DOC Comline 9010 Skimmer Problems

[happyclam]

How long does the skimmer have to be on before it starts to create bubbles? I had it on for about 2 min., all it did was circulate water. I have the blue screw at what the directions said, 3 full rotations from being closed. Any idea whats wrong? Is it that it is situated in too strong a current? I have it in the chamber where overflow from the aquarium drains into the sump. It is in about 9.5" of water. I really don't want to have to go out and buy a different skimmer, besides that, this is the only one the fits in my sump.

 

[wartskin]

The airline may not be attached to the pump. Remove the bottom cover and double check to see if the airline with the round black fitting is inserted in to the intake of the pump. be sure that you have the airline below the tab on the back of the housing because if you don't, when you put the pump back in you could pinch it. Now when inserting the pump back in the intake must be inserted in the hole that you see on the inside of the housing if not you are gonna be right back where you started with no skimming. This is a little tricky but with some patience it can be done. If that doesn't get the skimmer producing bubbles let us know.

 

[rvitko]

As Rodney said, the airline is likely disconnected. The skimmer should produce bubbles immediately but it may take 48-72 hrs to start skimming and won't reach its optimum for about 2 weeks.

 

[happyclam]

Thanks for the help. I took out the pump and reconnected it and got some bubbles going- but not alot. I then completely took-off the blue screw and I got a nice foam mat going, is it OK to keep the screw off or do I need to put it back on? And thanks rvitko, as that was going to be my second question- how long until I start actually getting some skimate? Thanks again for the quick replies, as I was about to throw the skimmer in the trash b/c I was so frustrated with it!

 

[rvitko]

It should skim with the venturi adjustment screw open 3-4 full turns, 5 at most.

 

[E.J. Coral]

Mine only skims with the blue screw completely removed as well. From the archives this seems like a fairly standard occurence. Any tips to fix this roger? Are there mods that allow for wet skimming?

 

[rvitko]

Is this a 9010 or 9015? On a 9010 it should skim with the screw removed 3-5 turns. On a 9015 6-7 turns (almost all the way out). If a 9010 is doing this the venturi is likely loose or damaged (3130.16), it could also be 3130.13 is broken.

 

[Runfrumu]

i could never skim with the screw all the way out like alot of people said they could do. I had it running 4-5 months and still couldnt do it, took it apart, cleaned it, nothing worked. Could only skim about 200ml a week.

So about a month ago, I took it out, put it in the sink filled the sink with warm water and added a good bit of white vinegar and let it run for a few hours. Afterwards I rinsed it good, filled the sink with clean water, ran it for 10 minutes and drained the sink again and repeated the rinse and refil 1 more time.

Afterwards I let it air-dry, put it back in the tank and now it will start skimming as soon as I turn it on and will pull 100ml a day of dark brown smelly gunk with the screw completely out.

I'm not sure if there was some residual oil in the plastics that was keeping it from building a good foam head or the pump was getting clogged but whatever it was is gone now and it works like a beast.


I was watching it foam with the cup off while in the vinegar water and noticed it would build alot better foam with no screw at all.

 

[rvitko]

200ml a week is about what I would expect, typically you get about 50-100ml a day for a couple days, then the cup gets gunky and this inhibits the skimming action so it slows down to about 20-50ml a day. I usually clean the cup weekly but if you were to clean it every other day you could get better results.