Don't Want To Bash PM But...

[Kaiden]

I have owned two PM Bullets 1 and 3. I am using the 3 now and bought everything from Precision Marine pump and all. I have a pan world and a bullet 3 with gate valve and all. The thing is just not consistant and it takes for ever to get going. Any ideas why?

 

[Ereefic]

Is the panworld a pressure pump or a flow pump?

 

[Kaiden]

The pump is a Pan World 150PS.

Thanks...

 

[Ereefic]

How long have you had it running? Can you post some pics of how you have it set up?

 

[Kaiden]

It's been running for around 4 weeks.

 

[Ereefic]

Is the water level in the skimmer steady or does it rise and fall? Where is your water level in the skimmer?

 

[Kaiden]

The water level is around 1 inch and it's steady. No ups and downs...

 

[Ereefic]

1" above the box? How far open is the air valve? Air you getting fine bubble or larger bubbles? Have you messed with the air to get different bubble sizes?

I think you need to raise your water level and the adjust your air accordingly.

 

[flyingace2005]

You need to raise the injector up off the box some so that you can raise ur water level.

 

[monkeyreefer]

also, put a vacuume break in the pipe flowing into your sump from the skimmer, that will help a lot!

 

[Kaiden]

vacume break, please explain...

 

[monkeyreefer]

if you have the output tube directly under the water, you could be drawing a siphon out of the skimmer, by adding the break you remove that effect

 

[manderx]

you need to replace the down elbow coming out of the gate valve with a tee, to act as a vent that breaks the siphon. as it is, water draining down to the sump from the skimmer is forcefully pulling water out of the skimmer body. this makes it *alot* harder to adjust and keep constant.

and like flyingace2005 said, the injector seems really low (though maybe PM knows better in this case). most becketts have them on a riser tube to get them up above the water level in the skimmer. this reduces backpressure on the beckett and it gives the water more contact time with the bubbles. you can probably just add a piece of PVC inbetween the body and injector (i'm guessing it's a simple threaded connection between the two). just look at pics of other beckett skimmers to get an idea on how high to make it.