Reeflo/Sequence Skimmer Club

I GIVE UP.

BTW .. i don't think mike is available tomorrow?! I think he said he was out till tuesday - he had to replace 3 of the 12 Mega-Micro Flux Capacitors at the North Dakota Reef Restoration project's home distribution manifold.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12801907#post12801907 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmckdvm
I'll see what Mike says tomorrow. If I still have a problem, I'll work on getting some photos. I believe my T is too high. I did not cut back the pipe that came with it. The middle of the T is level with the middle of the beveled piece.

You shouldn't have to cut anything unless they sent you the wrong parts or it's not assembled properly.

Below is a picture of it assembled, look at see how yours is different. I was pumping about 300 GPH through it.

When you're doing this testing, getting 60 GPH through it, and stating it's overflowing... Do you just let it run for a minute or two or just immediately shut it off? With my pipe probably 3/4 closed (the good running place for me), it would overflow the first 30 seconds of restart on the dart IF the feed pump had been running the whole time. Reason being, if air isn't injected and the feed pump is running, the water level rises. When you start the dart, it fills the chamber with a ton of air, and for that 30 seconds or so you have an excess of water/air until enough can drain out of the system to self-correct the height. This however is temporary, and if you're quick turning the unit off before it has a chance to self-correct...

If it's not the assembly or quick overreaction to the initial normal overflow, it almost has to be a problem with something blocking the inside of the pipes. I for one just can't understand how you're getting 60 GPH out of pipe capable of doing 1200 GPH+. That's about 95% blocking somewhere. It's like the output is sent through the silencer instead ;)

09.07.2007-3.jpg
 
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RokleM

Thank you for your reply. Your photo confirms my suspicion: my T is too high. (Middle of my T is at level of middle of beveled section.

My problem now is finding where I can get new parts because I glued the fittings. I'll try calling Reeflo later today. Does anyone know what this grey pipe is called (Schedule ?? or what?). Perhaps a plumbing store might have parts.

Thanks again!
Jim
 
It sounds like you used part of the horizontal output pipes instead of the correct vertical piece. The pipe is metric and has one piece that is filed down to fit standard U.S. SCH40/80. I've seen a site listed here on RC that sold metric. I would try Reeflo first personally to see if they have spare parts.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12750699#post12750699 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JRaquatics
Ryan there should be no need to clean the skimmer out. The only thing that should be cleaned regularly is the venturi and the cup. Everytime you clean your skimmer you are removing beneficial bacteria that helps the skimmer form a head of foam. Initially every time you clean it you are removing the slime coat and producing a slight break in until the bacteria builds back up.

O.K. To clarify... I take the neck off, rinse it out in the sink and wipe it down with paper towels and hot water. Is this too much? Should I try to leave the neck slimed a little bit?

I may have also wiped out the very top of the skimmer body last time which I won't do again.

The skimmer seems to be working well this week.

Ryan.
 
You dont have to clean the cup that extreme. I actually find that if your just take a toothbrush in a scooping motion with rinses in a cup of water and clean the cup while running on the skimmer, there is no down time. If you didn't want to go that route I would suggest just using a tooth brush to clean the neck, as I think your removing too much of the slime coat and don't have large enough of a bioload for the coat to recover quickly.

How's the new fish doing?
 
I usually take my cup outside to the hose bib, and just run water full stream down the inside of the neck - blasting the buildup away .... i don't ever use cloth, or towels, or my fingers inside the neck unless there is some really hard caked on stuff. It usually falls/slides right off then i start the water. My skimmer is back in action within 5 minutes, and after 10 I'm starting to see "effluent" or waste in the cup

The few times that the cup is cleaned with a towel, like this weekend when mother came to visit & thought she'd be nice & help me clean up .... it usually only takes about 30-45 minutes for skimmate to form in the cup, and takes roughly 8-12 hours for all to be back to normal
 
Reeflo has refused to warranty their products!

I need to start by stating that I have an Orca-250 and an Orca-200 for a client, and was getting ready to buy another Orca-200 for a new client...

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, I contacted Chris at Reeflo in regards to the air-silencers which have quite literally disintegrated due to the use of Ozone (I had been told the acrylic was O3 friendly) connected as per the method that Mike used and posted here about.

skimmer_broken.jpg


After hearing absolutely nothing back from Chris since our initial conversation, I called again this past Friday and he returned my call later in the day, stating that it was not his problem, since Reeflo isn't actually the manufacturer, and that I needed to speak w/ the company that actually built the skimmers. WTH???

I have a call into this other company, but have yet to get any type of response back from them. Also, I thought that it was quite odd that Chris stated that he had already talked to the other company, and that he was told that the other person had stated that we had already "gone round and round" on this issue and had "agreed to disagree"... Again, I say WTH??? because I have not once spoken w/ this other person in regards to this issue, NOT ONCE! I also have nothing but high regards for the other person, so if what Chris is saying actually has some element of merit to it, then I absolutely believe that I am somehow being confused with somebody else!

The bottom line is this: The box that the products came in are very clearly labeled REEFLO, as is all of the paperwork included with the skimmers. Absolutely nowhere is their any indication that another US company should be responsible for warranty issue, and in fact the paperwork (I keep everything in 3-ring binders) very clearly states that all warranty issues are handled directly by Reeflo, and not dealers or distributors.

Chris was also very quick to point out that since I had purchased these through a distributor, that he didn't really make any money off of them, so again it's not his problem... Again, WTH???

If you are afraid of making less money, then you need to discontinue the use of dealers and distributors, and opt to handle everything internally. Of coarse, as we all know, that too comes at a price, because it is your dealers and distributors that have the marketing, distribution and STAFF in place to be able to handle these things so YOU don't have to.

All that I have asked for is a pair of replacement Air-Silencers (one for each skimmer), because everything else is running flawlessly.. I did get told by a girl at Reeflo that their pumps are not capable of handling O3, and that it's an extremely expensive upgrade to put new seals in, to which Chris actually correctly stated the exact opposite, stating that the seals are very inexpensive and quite simple to install (which we all know to be true).

Anyway, I'm quite infuriated with the responses and actions of a company whose products I use on a very regular basis for both my own and my clients' systems.

I'll also state that this is NOT the first issue w/ Chris. Back in January I was installing a very large system for the client that has the Orca-200, and the Hammerhead pump sounded like it was going to explode due to "grinding" and even occasionally seizing up. I called Chris and he assured me that a new replacement pump would be sent right out, but also that these sometimes do that due to grit in the grease or something to that effect (I've never had any other pumps do that!). I assured my very concerned clients that a new pump was on the way, but after a week of receiving nothing, I began to get a bit concerned so I called Chris back. He told me that he said the problem should resolve itself after it ran for a bit, which it eventually did after several days, and so since he never heard anything back, he decided not to ship out a new pump. He didn't hear anything, because I was WAITING for a new pump to arrive, which he had very clearly said he was going to ship, and even took down my clients' address to ship it directly to them.


All that said, I have a VERY large system (just under $20k) that I will begin ordering the necessary parts for over the next couple of weeks, and unless something quickly changes on their end, I will be forced to re-write the proposal to a different set of pumps and skimmers from a more honorable and reputable manufacturer.

-Tim
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12804178#post12804178 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JRaquatics
You dont have to clean the cup that extreme. I actually find that if your just take a toothbrush in a scooping motion with rinses in a cup of water and clean the cup while running on the skimmer, there is no down time. If you didn't want to go that route I would suggest just using a tooth brush to clean the neck, as I think your removing too much of the slime coat and don't have large enough of a bioload for the coat to recover quickly.

How's the new fish doing?

OK. Will change my routine and see how it works. My little spotted cheek is doing well. Eating etc... but still pretty shy. Will have him in QT for a couple weeks and then will add him, with four or five other fish simultaneosly into the big tank.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12804310#post12804310 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tgreene
Reeflo has refused to warranty their products!

I need to start by stating that I have an Orca-250 and an Orca-200 for a client, and was getting ready to buy another Orca-200 for a new client...

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, I contacted Chris at Reeflo in regards to the air-silencers which have quite literally disintegrated due to the use of Ozone (I had been told the acrylic was O3 friendly) connected as per the method that Mike used and posted here about.

skimmer_broken.jpg


After hearing absolutely nothing back from Chris since our initial conversation, I called again this past Friday and he returned my call later in the day, stating that it was not his problem, since Reeflo isn't actually the manufacturer, and that I needed to speak w/ the company that actually built the skimmers. WTH???

I have a call into this other company, but have yet to get any type of response back from them. Also, I thought that it was quite odd that Chris stated that he had already talked to the other company, and that he was told that the other person had stated that we had already "gone round and round" on this issue and had "agreed to disagree"... Again, I say WTH??? because I have not once spoken w/ this other person in regards to this issue, NOT ONCE! I also have nothing but high regards for the other person, so if what Chris is saying actually has some element of merit to it, then I absolutely believe that I am somehow being confused with somebody else!

The bottom line is this: The box that the products came in are very clearly labeled REEFLO, as is all of the paperwork included with the skimmers. Absolutely nowhere is their any indication that another US company should be responsible for warranty issue, and in fact the paperwork (I keep everything in 3-ring binders) very clearly states that all warranty issues are handled directly by Reeflo, and not dealers or distributors.

Chris was also very quick to point out that since I had purchased these through a distributor, that he didn't really make any money off of them, so again it's not his problem... Again, WTH???

If you are afraid of making less money, then you need to discontinue the use of dealers and distributors, and opt to handle everything internally. Of coarse, as we all know, that too comes at a price, because it is your dealers and distributors that have the marketing, distribution and STAFF in place to be able to handle these things so YOU don't have to.

All that I have asked for is a pair of replacement Air-Silencers (one for each skimmer), because everything else is running flawlessly.. I did get told by a girl at Reeflo that their pumps are not capable of handling O3, and that it's an extremely expensive upgrade to put new seals in, to which Chris actually correctly stated the exact opposite, stating that the seals are very inexpensive and quite simple to install (which we all know to be true).

Anyway, I'm quite infuriated with the responses and actions of a company whose products I use on a very regular basis for both my own and my clients' systems.

I'll also state that this is NOT the first issue w/ Chris. Back in January I was installing a very large system for the client that has the Orca-200, and the Hammerhead pump sounded like it was going to explode due to "grinding" and even occasionally seizing up. I called Chris and he assured me that a new replacement pump would be sent right out, but also that these sometimes do that due to grit in the grease or something to that effect (I've never had any other pumps do that!). I assured my very concerned clients that a new pump was on the way, but after a week of receiving nothing, I began to get a bit concerned so I called Chris back. He told me that he said the problem should resolve itself after it ran for a bit, which it eventually did after several days, and so since he never heard anything back, he decided not to ship out a new pump. He didn't hear anything, because I was WAITING for a new pump to arrive, which he had very clearly said he was going to ship, and even took down my clients' address to ship it directly to them.


All that said, I have a VERY large system (just under $20k) that I will begin ordering the necessary parts for over the next couple of weeks, and unless something quickly changes on their end, I will be forced to re-write the proposal to a different set of pumps and skimmers from a more honorable and reputable manufacturer.

-Tim

this is interesting. I am also running ozone but how much are you running? I've had it setup from the second wave of orders and the silencer is clear not like yours which is cloudy. Are you able to order them?
 
I use Enaly O3 rectors that are controlled via Lighthouse Controllers, set to 400 ORP... They are off far more than they are on, but that shouldn't matter anyway, because I also have one running on a Coralife CSS-220 skimmer for 3 years without a single hiccup!

If a $200 skimmer can handle it, then $1000 - $1500 skimmers damn well ought to be able to as well!

The acrylic was crystal clear originally.
 
That's interesting to hear. I had a new dart gold that had issues running at a higher wattage than should be expected (and in turn hotter). He had a new pump at my door pretty quickly without asking for a payment and allowed me to keep the old one online until the new one arrived. I'm very happy with the service supplied. I haven't had any issues with the skimmer however that I've needed to inquire about.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12798768#post12798768 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmckdvm
The top of my T is about level with the midpoint of the beveled section. I just set it up last night.

[/B]

I love this skimmer, but the instructions are lousy (or I'm a bad plumber and didn't read carefully). It sounds like you assembled it the same way I did, although I hate to admit it. :o I glued the long pipe to the union fitting on one end and the tee on the other. This made the assembly too tall. The long pipe should have been glued to the tee so that it was in a horizontal position coming out of the tee and the short pipe to the union and bottom of the tee.

I fixed the problem by measuring the distance of the short pipe including the distance that would have been inserted into the tee and the union on the other end. I cut the pipe that I had installed at the same distance of the shorter pipe (measured from the union). The tee was flipped over so that the end that would normally take the wedge pipe is now glued to the shorter cut pipe. You must mark this distance, as the tee has been ground out to accept the wedge pipe gasket and when the glued pipe is inserted into the ground out tee, it will slip too far into the tee if it is not marked. I had planned to use a gate valve instead of the wedge pipe and this little error sent me there a bit faster. I have not purchased the gate valve yet, but glued the horizontal pipe where the end is ground to fit 2" US to a union. The union is glued to a ball valve that is working very well to adjust the water level for almost three months now.

I searched the web for metric fittings to rebuild the assembly. It would have required placing orders with two or more businesses or getting replacements from the factory. :(
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12804310#post12804310 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tgreene
Reeflo has refused to warranty their products!

I need to start by stating that I have an Orca-250 and an Orca-200 for a client, and was getting ready to buy another Orca-200 for a new client...

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, I contacted Chris at Reeflo in regards to the air-silencers which have quite literally disintegrated due to the use of Ozone (I had been told the acrylic was O3 friendly) connected as per the method that Mike used and posted here about.

skimmer_broken.jpg


After hearing absolutely nothing back from Chris since our initial conversation, I called again this past Friday and he returned my call later in the day, stating that it was not his problem, since Reeflo isn't actually the manufacturer, and that I needed to speak w/ the company that actually built the skimmers. WTH???

I have a call into this other company, but have yet to get any type of response back from them. Also, I thought that it was quite odd that Chris stated that he had already talked to the other company, and that he was told that the other person had stated that we had already "gone round and round" on this issue and had "agreed to disagree"... Again, I say WTH??? because I have not once spoken w/ this other person in regards to this issue, NOT ONCE! I also have nothing but high regards for the other person, so if what Chris is saying actually has some element of merit to it, then I absolutely believe that I am somehow being confused with somebody else!

The bottom line is this: The box that the products came in are very clearly labeled REEFLO, as is all of the paperwork included with the skimmers. Absolutely nowhere is their any indication that another US company should be responsible for warranty issue, and in fact the paperwork (I keep everything in 3-ring binders) very clearly states that all warranty issues are handled directly by Reeflo, and not dealers or distributors.

Chris was also very quick to point out that since I had purchased these through a distributor, that he didn't really make any money off of them, so again it's not his problem... Again, WTH???

If you are afraid of making less money, then you need to discontinue the use of dealers and distributors, and opt to handle everything internally. Of coarse, as we all know, that too comes at a price, because it is your dealers and distributors that have the marketing, distribution and STAFF in place to be able to handle these things so YOU don't have to.

All that I have asked for is a pair of replacement Air-Silencers (one for each skimmer), because everything else is running flawlessly.. I did get told by a girl at Reeflo that their pumps are not capable of handling O3, and that it's an extremely expensive upgrade to put new seals in, to which Chris actually correctly stated the exact opposite, stating that the seals are very inexpensive and quite simple to install (which we all know to be true).

Anyway, I'm quite infuriated with the responses and actions of a company whose products I use on a very regular basis for both my own and my clients' systems.

I'll also state that this is NOT the first issue w/ Chris. Back in January I was installing a very large system for the client that has the Orca-200, and the Hammerhead pump sounded like it was going to explode due to "grinding" and even occasionally seizing up. I called Chris and he assured me that a new replacement pump would be sent right out, but also that these sometimes do that due to grit in the grease or something to that effect (I've never had any other pumps do that!). I assured my very concerned clients that a new pump was on the way, but after a week of receiving nothing, I began to get a bit concerned so I called Chris back. He told me that he said the problem should resolve itself after it ran for a bit, which it eventually did after several days, and so since he never heard anything back, he decided not to ship out a new pump. He didn't hear anything, because I was WAITING for a new pump to arrive, which he had very clearly said he was going to ship, and even took down my clients' address to ship it directly to them.


All that said, I have a VERY large system (just under $20k) that I will begin ordering the necessary parts for over the next couple of weeks, and unless something quickly changes on their end, I will be forced to re-write the proposal to a different set of pumps and skimmers from a more honorable and reputable manufacturer.

-Tim

I wanted to start off, I am not calling you or anyone else a lier.

There is only one way that acrylic can deteriorate is when it comes in contact with a high V.O.C. (viscosity) liquid or fumes. High viscosity chemicals are found in most household paints, cleaning agents and lacquers. You can open a can of denatured alcohol and put acrylic close to the fumes coming out of the can and you can watch the acrylic start to craze and break down. Ozone will not cause acrylic to do this. Even the acrylic material that I have seen that crazes will still hold up and not fall apart unless it was dropped or something hard hit it, then again if the acrylic is in perfect condition it could break easily from a fall which is a more likely situation than from the effects of ozone.

With that being said it is just strange that acrylic which is highly resistant to ozone could have that effect on the silenser. Mike from Reef Specialty had the very first Reeflo 250 and uses 300-400 mg/ph to this day and his is in perfect condition. Mine the same, no hazing discoloration or weeknesses. It is just hard to comprehend that with all the Octopus, Euro Reef, Aqua Euro USA, and other private label skimmers that are on the market have not had this problem with ozone use. Are you certain that there weren't any VOCs used in the area or dropped or mishandled by your client?

I also have nothing but good things to say about Reeflos customer service and the way they handle things. Responses to questions and concerns were always prompt and handled with the utmost perfessionalism.
 
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12808121#post12808121 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JRaquatics
I wanted to start off, I am not calling you or anyone else a lier.

There is only one way that acrylic can deteriorate is when it comes in contact with a high V.O.C. (viscosity) liquid or fumes. High viscosity chemicals are found in most household paints, cleaning agents and lacquers. You can open a can of denatured alcohol and put acrylic close to the fumes coming out of the can and you can watch the acrylic start to craze and break down. Ozone will not cause acrylic to do this.

Are you certain that there weren't any VOCs used in the area or dropped or mishandled by your client?
My 250 sits less than 3 feet away from an Octopus FDNW-400 that is just now a year old, and 8 feet from those sits an Octopus DNW-200 skimmer, again, without even the slightest hint of a scratch.

Both systems are surrounded by numerous other acrylic reactors which if chemicals were to blame, would also be in shambles, but it's not the case! It is also only the air silencers that have shown any distress.

-Tim
 
The following is a quote that Chris made in regards to the guy building the Mako skimmers...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11503456#post11503456 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reeflo/sequence
We made the mistake of selling some of our Dart Needlewheel pumps before we came out with the ORCA skimmers. We no longer do this. While I cannot comment on the MAKO, i can tell you that having inventiry to fill orders, psare parts to handle accidents and prompt customer service to answer questions and treat you like family is more important that thick walls on the skimmer body.
Thank you for the tech comments, we will see what can be done to improve them...the 200's are now available at Premium Aquatics

This quote is towards the bottom of page 2, which is where I have a series of pics of my setup which clearly shows the Orca-250 and FDNW-400 skimmers.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1260220&highlight=mako+skimmer
 
After the money you spent on these expensive a$$ skimmers you think they would be willing to help you out with a replacement part.
I guess since they DON'T want to stand behind their product I would definitely do as you said here......
All that said, I have a VERY large system (just under $20k) that I will begin ordering the necessary parts for over the next couple of weeks, and unless something quickly changes on their end, I will be forced to re-write the proposal to a different set of pumps and skimmers from a more honorable and reputable manufacturer.

I bet if you bought a Volcano and had issues they would be rectified!
 
Just so everyone is aware; the "other company" just contacted me and is taking care of what I consider to be Chris' problems, immediately.

I have always had great faith and respect for this other company, and hope to always be able to continue to do business with them!

-Tim
 
please base you conclusions about our company and its service from your own experience and from people that you KNOW..do not take the word of someone who is a professional shakedown artist. If you or anyone that you know has had a problem that we have not resolved, please let me know. We have sent out parts the harrassment is endless.
 
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