Noisy Skimmer

[STEELERFAN747]

Good morning Roger, as I mentioned to you on a previous thread, I recently purchased a new 9004. Due to leveling issues, I just set it up last night. Once I adjusted the air flow, I noticed that the skimmer is very loud. So much to the point that I am able to hear it in my bedroom even though the tank is in my family room which is about 40 ft away. I was wondering how long the break in period is on this skimmer? It is so loud that if it does not quiet down I will look at returning it and getting a different skimmer. When I left this morning, it had been running about 8 hrs and I noticed that it is producing pretty dry foam. Once I return home today, it will have been running for about 20 hrs and I am hoping to hear an audible difference.

I did notice that when I removed the skimmer from the box, it had a burnt plastic smell. Is this normal or is it possible that I got a bad skimmer?

Thank you in advance.

 

[rvitko]

They do smell strongly of injection molded plastic, but it should not be a burned smell.

I suspect something simple is at play, they should not be noisy even brand new, here is what I can think of-

1) It is very common for the impeller cover to come off the pump in shipping, this is what brings air into the pump and it looks like a round plate with a cross of 4 fins on it and a nipple in the middle, if loose it bangs around and hits the impeller, this is the most likely and you will just need to open the skimmer and reinstall this plate.

2) The water level is too low, about 1/3rd to 1/2 of the intake grate under the cup should be submerged, water should be steadily falling into the skimmer. If it is too low the skimmer will starve for water and the pump is basically running dry.

3) The air hose is pinched at some point or detached or the silencer is submerged (should be outside the tank), these all result in a coffeemaker like noise as water is drawn into the air intake.