H&S Skimmer Club

[getwood65]

thanks for the fine tuning tips Brian.i pinched of my airline just a tad yesterday and it seems to make a better foam now.

 

[Beenalongtime79]

That paradoxical increase in airflow by extra constriction is extremely interesting, but I have a theory as to why it works. If you leave the thing wide open, you are pulling in too much air, which probably interferes somewhat w/ the rotation of the impeller, which of course slows down everything, including air injection and possibly w/ how fine you are dicing the bubbles, but when you actually restrict the air input, you are actually metering air in perfect synchrony w/ the abilities of the skimmer pump so that you maximize performance as well as air injection.

I wonder if we could call that something, like the paradoxical "Finsreef Phenomenon"

Thanks for sharing that little tidbit of info. Anybody else with thoughts as to why that occurs?

Peace,
John H.

 

[Adobo]

Actually Ted, I already tried it. On the "Socal" skimmers you speak of, this has the opposite affect according to my Dwyer airflow meter.

They were talking about including a pinch valve as part of their new models. You might wanna pass that info along.

Ted

 

[BlueNWhite]

...I just got my new (used) skimmer in the mail today from Fliger! He packed it to withstand anything FedEx could throw at it.

This thing is a beast. I can't wait to hook it up.

It's going on a 500g system. How much flow do you recommend? I intend to run it gravity fed from one of my overflows IF I can. It may be a little tight since this thing is so big.
...The build quality rocks. Definately blows away every other skimmer I've seen..including Deltec.

John

John, I told you that your monkey let it out of the bag.

Congratulations, now let's see how you plumbed it up and let's see some of that dark stuff.

Even better than the Deltec, eh? BTW, which Deltec did you own before?

Raymond

 

[xabo]

First Picture is the 200-1260 with air valve wide open

Second Picture is after closing the pinch valve down some.
Guage is in LPH so take the numbers and multiply by 60 to get LPH.

Does the tubing go in the top or bottom hole on this meter? When I put it in the bottom hole I get nothing. Am I missing something?

 

[xabo]

When I put the tubing in the top hole, the ball goes down towards zero when I pinch on the tubing.

 

[Beenalongtime79]

xabo,

The top hole is where you want to put the tubing. Think about it this way. Air is being drawn in to the skimmer, so basically the ball is being sucked up by the venturi on the skimmer pump.

Rule of thumb, no matter if you are pushing (w/ air pump) or pulling air (via venturi), always have the top hole connected toward the bubble making device (in your case, the skimmer pump).

Peace,
John H.

 

[xabo]

Thanks for the reply. Now should the numbers go up when pinching/restricting the air flow, or down?

 

[FinsReef]

Xabo,
What skimmer are you running. ON the 110, there is little differance, on the A150, you will get around a 50 to 100 lph difference, on the Eheim models, there is between 300 to 400 lph difference in general.
HTH

 

[xabo]

I'm running the 200-1260.

 

[Fliger]

I'm back in the club!!!!

I'm back in the club!!!!

It's not an A300 3x1260 but I'm getting the A110 External for a 70G that I just set-up. I'm pretty excited about it. It's only ~20W and I'll be feeding it via overflow water. My tank will be good and dirty by then so it can get to work right away.

Very stoked to join your proud club again.

 

[Adobo]

It's not an A300 3x1260 but I'm getting the A110 External for a 70G that I just set-up. I'm pretty excited about it. It's only ~20W and I'll be feeding it via overflow water. My tank will be good and dirty by then so it can get to work right away.

My... how the mighty have fallen.

Ted

 

[FinsReef]

Xabo,
A couple more questions about your skimmer.
What reading are you getting from you guage?
How long has you skimmer been running?
How far away do you have the wedge pipe turned?
If the Wedge is closed off too far, then the chamber has too much backpressure and actually decreases the air intake. Make sure you tune with the two white dots matched up.

 

[Remorarules]

How good is the F2000 internal skimmer? I am thinking of buying it, how does it compare to a deltec mce600. I want to put this on a 55 gal. Any pictures of the H&S running would be cool.

 

[xabo]

Xabo,
A couple more questions about your skimmer.
What reading are you getting from you guage?
How long has you skimmer been running?
How far away do you have the wedge pipe turned?
If the Wedge is closed off too far, then the chamber has too much backpressure and actually decreases the air intake. Make sure you tune with the two white dots matched up.

With the air tube wide open, and the wedge pipe aligned w/the white dots in line I'm getting a reading of 15. When I begin to pinch the air tube the reading begins to drop towards zero. If I pinch the tube until the foam is like the picture you submitted, the gauge reads zero.

Skimmer has beenrunning for about 3-4 weeks.

 

[jnb]

while I am not too concerned, mine is the same - I get the most air pull with it wide open on my 200 1260 - curious

But you also say that when you get the foam bubbles like his - which picture are you talking of Is it Brians? What are your bubbles/foam like wide open at 15? At 15, it is pulling hardest as hard as it can around 900lph - maybe our air path is otherwise restrivted or newer and they cut down the inside diameter at the venturi to force best rpms?

With the air tube wide open, and the wedge pipe aligned w/the white dots in line I'm getting a reading of 15. When I begin to pinch the air tube the reading begins to drop towards zero. If I pinch the tube until the foam is like the picture you submitted, the gauge reads zero.

Skimmer has beenrunning for about 3-4 weeks.

 

[xabo]

This is the pic I was speaking of. Wide open the foam is about 1/2 above the bottom of the cup:

Here is a Pic of a properly adjusted 200-1260. I have it running for a wet skimmate, so if you want it a little drier, just lower the water level in the collection cup a little.

1. Open the output tee unitil the two white dots meet.
2. Start the skimmer pump and let run for a full 10 minutes
3. After 10 min, start dialing the airflow valve on venturi until you see a rise of bubbles in the skimmer. It will also see the bubbles expand more in the chamber. Continue adjusted the air until you get a slight decrease in bubble production. When this happens back off slightly and you should be a optimum bubble product.

With the air wide open, you get ~550lph of air, by closing off the air valve, the air increases to ~900lph. An Airflow meter helps with this step but is not required.
4. After you have the air at Max. slowly adjust the white dots on the output to ~45 to 90 degrees away from each other. It varies if you want a wet or dry skimmate. For my skimmer I generally have to run it a ~100 degrees of separation .

HTH,
Brian

 

[waterway]

O.k. I want in the club. I have a new 360 L shape on its way.

these skimmers are $$$$$. anyone know of a second hand H&S out there. Maybe someone is upgrading theres? Or the least expensive place to buy one. I see the list on vendors, just wondering what you all think


Barb

 

[FinsReef]

Do not get hung up on where my bubble level is in the collection cup. That part is controlled by your water level depending on if you want a wet or dry skimmate. I have that skimmer running wet, if you want a dryer foam, just dial your water level down a little. If you are getting a reading of 15, then I would say you are at maximum. There is some varience due to individual set-ups because of backpressure, salinity, return plumbing, weither it's an internal or Recirculating, etc.

As far as a used skimmer, do a search on the Classifieds here, I saw a 200-3x2001 listed last week.

 

[xabo]

I understand about the bubble level. My question is on the operation of the meter. You stated that the number should rise as you pinch the tube. My numbers go down. I'm I doing something wrong?