ETSS Skimmer Club!

So... I didn't have quite enough bio balls in each tube (I had 38 in each tube instead of 54) and my new ones just showed up so I'm going to add them tonight. I am getting like zero foam still for a couple weeks. I'm going to double check my air intakes on the top to the tube to make sure they are right because if I stick my fingers over both holes the skimmer performance changes none.... should they be wide open or do you put an adjustable valve up there? anyways, if this doesn't fix my problems with this skimmer I will be doing some cutting and replumbing with the becketts I ordered last night and seeing if I can Frankenstein it....
 
Added the correct amount of bio balls and it just shoots water out of the air intakes at the top of the towers... I'm done messing with this when my becketts get here next week I will be doing some mods and hopefully get sonething skimming. If not I'm back to needle wheels I guess. I could have bought an ASM g6 and been happy with the money I spent on this much less the amount of time and frustration. Thanks for the help though guys for sure. It was worth a shot
 
FYI if water is coming from the air intakes,...you have it cranked way to high. They will do that easy if you have the water in the clear tower to high. It should only be 1/2 to 3/4 in the first section out of the black box.If you have the water set at 1/2 and water is coming from the air intakes there is another issue with the skimmer. Sure sorry... I know the frustration a faulty piece of equipment can cause. Good luck---Rick

ps why don't you put it up for sale on RC before you start cutting it up...could bring in a few hundred towards a new less headache skimmer...just a thought :)
 
I had the gate valve all the way open and water was coming out the air intakes so the bio balls were backing up the down tube I guess. I contacted reeflo and they make a needle wheel impeller for the new sun tail pump that I am running so I'm going to go that route. I plan to pull the bio balls and stick an air line into the bulkhead that the pump feeding the etss is using. Hopefully this will solve my problems. I'm going to make a permanent top for the down tube so I can do away with he leaking top piece that was broken. I'll keep you posted on whether I'm successful or not.

I wouldn't try to sell this skimmer because I originally bought it off RC but is showed up to my house in 4 pieces... I don't want to hand off my headache to someone else, especially with the top piece cracked and leaking
 
That sounds like a good plan. Sometimes doing hands on stuff...even if they still don't work...you can chalk them up to learning experiences that lead to other ideas for future retro projects...if we did not try out our ideas...we would still be using stone wheels :lmao:
Yes please post some pics of your diy changes on your etss.---Rick
 
So I got my needle wheel for the reeflo sun tail

uploadfromtaptalk1440895615244.jpg

I cut the down tubes off

uploadfromtaptalk1440895658130.jpg

Didn't realize the tubes ran all the way to the bottom so I notched them out and broke them out.

uploadfromtaptalk1440895993294.jpg

Cut out a piece of acrylic and hole for my bulkhead

uploadfromtaptalk1440896045803.jpg

Weld on 16 and put my bulkhead and hose nipple on. Find out tomorrow if my mod worked...
 

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Success so far. Just got it actually going today. Had to make a venturi for it because the hose just in the bulkhead wasn't enough air I guess and the pump would shut downuploadfromtaptalk1441067880087.jpg
 
Hey guys I was wondering if anyone could help me. I have an ETSS 800. I don't have room to run the iwakawa pump that came with it since it's not self priming.

Is there any submersible pump options that will run this skimmer?
 
1987 said:
Hey guys I was wondering if anyone could help me. I have an ETSS 800. I don't have room to run the iwakawa pump that came with it since it's not self priming.

Is there any submersible pump options that will run this skimmer?
Click to expand...

Not really. Needs a pressure rated pump.
 
Where can we get o ring replacement for the ETSS skimmers, I have a tall 1500 and no idea where to get replacement oring??
 
1987 said:
Hey guys I was wondering if anyone could help me. I have an ETSS 800. I don't have room to run the iwakawa pump that came with it since it's not self priming.

Is there any submersible pump options that will run this skimmer?
Click to expand...

I used to use a Mag 24 on my ETSS 800 and it worked well for me. I had the skimmer box 1/3 submerged in my sump due to space constraint at the time. HTH.
 
Hey everyone! We have the ETSS 1200 downward draft skimmer we will be setting up shortly to our 290 DT. We have an Iwaki 70 for the skimmer, but looking to see what your guys thoughts are on the new eco tech pumps for running this skimmer? Would it have enough head pressure for it?
 
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