Skimmer pump help?

[Shooter7]

Shut down my return pump and skimmer to do a water change. Thought it was working ok prior to turning it off, didn't look all that closely though. Anyway, plug it back in and it just slowly fills the skimmer part way back up, very few bubbles generated. It's a Sedra 3500 pump. Have never had to troubleshoot one of these things....what should I do first, second, etc? thanks

Oh, and it doesn't appear to be all that dirty.

 

[Markk96]

Not sure what skimmer it is, but what is the water level in the sump compared to the skimmer?

 

[Shooter7]

It's a Euroreef CS 6-2. Are you talking about at what depth I have the skimmer sitting in the sump water? If so, I have it sitting at about 7 inches, the manual said optimum performance at 6"-8" of water depth. When I first turned the skimmer on, the water went about halfway up the body of the skimmer, eventually got up to the bottom of the neck, but no further. And just a very slight foam of bubbles, nothing like usual. The skimmer has been working great since January. I took the pump out around 2 months ago and took a quick look at it, but it seemed to be working great and had no buildup of anything on it at all. Still looks that way.

 

[Markk96]

I would wait and see how it is working overnight. Sometimes cleaning and water changes will make the skimmer not perform as well.

 

[Shooter7]

Alright, thanks.

 

[chadfarmer]

take the tube and run warm water down it maybe you have saltcreep in the tube or calcium


is the water coming out of the riser tube with a lot of force

 

[mpcart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7666444#post7666444 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chadfarmer
take the tube and run warm water down it maybe you have saltcreep in the tube or calcium


is the water coming out of the riser tube with a lot of force

That would be my guess. Any time that has happened to me its because the air tube was clogged.

-Mike

 

[Shooter7]

Nope, air tube seemed to be completely fine. I checked that right off. I took the pump off and took it partially apart just to make sure nothing was clogging anything up. Didn't see anything. Put it back together, hooked it back up with the skimmer and plugged it in....boom, lots of bubbles and flow. I dunno....seems to be ok for now. Thanks for the input.

 

[robthorn]

sounds like the water is siphoning out of it faster than it is pumped in. do you have it overflowing with the sponge or is it drain all the way back under water? if there is no breather it needs one.
man I haven't been to troy Il. in 5 or 6 years I grew up in edwardsville and now live in florida. I have reletives still living in troy by the park.

 

[Shooter7]

It's going through the sponge. Checking it now this morning, still seems to be working ok, nice big frothy head in the cup.

If you have relatives by the park, this could be the time of year they don't like being there. 4th of July brings cars parking everywhere and people tramping through their yards going to the park for the fireworks. Our population seems to double that night. Fortunately, we can see them from our neighborhood so we don't have to go down there.

 

[robthorn]

yeah they are about 2 blocks straight in front of the main entrance we used to walk down there to play when we were little. nice park. are there any good stores in illinois now or do you go to st charles and clayton? we have a couple good stores here in my area.

 

[Shooter7]

There are a few stores over here, but I still mostly go over the river to the ones you mentioned, along with Beldt's (old store, new owners) and Gateway Aquatics (new store - south side).