Skimmer randomly overflows

[naprestsleep]

I have a year old Octopus Extreme Skimmer Series 200, and it seems that every couple weeks it overflows. Lately its been doing it weekly or so. I will find the cup full and sometimes water flowing over the cup and out. When I power it off and then back on it return to the normal operation. Unfortunately I can not see the pump easily in the sump and don't think to try to see it or pull it before I power cycle the pump. I have only cleaned the pump and venturi once in the last year and plan to do it again soon. The only cause I can think of is build up in the venturi or particles in the sump( I do run filter socks) are getting into the pump and blocking the venturi, any chance that is the cause?

Also I have issues with it not always starting when I plug it in. after a few tries it will start fine. Again a sign of a dirty pump or more?

 

[Henry Colf]

If your venturi gets clogged it will cause the water level in your skimmer to rise. This can be caused by salt creep...

 

[naprestsleep]

Yeah I am going to make sure I clean the venturi, air tubing and silencer good this time, as this morning during the overflow it somehow got water in the silencer, guess it somehow traveled up the air tubing.

 

[naprestsleep]

I think it had been 6 months max since I last cleaned the pump, wow was there a lot of salt buildup in the venturi. I soaked it in vinegar and was ready to reinstall it when I noticed the inside of it seemed rough, so I scraped it and a thick coating was still covering all the air tubing connection. I am guessing I found the problem, not sure I scraped it out last time. Time will tell if I get anymore over flows, and hopefully the pump starts every time.