Is this normal for an AquaC

[IBASSFSH]

Photo from Jason

Photo from Jason

Jason e-mailed me that photo when I inquired about using the skimmer in the sump. He sent me another photo also of the an EV-120 in a Aqua -C made sump. There was no water in that photo in th esump or skimmer. I will post if you like. Dry Rot I would close the valve some more until you get at least a 1/2" of water at the bottom of the reaction chamber. Everyone has giving good information on what has worked well for them, it took me a month or more on my 90 gallon to get it to skim half way decent. I also still wonder about Euro-Reefs skimmer. Always what if. It will be interesting to see what the Euro-Reef does on replacement. I myself just bought a 180 gallon tank that came with Life Reef Skimmer and calcium Reactor. I am ordering a Life Reef sump to go with it. I just finished re-inforcing my floor today. getting closer.

 

[Dave A]

Well it's 12:30 pm now and still an empty cup . I've tried just about everything we all have thought of with no luck. For the rest of the day I'm trying what IBASSFSH has recommended. I closed the gate valve 2 3/4 turns in order to get the turbulent white bubbles 3/4 the way up the clear riser tube. I consider these bubbles not water because the clear riser tube is all white, no clear water. The larger bubbles are now bursting just below the bottom of the collection cup.

With the gate valve closed 2 3/4 turns and using a flashlight I looked at the water level within the box along the short side near the gate valve. I can see that it is about 1/8" below the internal platform. That 1/8" is just filled with bubbles. I can also see that there is some water spillage on top of the internal platform, about 1/8", but it doesn't seem to be choking off the nozzle. I guess I'll try this today. How does it all sound?

Dave

 

[vinstr]

Sounds like agood idea...somethings gotta work

 

[SaltwaterSensei]

super late on this....

But pressure rated pumps work better I think..... I have a ev 400 ih two injectors and use two mak 4 pumps. The skimmer makes a nice dry skimmate. I have a very low bio load as well. Oh well thi isn't muh help. Maybe you could try a mag 7 or 9. When I was using an auac urchin pro I was using a mag 7 way larger then the recomended. It was a very good skimmer and made crazy skimate. I think with these injector type skimmers you need alot more pressure.

 

[YYZ_125G]

Injector Mod

Injector Mod

Dave, I have been playing with injectors trying to improve my skimmers performance. I built an injector with a cross (+) instead of Aquacââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s Y. It provides thinner jets while increasing my throughput.

I think the critical point on water height is not in the riser tube but at the internal platform. If you shine light to see the injector you donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t want to see bubbling coming back up from the downdraft tube. That is force coming out of the tube not air and water going into it. With my new injector and gate valve wide open, I was getting water an inch up the riser tube, and a good amount of bubbling out of the downdraft tube. I had to change my output piping to an elbow just below my sump water line to use siphon action to lower the water level in the skimmer body.

Now my water level is Ã"šÃ‚¼Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ below the internal platform, but even on startup I was getting more bubbles in the riser tube. It seemed if I had water in the riser tube it was too turbulent and the bubble column wouldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t build up.

Donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t know if this will help since you have a new skimmer on the way. Maybe someone else reading this thread will find it useful. I attached a picture, less than an hour after my mods looks promising.

Daniel

 

[YYZ_125G]

I lost the pic. Here it is.

 

[Dave A]

Hi Daniel,
That's interesting and funny because I was just thinking about the injector. I was thinking maybe my injector is defective and was somehow molded with the openings just a little too big. Did you see the injector picture I posted up the thread a little?

The other thing I'm wondering about is I've never had the internal water level in the box much below the internal platform. It's always been right up touching the bottom of the internal platform at the injector end, and about 1/8" below on the riser tube end. Perhaps I should try the ball valve in the input line again to see if I can get that water level about 1/4" below the platform.................I'm reaching now.

I'd like to get this working incase I can sell it later. I asked the retailer to take it back but it doesn't look good.

Dave

 

[Dave A]

Re: Injector Mod

Re: Injector Mod

It seemed if I had water in the riser tube it was too turbulent and the bubble column wouldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t build up.
Daniel

That's what I find. The turbulent white bubbly water in the riser tube looks too turbulent to allow a stable head of foam to develop.

Dave

 

[RonSF]

Daniel-
Did you have to machine some sort of tool shape to form your acrylic injector? Use a heat gun? Form it in place or form it first, then shove it in? Tell us more. Inquiring minds want to know.
-Ron

 

[YYZ_125G]

Dave, before you throttle back your pump take a good look where the water stream enters the internal platform. If you donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t see water bubbling out of the downdraft tube I wouldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t lower your pump output. I did see the picture of your injector and it does have a larger orifice than mine (factory). Thats one of the reasons I decided to try something different.

Ron, I made a few by hand using thin walled Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ plastic tubing. I heated with a hand torch. It doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t take much. I had the torch set as low as it would go. Rolled it above the heat until the plastic looked foggy and fashioned by hand. It was hard to get what I wanted. So I made a cross form out of some stainless steel. Slid the warm tube over the form and pushed the tubing wall against the form until it cooled.

I formed it first and shoved it in a fitting. Fit great no glue required so I could try a few without trashing a fitting.

Daniel

 

[Dave A]

Even with lowering the flow from the pump the water level in the box doesn't seem to go down. This is why I'm thinking that maybe the injector was formed incorrectly causing too much flow with too little pressure. Also there is a little splash-back at the injector opening in the internal platform. Not alot but just enough to get a small amount of water on top of the platform. I'm going to see if I can get help from AquaC over the phone this afternoon. Jason has been hard to get a hold of through emails.

Dave

 

[Dave A]

Update ..................well I've been very frustrated over trying to get this EV-120 to produce and in the process sometimes showed a less than positive attitude towards AquaC. But after a phone call from Jason at AquaC this morning to my home I'm feeling a whole lot better. Jason is shipping me a new injector to try and if that doesn't work he told me he will do whatever it takes to make me happy. Even if that means shipping me a whole new unit. Now that's customer service with a smile

Dave

 

[Dave A]

For those who have been following this thread, my user name has been changed from Dry Rot to Dave A for obviouse reasons. Just so you all don't get confused.

Dave

 

[Macroman]

Dave, I have read thru this entire thread and thought I would post "my 2 cents". If I were you, I would consider your pump to be a possible cause. Reasoning.....Something caused your impeller to break, maybe a piece of substrate, start-up, or even just a manufactures defect. It is possible that a piece of the impeller was sucked back into the housing, grooving and/or damaging the internal "impeller race" decreasing the preformance of the pump or impeller.

This is what I just experienced.......

I recently purchaced an EV-180, 2.5 weeks ago to be exact. I was having a similar problem, after 2.5 weeks of break in time, there was no foam production to speak of. My foam level resembled your pic, about 1/3rd up the column. After reading this thread, I removed my 90 degree bend in the line and opened fully a ball valve that I had installed according to aqua-c for the dolphin 800 I was using. Low and behold foam!!! So much that I pumped out 4 gallons in less than an hour. What a way to do a small water change.

Before taking out the 90, my water lvl was easily seen at the riser plate. Now, all I can see is a mass of bubbles with no distinguishing water lvl. Sometimes it appears to be more than 1" below the plate with alot of turbulent flow (bubbles). I'm currently adjusting or throttling back my pump now in order to get a dryer foam. I'll keep you posted.

I feel you dude....
Choosing AquaC was not an easy decision taking in to account all of the other skimmers on the market. I love the design "Hah, If I had actually seen this in a LFS, I would have copied it". My Fiance walked in the door and said "when did you find the time make that with out me knowing" Well you know the rest..... Now that it is producing, I love my skimmer.

 

[Dave A]

Macroman...........I just re-checked the Mag 5 and it appears OK. No visible marks inside. It was the impeller shaft that snapped but all the impeller blades were fine. I think it must have snapped during a start-up because there's nothing in the sump except water and equipment. I'd settle for even wet foam, at least it would be a starting point.

Dave

 

[Macroman]

Dave, Try measuring the gph roughly and see if matches spec. Time it going into a gallon jug. Its crude, but see what you come up with. OR buy a new pump, test it on the skimmer and if no change in production, take it back.... If its lack of preformance, you should get wet foam right away due to the fact your well beyond the break-in period.

Update: I now have have my ball valve set where I started from and I'm still getting tons of wet foam. A 90 elbow will cause approx. 1ft of head pressure according to some specs I ran across from little giant awhile back.


Good luck with your skimmer, Jason @ AquaC seems really Kewl, I talked to him today about getting a thicker gaskets for my cup. They are on the way, free of charge!

Eric

 

[Vincerama2]

Argh, I ordered an EV120 Sunday night from Marinedepot, now I'm wondering if I should abort the order and get a Euroreef (of around the same price the CS6-1 ) before it ships!

Does ANYONE LOVE this skimmer?

I'm interested to see if a whole new EV120 will work on Dave A's system!

V

 

[Dave A]

Dave, Try measuring the gph roughly and see if matches spec. Time it going into a gallon jug. Its crude, but see what you come up with. OR buy a new pump, test it on the skimmer and if no change in production, take it back.... If its lack of preformance, you should get wet foam right away due to the fact your well beyond the break-in period.
Eric

Eric, I did what you recommended but I hope either your or someone can figger out what it means.

Two standard 5 gal. pails placed 1' apart. One is filled with water to 1" below the top. Mag 5 with 36" of 3/4" clear hose placed in full bucked. Power on and water is pumped over to the empty pail until the first sounds of sucking air.

-time elapse is 31 seconds
-2 1/4" of water left in first pail.

Math is not my forte so how does this look? Is the Mag 5 pumping as it should?

Trying to get this skimmer working is turning into a real job

Dave

 

[RonSF]

Dave-
If you used 10" of 13" that make up 5 gallons (just a guess, you should measure your bucket) you pumped about 77% of 5 gallons, or 3.85 gallons. 3.85 x 120 (how many 30 second intervals there are in an hour)=462 gallons per hour. You presumably have a little more head than you would have in running to your skimmer, so you may pump slightly more to the skimmer than that. That sounds right on to me. I'd look for another culprit.
-Ron

 

[Omar H]

I should have posted earlier. My problems adjusting the AquaC EV 180 seem to be less than before. I made two changes that helped stabilize the foam.

1. The output of the skimmer was pointing to the backwall of the tank, close to where the overflow (or the intake in this case) for the skimmer is. Apparentely I was getting the same water skimmed over and over, which helps explain why there was not much foam. Now the output sends the outflow of water to the other side of the tank.

2. The final piece of the outflow, is a 45Ã"šÃ‚° elbow that was completely submerged. It has now been changed to be only partially submerged.

These two changes have helped a lot in getting more consistent foam, although I'm still expecting more from this skimmer. I know Jason from AquaC has been quick to respond to my emails, I just have a hard time justifying all the time, effort and frustation caused by this piece of equipment, for the price paid.

I will still pursue two more changes in the setup; a) change the pump from the current SEN 700 to an IWAKI RLT20. The reason being that I'm not satisifed with the noise level of the SEN, which can be heard humming loudly all over the house (a 2 stories home) and even outside on the other side of the wall (brick wall BTW); and b) I need to figure out a way to avoid fluctuations from water evaporation, which I understand affect skimmer performance also.

One thing that I've observed, is that my skimmer is now overflowing in the reaction chamber, that is water is being pushed upwards and "touching" the injector. I noticed that YYZ_125G mentioned this as a negative aspect, but I have not been able to fix that. Plus, I had a harder time adjusting when such was not happening.

Dave, good luck in getting your skimmer to work. Mine is at least working better.

Omar