I think my Beckett is dirty/clogged

[DMBillies]

I've been running my MR-2 for few days now and when I first started it up the bubbles were amazing. After about a day, the production fell quite a lot. I thought it was originally due to the height of the input itself so I raised it a little to make sure the beckett was above the water level in the skimmer.

While I had it apart I ran some water through the Beckett and tried to get it as clean as possible with just my fingers and water (it didn't look real dirty or anything, but it did have a little bit of a slime coating on it as plumbing will get when it has water going through it).

After I set it back up it ran really well for 3-4 days and the skimmer seemed to be breaking back in (producing a really thick skimmate with a nice head on it). In the past day or so the bubble production has fallen back off significantly.

I'm hoping for some input on the best way to clean them out (it doesn't seem like there's a way to get them all the way apart and I don't see anything in there) or if it sounds like I'm having some other kind of problem. The pump is keeping the water level up, so I don't think it has anything to do with the supply of water to the beckett. Ideas?

Thanks

 

[gflat65]

They should come completely apart. It may take some playing around with it, but mine from MRC will come apart. On the MR4, I had no issues with it, but really had to fight to get it apart on the MR2 for some reason. The risers are built a lot different, though (MR2 is the old style and has 1/2" lines going through the Beckett, even though the Beckett is the same size as the ones on my MR4). Someone may have glued it together on you, though? When I finally got it apart, there is an internal ball with a cross on one end, and two sides of the Beckett. After taking it apart, though, the internal ball rattles sometimes when the air flows through the intakes. If you can;t get it apart, I'd try soaking it in vinegar and finding a small brush to swap it out as much as possible. HTH.

 

[ocd_mariner]

The air injectors (where the cotton swabs are) on mine tend to get clogged with salt, and I notice decreased bubbles. I just take that out and run it through some warm water then screw it back on. Seems to work for me.

 

[gflat65]

Make sure there aren't any deposits in the air intake valve, too.

 

[rcmike]

You can wrap a little teflon tape around the tabs that hold the ball in to keep it from rattling. It can get annoying really quick if you don't.

 

[DMBillies]

Will definitely have to play with it. When it was working right, it was skimming like a bear (even though I have 2 skimmers on the system right now). As long as I can keep it skimming like that, I'll be more than happy. The bubbles size and froth it builds simply blows away any skimmer I've ever had, including mesh modded needle wheels (a mod that makes a huge difference over standard needle wheels).

 

[H@rry]

I built a beckett skimmer a few years ago. The beckett nozzle had a "collar" or "sleeve" on one end that kept it from coming apart. I got a pair of pliers and finally got it off so it would come apart easily. I put an o-ring on each end which holds it together as well as sealing it in the tube that houses it. About once a month I shut the skimmer down and remove and clean the nozzle. I have chaeto in my sump and a little piece of that in the beckett will affect it.

 

[gflat65]

My 120 tends to suck a bunch of algae at times into the Becketts, plugging them up, too. Good catch, Harry.

 

[DMBillies]

I took it apart tonight (mine had o-rings on it and I added some teflon tape to each end). The piece in the middle had been glued by previous owner, but not to the point I couldn't pry it out. I found about 7-8 small limpet shells in there. When I put it all together and fired it back up I had a foam cannon for about 20 seconds until I could get the output and bubbles lowered (forgot to turn them down before I turned it back on). Needless to say, this made a huge difference. When I looked at the beckett before it didn't look like it was made to come apart and I couldn't see anything in it, but it was pretty easy and getting the beckett out of the skimmer is pretty easy too. Now this thing is running so good it must be practically pulling the poo straight out of the fish.

 

[rcmike]

Ah yes, limpets! I was always getting them stuck in mine.