the bottom of the silencer properly and also make sure there isnt much slack in that silicone tube inside the wedge pipe as that can kink a bit inside the wedge pipe. What I do when I reinstall the silencer is pull the silicone venturi tube gently downward where it enters the wedge pipe until the silencer is sitting on top of the wedge pipe. Then I snap it into place. This method reduces the slack of the silicone tube inside the wedge pipe to a minimum. Once the silencer is snapped into place, then I gently pull the silicone tube a tiny bit more to remove any remaining slack.

 

[Mortie31]

Please post a picture of your nozzle. I don't think that is the issue nor do I think the space between the inner tube and outer is actually that much. That said, I would suggest raising the skimmer up about .25-.5". The depth range on the skimmer takes into consideration a fairly wide range of pump settings. The ideal setting for the 200 skimmers as you know is between 28 and 32 watts. That lower speed results in less water flow and less air flow and makes the smaller skimmer more stable and more efficient. This same pump is also used on the 250 sized skimmers as well and those skimmers demand a higher flow rate. At 9" of sump depth, there is more draw pressure on the sir intake and you are likely right at the threshold for that pump. By raising the skimmer up to a depth of 8.5", you will reduce the draw pressure and get more air into the skimmer. That said, there is one more thing you can look at. The silicone air hose goes up into the wedge pipe and then connects to the bottom of the silencer. The silencer snaps into the top of the wedge pipe. You might pop the silencer off the wedge pipe and make sure the hose is connected to the bottom of the silencer properly and also make sure there isnt much slack in that silicone tube inside the wedge pipe as that can kink a bit inside the wedge pipe. What I do when I reinstall the silencer is pull the silicone venturi tube gently downward where it enters the wedge pipe until the silencer is sitting on top of the wedge pipe. Then I snap it into place. This method reduces the slack of the silicone tube inside the wedge pipe to a minimum. Once the silencer is snapped into place, then I gently pull the silicone tube a tiny bit more to remove any remaining slack.

Hi Thanks again for taking the time, I will take a picture of the nozzle later, I actually can't even have the silencer on or it will F8 even quicker, I have ensured the air pipe isn't twisted or kinked and have done so several times over the last 6 weeks, I've tried all depths from 8" upto 9" and had the same issue, I was putting it down to not having run in yet, but after this amount of time it's obviously not that. When I look into the nozzle I cannot see the inlet hole as you can clearly see on pg12 of this thread. And if I look down the air inlet tube all I can see is a piece of plastic with a chamfer facing backwards, this to me looks incredibly restricting, and doesn't look correct at all.

 

[slief]

Hi Thanks again for taking the time, I will take a picture of the nozzle later, I actually can't even have the silencer on or it will F8 even quicker, I have ensured the air pipe isn't twisted or kinked and have done so several times over the last 6 weeks, I've tried all depths from 8" upto 9" and had the same issue, I was putting it down to not having run in yet, but after this amount of time it's obviously not that. When I look into the nozzle I cannot see the inlet hole as you can clearly see on pg12 of this thread. And if I look down the air inlet tube all I can see is a piece of plastic with a chamfer facing backwards, this to me looks incredibly restricting, and doesn't look correct at all.

PM Sent.

 

[Mortie31]

Here's a pic of the nozzle, ive tried to use pliers to pull the middle piece out but it won't budge. Which is why the edges are a mess, just about to take my drill to the inlets and drill through the obstruction

 

[slief]

Here's a pic of the nozzle, ive tried to use pliers to pull the middle piece out but it won't budge. Which is why the edges are a mess, just about to take my drill to the inlets and drill through the obstruction

LOL... I know what the issue is!!

Pull that little ring out between the outer nozzle and the center nozzle. That is used for the bigger skimmers and goes into the 250 sized skimmers silicone intake to allow the pumps output to fit the input on the larger diameter silicone hose. The same pump is used for the 200 and 250 sized skimmers so that round adapter is included with the pump and it just happens to fit inside the nozzle. I wish the manual was more clear on that one. :headwalls:

Get that thing out and your issue will be solved! :thumbsup:

 

[Mortie31]

LOL... I know what the issue is!!

Pull that little ring out between the outer nozzle and the center nozzle. That is used for the bigger skimmers and goes into the 250 sized skimmers silicone intake to allow the pumps output to fit the input on the larger diameter silicone hose. The same pump is used for the 200 and 250 sized skimmers so that round adapter is included with the pump and it just happens to fit inside the nozzle. I wish the manual was more clear on that one. :headwalls:

Get that thing out and your issue will be solved! :thumbsup:

Thankyou, so frustrating that something so simple could of been avoided with some decent instructions, come on RE your a premium brand... working well now, just need to tune it in..

 

[sczlars]

Hi Slief,

Just got my BK 180 RD3 speedy. Lovely piece of equipment. My issue is that my sump water level is about 12", and in reading the installation manual this seems problematic. Should I just make a platform for the skimmer and pump to get it to sit at ~17cm deep? I think (hope) I have room. Lowering the water level in the sump is not possible due to its design.

regards, --Lars

 

[scuzy]

Put it on a skimmer stand


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[sczlars]

Thanks.

 

[slief]

Hi Slief,

Just got my BK 180 RD3 speedy. Lovely piece of equipment. My issue is that my sump water level is about 12", and in reading the installation manual this seems problematic. Should I just make a platform for the skimmer and pump to get it to sit at ~17cm deep? I think (hope) I have room. Lowering the water level in the sump is not possible due to its design.

regards, --Lars

Put it on a skimmer stand


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

+1.

You will need to make a stand for it and raise the skimmer up. You could go a bit higher than 7". Especially if your load is low relative to the skimmer. If you can make the stand adjustable that would be the best bet as you may be able to run it as high as 8-8.5". The ideal pump speed range is typically between 18-22 watts which will warrant a deeper sump depth. Before having a nice stand made, get some egg crate, zip ties and 1" pvc and make a temporary stand to play with the depth. I'd start with making it 8" and running at about 18 watts and see how that works and whether you need to close the wedge pipe much if any. Personally, when I tune a skimmer, I like to adjust the sump/skimmer level with the wedge wide open and use the water level in the sump to get the line where bubbles turn to foam up to about 1/2-1" below the base of the collar on that skimmer. Then use the wedge to fine tune it. If you go the egg crate route, be sure to let it break in for several days and catch up with the tank load before making any final decisions on a permanent stand. FWIW, I've used egg crate stands as permanent stands before too so if you don't want to spend money on a fancy custom acrylic stand then save the money and stick with a home made one.

 

[sczlars]

+1.

You will need to make a stand for it and raise the skimmer up. You could go a bit higher than 7". Especially if your load is low relative to the skimmer. If you can make the stand adjustable that would be the best bet as you may be able to run it as high as 8-8.5". The ideal pump speed range is typically between 18-22 watts which will warrant a deeper sump depth. Before having a nice stand made, get some egg crate, zip ties and 1" pvc and make a temporary stand to play with the depth. I'd start with making it 8" and running at about 18 watts and see how that works and whether you need to close the wedge pipe much if any. Personally, when I tune a skimmer, I like to adjust the sump/skimmer level with the wedge wide open and use the water level in the sump to get the line where bubbles turn to foam up to about 1/2-1" below the base of the collar on that skimmer. Then use the wedge to fine tune it. If you go the egg crate route, be sure to let it break in for several days and catch up with the tank load before making any final decisions on a permanent stand. FWIW, I've used egg crate stands as permanent stands before too so if you don't want to spend money on a fancy custom acrylic stand then save the money and stick with a home made one.

Thank you for the advice. I made an eggcrate stand for 17cm this morning, and am breaking it in now with that. I'll let this be for a couple of weeks, and play the other parameters in the meantime to see what I get. Given that the tank just went 2weeks+ without a skimmer, it is already beginning to pull stuff out. Wow, silent operation.

 

[slief]

Thank you for the advice. I made an eggcrate stand for 17cm this morning, and am breaking it in now with that. I'll let this be for a couple of weeks, and play the other parameters in the meantime to see what I get. Given that the tank just went 2weeks+ without a skimmer, it is already beginning to pull stuff out. Wow, silent operation.

2 weeks without a skimmer? That skimmer should keep itself busy throughout the breakin process! They certainly are silent! Enjoy your new skimmer! :beer:

 

[sczlars]

2 weeks without a skimmer? That skimmer should keep itself busy throughout the breakin process! They certainly are silent! Enjoy your new skimmer! :beer:

Yes, indeed. This skimmer, beananimal overflow, plus the RD3 speedy 80W circulation pump is allowing me to keep this tank in our very quiet livingroom. The previous (albeit free hand-me-down) skimmer had to be turned off at night. Last item, upgrade the vortechs. These RD pumps are really worth the $$$.

Related question; how often should I take out and clean the 80W circulation pump?