Took apart 9004 for cleaning and now its not working right

[steeb]

I took apart my Tunze 9004 for today for cleaning as I've had it about 6 months and the unit was quite dirty. After cleaning I put it back together but it is not taking in water like it used to. The flow of water on the intake is minimal and its not skimming like it had in the past. What can I do to make sure its right?

 

[rvitko]

Did you possibly remove the rectangular plate on the bottom of the pump? Have we been emailing as well? If that plate was left off, it is about 1/4" wide and 1.5" long, the pump will suck in water inside and have less pressure (recirculate).

 

[steeb]

Does the plate say TUNZE on it? If so, then yes. I could not figure out where the piece of plastic goes.

 

[rvitko]

It does, it goes into a rectangular hole under the pump.

 

[steeb]

OK, ill try to take the unit apart when I get home tonight to put the piece in. Is there a manual or video instruction on how to put the unit back together?

 

[steeb]

I found exactly where that went under the pump. Thanks!!! My only issue is there are now microbubbles spitting out the side. I checked to see if the enclosure was secure and sealed and it looks to be. Any ideas?

 

[steeb]

The flow rate coming into the skimmer grate seems to be slower / not as strong as it was in the past. It used to almost be a waterfall type of flow. Now it barely takes in debris floating in front of the unit.

 

[rvitko]

I only have some partial videos focused on pump start up and noise issues, I don't have any complete assembly videos, My best guess would be that the plate that the pump mounts on is installed wrong, it can go on a lower set of slots, keep in mind the same body is used for 3162, 3163 and 6208 so some of the mounting slots and grooves are specific to these other items which share the basic body. This intermediate plate should be on the highest slots. The manual isn't the best because the photos are small and as still images don't show every detail of reassembly but it does have disassembly instructions. If my hunch is correct, the body won't close completely so that is why the bubbles are seeping out the sides, another common cause of this is installing the perforated bottom plate in the very bottom groove, it goes in the second one up.

 

[steeb]

I will try this tonight and let you know. So the plate that holds the pump needs to be in the highest slots where it slides into the grooves. The grate under the pump needs to be in the second slot not the very bottom?

 

[rvitko]

Correct and if you need more help, call me tomorrow, we can walk through it by skype or facetime or something. 512-833-7546

 

[steeb]

After taking the unit apart last night and confirming everything was on the right slot, the tunze clip that goes on the pump became lose and was on the bottom. After getting the unit back together I am happy to report it is skimming like a champ again!

Thank you Roger!

 

[rvitko]

You can glue that little plug in, in the earliest units they were glued in. The motor was designed with several ports and passages for future uses and that is one that is not used in the 9004 skimmer but may be used in a future product, removing it in the future will not be necessary.