Rhodes19
New member
Has anyone else been having problems with their SWC Xtream 200 skimmer? What were your fixes that worked?
I've just about had it with mine. I've had nothing but problems with it since I got it back in November. It's damn near impossible to to adjust the water level. Its either one of two extremes, its either set to low and you won't get any skimmate in the cup or its too high and you overflow the collection cup. There is no in between. The wedged pipe outflow is so stiff that it can't be fine tuned and any time you get it to move, it goes too far and over shoots where you want it to go. I can't count the number of times I've taken the pipes apart, cleaned them, and then put them back to together. That doesn't seem to help at all.
The other problem I have is with the Sicce pump they put on the skimmer. It rattles, it won't start back up after turning it back on without basically taking it almost all the way off and twisting, shaking, or smacking it in order to get it started again. It was recommended that I stick my finger into to it and push the impeller to get it started but my fingers won't fit. The other recommendation was to blow into the air tube to get the pump started. That didn't work either. The pump even cut some grooves into the ceramic shaft that the impeller sits on.
I've read on a few posts that replacing the Sicce with a Bubble Blaster 3000 will help immensely with skimmate production and that it won't give any startup problems. It's also been recommended that replacing the wedged pipe outflow with a gate valve will allow for some fine tuning of the water level. Looking at about a $300 upgrade for the pump and gate valve. Is it worth the money or would I be throwing good money after bad? I would like to hear about your experiences and your solutions. Thanks.
I've just about had it with mine. I've had nothing but problems with it since I got it back in November. It's damn near impossible to to adjust the water level. Its either one of two extremes, its either set to low and you won't get any skimmate in the cup or its too high and you overflow the collection cup. There is no in between. The wedged pipe outflow is so stiff that it can't be fine tuned and any time you get it to move, it goes too far and over shoots where you want it to go. I can't count the number of times I've taken the pipes apart, cleaned them, and then put them back to together. That doesn't seem to help at all.
The other problem I have is with the Sicce pump they put on the skimmer. It rattles, it won't start back up after turning it back on without basically taking it almost all the way off and twisting, shaking, or smacking it in order to get it started again. It was recommended that I stick my finger into to it and push the impeller to get it started but my fingers won't fit. The other recommendation was to blow into the air tube to get the pump started. That didn't work either. The pump even cut some grooves into the ceramic shaft that the impeller sits on.
I've read on a few posts that replacing the Sicce with a Bubble Blaster 3000 will help immensely with skimmate production and that it won't give any startup problems. It's also been recommended that replacing the wedged pipe outflow with a gate valve will allow for some fine tuning of the water level. Looking at about a $300 upgrade for the pump and gate valve. Is it worth the money or would I be throwing good money after bad? I would like to hear about your experiences and your solutions. Thanks.
