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

[abhishek@1985]

Hey slief ,

So I am still learning my double cone 150 . It's sitting in a sump depth of 6.75 inch , and volume is opened at 4.5 turns . Broke in smoothly and still working fine .
However , often I see that water is throttling in the silicone pipe that allows air to be injected into the skimmer . It's like throttling !!
I found that the more I open the water wedge and drop my water line , the water throttling is reduced in the air pipe .
But now the water line is quite low !! Like a little above half way in the skimmer .

Any idea ?

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[slief]

Hey slief ,

So I am still learning my double cone 150 . It's sitting in a sump depth of 6.75 inch , and volume is opened at 4.5 turns . Broke in smoothly and still working fine .
However , often I see that water is throttling in the silicone pipe that allows air to be injected into the skimmer . It's like throttling !!
I found that the more I open the water wedge and drop my water line , the water throttling is reduced in the air pipe .
But now the water line is quite low !! Like a little above half way in the skimmer .

Any idea ?

Regards,
Abhishek

I would suggest raising the water level in the sump slightly (about 1/4" at most to start). A little adjustment can make a big difference so keep that in mind when making adjustments. That will get the level up higher in the skimmer without having to close the wedge pipe as much. The open the nozzle a tad bit more.

 

[mike810]

Scott,

I have a deluxe 250 internal and noticed twice now, the skimmer shutting down then restarting again. The first time, I didn't see if any codes were thrown and it restarted before I caught it. This time, I believe I saw an F3 on the pump controller before it restarted. Could you tell me what that means and how to resolve it?

 

[slief]

Scott,

I have a deluxe 250 internal and noticed twice now, the skimmer shutting down then restarting again. The first time, I didn't see if any codes were thrown and it restarted before I caught it. This time, I believe I saw an F3 on the pump controller before it restarted. Could you tell me what that means and how to resolve it?

You sure it wasn't an F8? If so, that is an indication or an obstruction in the air line which can be caused by salt creep in the venturi port. The motor senses the air draw and if the airflow is restricted, it will notify you with an F8 error. Pull the nozzle off the skimmer and inspect the venturi port.

If it's F3 that means that something is obstructing the impeller or creating resistance on the impeller. Could be a snail or something in there or could be calcium or other buildup. Take the pump apart, remove the impeller, pull off the o-rings and set them aside. Give the motor, impeller and volute a 10 minute soak in vinegar and scrub everything afterwards including taking a toothbrush to the inside of the magnet cavity. Then rinse and reassamble.

 

[mike810]

You sure it wasn't an F8? If so, that is an indication or an obstruction in the air line which can be caused by salt creep in the venturi port. The motor senses the air draw and if the airflow is restricted, it will notify you with an F8 error. Pull the nozzle off the skimmer and inspect the venturi port.

If it's F3 that means that something is obstructing the impeller or creating resistance on the impeller. Could be a snail or something in there or could be calcium or other buildup. Take the pump apart, remove the impeller, pull off the o-rings and set them aside. Give the motor, impeller and volute a 10 minute soak in vinegar and scrub everything afterwards including taking a toothbrush to the inside of the magnet cavity. Then rinse and reassamble.

I'll have to try and see which code is being thrown the next time it shuts off. There really shouldn't be anything in the sump with 13 socks.

 

[slief]

I'll have to try and see which code is being thrown the next time it shuts off. There really shouldn't be anything in the sump with 13 socks.

The nozzle pulls right off the pump. No need to remove the pump at all. Just unplug it or power it down, pull the nozzle and check for salt creep. That will eliminate the F8 possibility.

The F8 error on your controller is there to indicate air obstruction such as the salt creep in the venturi port in the images below.

 

[mike810]

Thanks Scott! That makes things a lot easier, lol.

 

[abhishek@1985]

I would suggest raising the water level in the sump slightly (about 1/4" at most to start). A little adjustment can make a big difference so keep that in mind when making adjustments. That will get the level up higher in the skimmer without having to close the wedge pipe as much. The open the nozzle a tad bit more.

Hi Scott,

So I raised the water level in the sump such that the skimmer is now sitting in 7 inches of water. Opened the nozzle to exactly 5 turns.
Still this is what am seeing :- throttling continues .

Should I open the nozzle further to 6 or 7 turns? Uploaded a video for your review and help .

Video by Abhishek Dasgupta, on Flickr

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[slief]

Hi Scott,

So I raised the water level in the sump such that the skimmer is now sitting in 7 inches of water. Opened the nozzle to exactly 5 turns.
Still this is what am seeing :- throttling continues .

Should I open the nozzle further to 6 or 7 turns? Uploaded a video for your review and help .

Video by Abhishek Dasgupta, on Flickr

Regards,
Abhishek

Is the ozone port capped off? If not, and if you're not running ozone put a cap on it. That way its only pulling air from the venturi port. You may need to open the nozzle more or possible close it some but I would cap the red tube off. I usually remove the red tube all together and cap the port on the pumps nozzle. If you close the nozzle more, you will likely need to lower the sump level some. If it were me, I would cap the ozone port off and see if it settles down. If not, I'd then go extreme and open the nozzle to 6 turns to see if that settles it down. Then close it to 2 or 3 turns. The idea being that going extreme will give you a better starting point for fine tuning. As I have mentioned before, every tank is different. Load, surface tension, salinity, sump depth etc all impact where the "ideal" nozzle settings so you need to experiment. That said, I don't see much of an issue there. I think you just need to play with it a bit more. Also, use gloves when adjusting the nozzle so you don't have to wait for the skimmer to settle back down. The oils in your skin impact the surface tension of the water and kill the foam head.

 

[mike810]

Well, it was an F3 code. I pulled the nozzle and didn't see any salt creep on the nozzle. I checked the impeller but didn't see anything out of the normal. Some slime build up but I don't think that would be enough to cause resistance would it? I've been dealing with dinos, I'm sure some of the strands made it's way into the pump. Could that cause an F3 error? The skimmer literally shuts off for a second, throws a code and then turns right back on.

 

[slief]

Well, it was an F3 code. I pulled the nozzle and didn't see any salt creep on the nozzle. I checked the impeller but didn't see anything out of the normal. Some slime build up but I don't think that would be enough to cause resistance would it? I've been dealing with dinos, I'm sure some of the strands made it's way into the pump. Could that cause an F3 error? The skimmer literally shuts off for a second, throws a code and then turns right back on.

I doubt that Dino's would cause that. I would take it apart just to be safe, pull the impeller, give it a quick 5-10 minute soak in white vinegar, scrub it well inside and out, rinse it and put it back together. Then see if it persists. Hopefully it's just something stupid and a good cleaning will solve it. I have one other thing I want you to check at the same time. I sent you a PM. We will get it figured out.

 

[James404]

Started up my DC 150 last night to let it start breaking in.

What would be a good water level to start? I believe it is at about 7.75" currently.

I didn't realize I could turn the volute as an adjustment, I will have to do that when I get home from work. Where would be a good starting point for the volute?

 

[slief]

Started up my DC 150 last night to let it start breaking in.

What would be a good water level to start? I believe it is at about 7.75" currently.

I didn't realize I could turn the volute as an adjustment, I will have to do that when I get home from work. Where would be a good starting point for the volute?

I would suggest a sump depth of 6.75" and a nozzle setting of 4.5 turns out from fully closed. It will take some fine tuning of the nozzle to find the sweet spot for your system. Generally, the skimmer will find stability between 4 and 5.5 turns out on the nozzle. When the nozzle is set properly, the line where bubbles turn to foam will be around 2" or a bit more below the white collar where the cup attaches to the body with the wedge pipe fully open. From there, you use the wedge pipe to adjust from wet to dry. Keep in mind that it will take several days for the skimmer to fully break in so you will likely need to do your final tuning after a week or so. Also, it's best to use gloves when making the nozzle adjustments so the oils from your skin to impact the skimmer forcing you to wait hours before the skimmer settles back down in order to see the results from your adjustments.

 

[mike810]

I doubt that Dino's would cause that. I would take it apart just to be safe, pull the impeller, give it a quick 5-10 minute soak in white vinegar, scrub it well inside and out, rinse it and put it back together. Then see if it persists. Hopefully it's just something stupid and a good cleaning will solve it. I have one other thing I want you to check at the same time. I sent you a PM. We will get it figured out.

Beat the dinos, DT and sump clear of dinos and haven't see the error message since. There were a bunch of strands of dinos all around the skimmer.

 

[slief]

Beat the dinos, DT and sump clear of dinos and haven't see the error message since. There were a bunch of strands of dinos all around the skimmer.

Great to hear! They were likely getting caught up in the needle wheel and possibly causing issues with the venturi intake.

 

[James404]

I would suggest a sump depth of 6.75" and a nozzle setting of 4.5 turns out from fully closed. It will take some fine tuning of the nozzle to find the sweet spot for your system. Generally, the skimmer will find stability between 4 and 5.5 turns out on the nozzle. When the nozzle is set properly, the line where bubbles turn to foam will be around 2" or a bit more below the white collar where the cup attaches to the body with the wedge pipe fully open. From there, you use the wedge pipe to adjust from wet to dry. Keep in mind that it will take several days for the skimmer to fully break in so you will likely need to do your final tuning after a week or so. Also, it's best to use gloves when making the nozzle adjustments so the oils from your skin to impact the skimmer forcing you to wait hours before the skimmer settles back down in order to see the results from your adjustments.

Thanks for the quick responses. I moved the skimmer up to 6.75" and backed the Venturi out 5.5 turns with the air tube set to the first line.

I have no fish in the system yet, just CUC and dirty Pukani rock. Skimmer has been overflowing still so have the drain plug pulled, gonna just let it settle down.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[slief]

Thanks for the quick responses. I moved the skimmer up to 6.75" and backed the Venturi out 5.5 turns with the air tube set to the first line.

I have no fish in the system yet, just CUC and dirty Pukani rock. Skimmer has been overflowing still so have the drain plug pulled, gonna just let it settle down.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Since you have dirty pukani rock in there which could be making the skimmer go nuts, I would raise the skimmer up more and skim the stuff out. Then lower it down a tiny bit at a time in a couple weeks in a couple weeks or once it’s settled down.

 

[James404]

Since you have dirty pukani rock in there which could be making the skimmer go nuts, I would raise the skimmer up more and skim the stuff out. Then lower it down a tiny bit at a time in a couple weeks in a couple weeks or once it's settled down.

Thanks for your help. After moving it up a little it's been pulling some nasty stuff out, even with 0 fish in still.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[slief]

Thanks for your help. After moving it up a little it's been pulling some nasty stuff out, even with 0 fish in still.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Very glad to help! :beer: Looks like you got it dialed in and looks like it’s working great! You will likely need to make some adjustments once it gets whatever is in the rocks out and when you start adding fish. At least you seem to hve it figured out now. They are great skimmers once you understand the tuning process and lend themselves very flexible to varying loads. It just takes a bit of tine tuning to get them dialed in like you’ve done.

 

[drtrash]

Have mini 160 in 9” of water, 22” of fish, adjustment is very sensitive between wet and low vol skimmate, will setting skimmer 1/2” shallower help with sensitivity?