Ok....so I did my mesh mod...is this normal?

[Kissfan79]

Hey guys...
So I did the mesh mod on the Sedra 5000 pump for my G3. It looks as though it was successful. There isn't a huge diffrerence in the level of how far the bubbles come down in the skimmer but it does look more dense with bubbles. I did notice 2 things. First....the pump sems to have a louder hum to it after plugging it in. Second....when plugging it in...you can hear the impellar turning in the pump a bit but it doesn't really "get going". I have to give a quick little blow into the air intake tube and then she fires right up. Are these normal after doing a mesh mod or do I need to pull the impellar and maybe trim the mesh a bit (although not sure if that would affect the hum at all). Thanks in advance.

Jim

 

[mikeatjac]

Sounds like your mesh is a little aggressive. Try trimming the mesh back some. You can go to the Reef Specialty vender thread and see pictures of what it should look like.

 

[THE ROOK]

Sounds normal. The further the mesh overhangs the impeller, the harder it is to start. But this usually also means better flow numbers.

If you don't turn your skimmer off very much then I'd leave it for a few weeks to evaluate the performance. You really cannot tell in a day.

 

[dvanacker]

if you didnt need to lower your water level by a couple of inches it's most likely not performing like it should. Are you using the right type of mesh?? Enkamat is what you should be using....also three layers tied in with two very small ty-wraps works best for the sedra5000.

 

[Kissfan79]

Thanks for the replies guys. I did a 3 layer enkamat mesh mod with 2 zip ties. I don't know if it was indeed a couple of inches but I did have to lower the stand pipe to get my water level down. It almost immediately would overflow bubbles into the collection cup. As far as the mesh goes....it does extend past the edge of the impellar a bit. I did check to make sure that it didn't extend to the sides of the pump before I put the cover back on. The only time I turn my skimmer off is when I do a water change...other than that....it is on 24/7. I just worry that if the power went out and then came back on while I wasn't home...the pump wouldn't start correctly and may get damaged. Even though it starts up fine after blowing into the air tube....would it reduce the extra "hum" in the pump if I trimmed back the mesh a bit. It does definately have a louder hum while running now. I'll post pics tonight of 24 of use.

Jim

 

[Kissfan79]

Mikeatjac....I looked at that thread and my mesh is a tad thicker than that (although I did only use 3 layers). If I have pull the pump out (such as when I do my recirc mod)...I may trim it back a tad.

Jim

 

[Kissfan79]

Ok....so....this morning I woke up to a gentle nudge....foreshadowing....whatever you want to call it. The power had gone off last night (the first time in forever). I ran down stairs to check my skimmer and the pump wasn't even trying to run. After the mesh mod when I would plug it in, you could hear the impellar trying to churn around and get started. Now...NOTHING. I blew into the air tube and still nothing. I unplugged the pump waited a second and plugged it back in and nothing still. I sat there thinking about the Sedra 5000 I just burned up and wondering to myself....do I spend $90 on a new pump or just go for a new skimmer? Then all of a sudden I heard that sound of the impellar churning around trying to start. I quickly blew into the air tube and she fired up! I am not sure if the pumps have any kind of "safety" feature built in that shut them down if they get to hot trying to fire up (would seem kinda high tech for a skimmer pump) or if I just got very lucky. I shut her down and pulled the impellar. I trimmed the excess mesh that was hanging around the edges and trimmed it from the top a tad so it wasn't so thick and re-installed it. I set everything back up and plugged it in. It fired up without even thinking about it (and that hum is not as loud either....something tells me that if I had not trimmed the mesh back I would have burned out the pump sooner rather than later power outage or not). It definately isn't pulling quite as much air before the trim back but (but I still think it is a better quality air pull and the bubbles are packed more densely in the skimmer than with the stock impellar) at least I know she will restart without any issues and won't burn up. Is there any where you can buy an air flow meter (that isn't too expensive)? I would like to test the amount of air pull I am getting. Well....next up in a week or two....the recir mod. I'll post pics tomorrow to compare the first 24 hours of the first mesh mod versus the first 24 hours of the trimmed mesh mod.

Jim

 

[Kissfan79]

Ok...I did mean to post pictures last week....but here goes:

The first mesh mod after 24 hours (the original meshing that caused startup issues):

The second mesh mod after 24 hours (I will say the outlet tube was a tad higher this time around...thus the extra skimmate):

The second mesh mod after 8 days:

Acceptable results? What kind of bioload would my stocking be considered for a 180? This is what I have:

3" Blue tang
3-4" Yellow tang
1 blue chromis
3 False percs
1 Purple firefish goby
1 Mandarin goby
1 Diamond goby
1 Lawnmower blenny
1 Coral banded shrimp
1 Scarlett skunk cleaner shrimp
2-3 peppermint shrimps
Various snails

Thanks, Jim