How do cone skimmers work?

[Av8bluewater]

I've only had a PM bullet 2.
I would like to upgrade to a nice cone and just looking for some info on them.

Does the same pump inject water and air together? (I'm thinking)
Is there no waste collector like the Bullet 2? Appears to me once the cup fills it cuts itself off.
Any links for good reading?
thanks

 

[jimmyj7090]

Cone skimmers work just like other needlewheel/pinwheel/meshwheel skimmers.

The pump sucks in water and air at it's intake, mixes them, and blasts the foam into the skimmer body. {your beckett skimmer uses a powerful pump to blast water under pressure into the beckett injector which then draws in air creating foam. Works well, but uses a ton of electircity comparatively}

The only thing special about "cone skimmers" is the shape of the body. The cone shape minimizes turbulance and helps to create a more stable foam head maximizing the effiency of the skimmer.

Using an external waste collector is optional in most cases, but most cone skimmers are not built to shut down when a PM style collector gets full. You can use a waste collector with a level sensor that will shut the skimmer pump OFF when the collector is full. Coralvue makes one, or it's an easy DIY to build one or add the level sensor to a PM style collector.

 

[Crowed]

Cone has much smaller water volume than cylinder of the same height (about 40%, when i last time compared few existing models). And, at least in theory, pump works better, ie. more air, because of lower water presure on it. But then you also have shorter dwell time because of smaller volume.. and also, there is no counter current model on the market., all that stuff that affect skimming power a lot.