New Tunze 9011 not producing any foam at all

[FlyPenFly]

Granted this is new but is this normal that there isn't any foam at all?

I'm using the sump kit. Water is flowing out of the outlet tube at a slow but steady pace.


It's a new 75 gallon setup but there are 5 fish in there and the tank is being fed frozen. I realize there's a break in period but I'm wondering if something is not secured correctly.

The airline is connected to the pump and air column. The knob is twisted fully open. Perhaps the air column is flooded?

 

[FlyPenFly]

Okay so my 9002 is skimming like a champ right next to it. It must be an issue with the airline being flooded. Can I just drill a hole and run an airline externally with an air valve?

 

[rvitko]

I wouldn't do that, is it not producing foam (could be break in) or is it not producing bubbles at all (something is definitely wrong)?

 

[FlyPenFly]

What a freaking struggle this has been...

I figured out the problem was with kinking hoses and a motor cover that wasn't fully on. I cut the hose a bit shorter but then it was too short and I had to use a different hose.

It's producing bubbles now but it's not rising very high even at full open after 3 days. My guess is the hose might not be letting in enough air? In my struggle to fit a bigger hose, it's laying almost completely disassembled on my counter. I had to remove the silencer to fit the hose on and during that the black hose that runs between the silencer and the control valve also came off. I'm not having Any luck putting that black hose back through the hole in the case... It just won't fit and I can't get my hands in there enough to push it through.

This is just a terrible design to work in. Really awful. I should have just bought a Reef Octo. Why did they make the hose so long that it kinks? When you try to fix that you end up effing everything else up and it's too tight to work in there. This reminds me of more VW than BMW when I used to work on cars.

By the way, what's the size (ID/OD) of the original white hose? I couldn't find it at two LFS and Home Depot. I'm tempted to just drill a hole near the power cable eyelet to run the hose externally. I'm tired of getting hand cramps trying to fit the black hose through again.

 

[rvitko]

Can you just send it in and I will fix it? The top lid comes off but it is very difficult to describe to someone who hasn't done it before, it has an unusual locking clip system. At most you should have only needed to trim about 1" from the end of the hose and nothing needed to be disconnected to do that except the nipple at the end of the airline. The airline is 6mm ID, 9mm OD Silicon.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Yes, maybe that is the best option, what's the address?

 

[rvitko]

Tunze USA
305 Victor St
Austin, TX 78753

Please send just the body and pump, do not send the skimmer cup, they are easily broken in shipping. I will go over everything and get it fixed up. I am sorry for your troubles.

 

[sledge760]

FlyPenFly. Did this ever get fixed? This is the skimmer I bought from you 2-3 months ago. No matter what I do, I cannot get this skimmer to produce foam. It is running on my 155 FOWLR. I let it run for days at a time, and no foam. I have taken this thing apart at least 7-8 times and am getting really frustrated. Every time I put it back together, I make sure everything is assembled and working. The end result...NO FOAM. I do not have a sump. The skimmer runs in the tank. There should be plenty of load to produce skimmate. Don't know what else to do. Looking at Deltec MCE500 now but do not want to spend any more money. Not sure what else to do?

 

[rvitko]

I could look up if it ever came in and what was done, but I would need a real name to look it up. I would be fairly sure it can be repaired but without seeing it or knowing the history I am grasping at straws as to what might be the issue.

 

[sledge760]

Thanks Roger. I will see if FlyPenFly will jump in here.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Hey guys, I did send it in.

Roger told me the hoses were replaced and they tested the pump. It took about a week or tw for it to start foaming up for me but eventually it did then it started producing skim mate pretty reliably.

One thing to look out for is that the pieces are friction fit and they're not a tight fit so you have to make sure every piece is in it's place.

 

[sledge760]

I will check the skimmer again and hook it up....again.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Make sure there's water coming out of the standpipe. It's not gushing water but it's a good amount of flow.