DAS skimmer club

[Vinny Kreyling]

Hyole,
I had the same problem, The cup should be able to turn 360 degrees without the rubber seal. I sanded the inside of the body where the clear plastic meets and now have no problems.
Mine however does not do as well as the BX-2 I replaced.
Have no explanation for it either.

 

[hyolee]

Vinny, is yours a EX-3? Maybe this collection cup problem is specific to the EX-3. I'll give the sanding thing a try. Even after sanding it down, you couldn't get it on with the rubber seal? Doesn't it leak without the rubber seal?

 

[burton14e7]

I had an ex-2 on my 120g for a year and I down graded to a 58 with the exact same bioload with less rock. My skimmer has stopped producing skim mate. Some crud collects on the riser tube but nothing ever makes it into the sump. Any ideas?

 

[my2girls]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13869811#post13869811 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by burton14e7
I had an ex-2 on my 120g for a year and I down graded to a 58 with the exact same bioload with less rock. My skimmer has stopped producing skim mate. Some crud collects on the riser tube but nothing ever makes it into the sump. Any ideas?

My guess is if you went down to an EX-1 you would solve your problems. EX-2s are pretty big. Way overkill for a 58 IMO.

I went from a BM200 (8" body, 4" neck) to a DAS BX-1 (5" body, 3" neck). Overskimming is real. Took me a while to accept it.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

EX-3

EX-3

Hyolee,
Sand the inside black neck above the bubble chamber & check the cup without the seal.
If it turns ok then put the rubber ring back & you should be good to go.
Vinny

 

[96p993]

Hoping you can help me out here. Im running my modified DAS

I am wanting to run it recirc and off my over flow. I have taken a pic then crudely put a MJ 900 on it for the recirc. Im hoping you can help me with the actual design of it. Is this correct in what Im wanting to do? All opinions are welcome and encouraged

Thanks

 

[koa79]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13869517#post13869517 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hyolee
Vinny, is yours a EX-3? Maybe this collection cup problem is specific to the EX-3. I'll give the sanding thing a try. Even after sanding it down, you couldn't get it on with the rubber seal? Doesn't it leak without the rubber seal?

I've had my EX-3 for over a year now and I have the same problem... I've replaced the o-ring once and in started to leak again.. the only way I get it to stop is to hold down the top to the body of the skimmer with big clamps.. it sucks but it works.

 

[DarG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13869811#post13869811 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by burton14e7
I had an ex-2 on my 120g for a year and I down graded to a 58 with the exact same bioload with less rock. My skimmer has stopped producing skim mate. Some crud collects on the riser tube but nothing ever makes it into the sump. Any ideas?

Tank size doesnt really matter. The 2 should still skim your 58 gallon. The skimmer has no idea how much water is in your system, it just skims out what is in the water. The skimmer should skim when there is stuff to skim and slows down or doesnt skim when there isnt anything to skim.

Going to the smaller tank, I would adjust the flow rate through the skimmer so that you are still flowing 1 - 2 x per hour through the skimmer. That may mean doing a gate valve mod on the output so that you can better control flow through rate. Since the skimmer is made for a larger tank you may be flowing too much through the skimmer for it to work its best (but it still should skim) . Consider this ... if you just move the skimmer to the 1/2 size system, and you keep everything else the same in terms of feed pump and settings, you are now flowing double the system volume through the skimmer per a given amount of time. So on your 120, if you were flowing 150 gallons per hour through the skimmer, that would be 1.25 X system volume per hour (approx.). You go to a system with 1/2 the water volume and leave eveything the same with the skimmer and you are now flowing 2.6 X the system volume per hour through the skimmer.
By doing the output gate valve mod you can slow the flow rate into the skimmer and still get the water level up high enough in the skimmer for it to perform properly. So you can get the flow through rate back down to 1X if you wanted to. The mod can be done so that it is completely reversible to stock by building a new output from 1/2 of the output union valve on out.

Aside from that, I would clean the pumps and impellars and make sure that the venturi's are free of salt buildup or any crud. The 2 should skim the 58 just fine. I had a 2 on a 90 gallon with small sump and plenum /dsb with a lot of rock ... total volume was about 80 gallons and that isnt much more than your 58 ... it skimmer great. Again, a larger skimmer will just usually have the tendency to produce foam more intermittently than a smaller skimmer because it easily keeps up with the load.

 

[96p993]

Anyone have any advice on my skimmer??

 

[painkiller1009]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13872460#post13872460 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DarG
Tank size doesnt really matter. The 2 should still skim your 58 gallon. The skimmer has no idea how much water is in your system, it just skims out what is in the water. The skimmer should skim when there is stuff to skim and slows down or doesnt skim when there isnt anything to skim.

Going to the smaller tank, I would adjust the flow rate through the skimmer so that you are still flowing 1 - 2 x per hour through the skimmer. That may mean doing a gate valve mod on the output so that you can better control flow through rate. Since the skimmer is made for a larger tank you may be flowing too much through the skimmer for it to work its best (but it still should skim) . Consider this ... if you just move the skimmer to the 1/2 size system, and you keep everything else the same in terms of feed pump and settings, you are now flowing double the system volume through the skimmer per a given amount of time. So on your 120, if you were flowing 150 gallons per hour through the skimmer, that would be 1.25 X system volume per hour (approx.). You go to a system with 1/2 the water volume and leave eveything the same with the skimmer and you are now flowing 2.6 X the system volume per hour through the skimmer.
By doing the output gate valve mod you can slow the flow rate into the skimmer and still get the water level up high enough in the skimmer for it to perform properly. So you can get the flow through rate back down to 1X if you wanted to. The mod can be done so that it is completely reversible to stock by building a new output from 1/2 of the output union valve on out.

Aside from that, I would clean the pumps and impellars and make sure that the venturi's are free of salt buildup or any crud. The 2 should skim the 58 just fine. I had a 2 on a 90 gallon with small sump and plenum /dsb with a lot of rock ... total volume was about 80 gallons and that isnt much more than your 58 ... it skimmer great. Again, a larger skimmer will just usually have the tendency to produce foam more intermittently than a smaller skimmer because it easily keeps up with the load.

Well put.^^^

I run a Ex2 on a 55g. I can feed how much I want when I want and not have to worry.
Works like a champ.

 

[burton14e7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13872460#post13872460 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DarG
Tank size doesnt really matter. The 2 should still skim your 58 gallon. The skimmer has no idea how much water is in your system, it just skims out what is in the water. The skimmer should skim when there is stuff to skim and slows down or doesnt skim when there isnt anything to skim.

Going to the smaller tank, I would adjust the flow rate through the skimmer so that you are still flowing 1 - 2 x per hour through the skimmer. That may mean doing a gate valve mod on the output so that you can better control flow through rate. Since the skimmer is made for a larger tank you may be flowing too much through the skimmer for it to work its best (but it still should skim) . Consider this ... if you just move the skimmer to the 1/2 size system, and you keep everything else the same in terms of feed pump and settings, you are now flowing double the system volume through the skimmer per a given amount of time. So on your 120, if you were flowing 150 gallons per hour through the skimmer, that would be 1.25 X system volume per hour (approx.). You go to a system with 1/2 the water volume and leave eveything the same with the skimmer and you are now flowing 2.6 X the system volume per hour through the skimmer.
By doing the output gate valve mod you can slow the flow rate into the skimmer and still get the water level up high enough in the skimmer for it to perform properly. So you can get the flow through rate back down to 1X if you wanted to. The mod can be done so that it is completely reversible to stock by building a new output from 1/2 of the output union valve on out.

Aside from that, I would clean the pumps and impellars and make sure that the venturi's are free of salt buildup or any crud. The 2 should skim the 58 just fine. I had a 2 on a 90 gallon with small sump and plenum /dsb with a lot of rock ... total volume was about 80 gallons and that isnt much more than your 58 ... it skimmer great. Again, a larger skimmer will just usually have the tendency to produce foam more intermittently than a smaller skimmer because it easily keeps up with the load.

Thanks Dar, I was just thinking that right now as I got home and was going to login and respond that it doesn't make sense that I could be over skimming my tank since it's the exact same bioload with less water, that should actually concentrate the poop! I'm sure this is covered in this thread somewhere but could you point me in the right direction for the gate mod? I'm kind of a retard when it comes to DIY. I'm not sure on the size of pipe that comes on the ex-2 but maybe I just need to cut the output pipe in half and insert this in the middle?

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Plumb....5”-Spears-Gate-Valve/product_info.html

 

[my2girls]

I still think an EX-2 is overkill on a 58. The flow restriction is a great idea. The only thing is you are using 2 pumps when you only need one.

 

[painkiller1009]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13875902#post13875902 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by burton14e7
Thanks Dar, I was just thinking that right now as I got home and was going to login and respond that it doesn't make sense that I could be over skimming my tank since it's the exact same bioload with less water, that should actually concentrate the poop! I'm sure this is covered in this thread somewhere but could you point me in the right direction for the gate mod? I'm kind of a retard when it comes to DIY. I'm not sure on the size of pipe that comes on the ex-2 but maybe I just need to cut the output pipe in half and insert this in the middle?

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Plumb....5”-Spears-Gate-Valve/product_info.html

What he is saying is to unscrew the union on the output of the skimmer now.
Go to lowes buy a new union and make a new output with the other half of the new union, put the gate valve in between the union and the tee of the new output. Then you can flow less water through the skimmer with the same water level in it.
I know way back in this thread it was covered.
Hope that helps.

 

[painkiller1009]

O
Check out this site for gate valves too.
http://www.savko.com/partlist.asp?pgid=1

 

[DarG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13876880#post13876880 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by painkiller1009
What he is saying is to unscrew the union on the output of the skimmer now.
Go to lowes buy a new union and make a new output with the other half of the new union, put the gate valve in between the union and the tee of the new output. Then you can flow less water through the skimmer with the same water level in it.
I know way back in this thread it was covered.
Hope that helps.

Exactly except that the DAS uses a spears brand union. The unions at home depot or lowes may or may not mate/thread with the existing spears union on the DAS. The ones I have purchased from HD and Lowes do not. You can get spears unions online. The size is 1".

 

[treejohnny]

Does anyone know where i can find parts to the das pump? I need a shaft and 2 orings.

 

[hyolee]

Re: EX-3

Re: EX-3

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13870029#post13870029 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vinny Kreyling
Hyolee,
Sand the inside black neck above the bubble chamber & check the cup without the seal.
If it turns ok then put the rubber ring back & you should be good to go.
Vinny

Arghh!!! I just wasted 2 hours of my life because I didn't read Vinny's instructions carefully enough. I just took his "sanding" advice, and started sanding where I thought it was necessary (collection cup "ring"). I knew something was not fitting right, but it wasn't obvious to me. The collection cup riser tube has to fit within a ring within the main body lip. The problem is that the collection cup riser tube is too large for the ring within the main body lip. I was about to toss my EX-3 in the trash when I came back to this thread and reread Vinny's advice a few times before I understood what was happening. Freaking genius.

Actually, now that I know what's happening, I might not sand it down and just deal with having a collection cup that's really hard to get on. It seems a bunch of people are having issues with the o-ring, and since my collection cup fits so tightly without one, no water ever escapes. Plus my skimmer is in the sump anyhow.

Anyways, thanks again Vinny.

 

[kolosy]

anyone have ideas as to why my ex-1 isn't producing enough bubbles?

it was working relatively well, until a few weeks ago i noticed that it was barely skimming. i've taken apart the recirc pump, cleaned it out (though it wasn't dirty to begin with), put everything back together, nada.

any suggestions as to what could cause this?

 

[kolosy]

anyone have ideas as to why my ex-1 isn't producing enough bubbles?

it was working relatively well, until a few weeks ago i noticed that it was barely skimming. i've taken apart the recirc pump, cleaned it out (though it wasn't dirty to begin with), put everything back together, nada.

any suggestions as to what could cause this?

 

[coseal]

does the "flap" in the volute move freely? mine has done this before. i hadnt cleanded it in 6 months and the flap was stuck. i think it keeps the pump from running backwards..