Vertex Skimmer club

Just got more carbon in from Bulk Reef Supply. Yes. Valve has been open to full. Only other thing I can think is my skimmer pipes are assembled in the wrong ordered. See my question on the last page back about the order of assembly. I think mine are right though.

Since ther are only 2 pipes of the longer pipes switch them and see if iyt makes difference.
 
I have in-180 GenII for more than month. Works great. The only problem is noise,
humming and rattling. I heard some people said their run dead silent. But not mine. I can hear noise in the other room!
 
Here is a picture from today. I've close the wedge pipe 1/4" more last nite to see if it would work itself out. Looks a little better but still not getting the finer micro bubbles that I'm used to. Aye Tangtang, I've taken the pump apart and all pieces are in place, washer on top and bottom, rubber goument top and bottom, pins are clear of debris, shaft not cracked.
100_5928.jpg
 
You pump is not workin. You dont have any bubble at all in the skimmer. What happens when unhook the air pump from the PVC pipe? The skimmer body should be milky white with bubbles. I know pics are a pain, but it you have time, take the pump out and take some pics of it disassembled. I have an extra sicce pump if you can't get this one running. How long have you had it, I assume it should still be under warranty.
 
Charlie Davidson, what are the dimensions of the Bubble Blaster pump? Is it bigger than the stock Vertex pump? I saw Reef Specialty recommends the BB 3000 for Octo Extreme 200 users. Did you get the 2000 or the 3000 for your Vertex IN-180?
 
Definitely weird, sounds like something is not right with the pump itself. The only other thing I can think of is that the airline tubing looks like it is making some funny bends in the picture you posted. Maybe a kink in th airline slightly restricting air flow?
 
Undo the airline from the tall grey PVC pipe. Also undo the airline from the nipple on the volute. Stick something in into the nipple to make sure there is nothing blocking, be it slime or plastic from the volute. Did the skimmer ever work correctly?
 
Definitely weird, sounds like something is not right with the pump itself. The only other thing I can think of is that the airline tubing looks like it is making some funny bends in the picture you posted. Maybe a kink in th airline slightly restricting air flow?

Agreed, it looks like the airline is kinked! Is it wrapped around powercord?
 
The skimmer worked fine up untill we moved to a new home. Set everything up and cleaned the skimmer inside and out. Ran the pump in a vinager bath fo 30 min. then cleaned all the calcium off of it. Put it all back together and placed in the sump. I cleaned the inside of the skimmer with my hand and the bubble plate with a toothbrush the best I could. No kinks in the airline and the nipple has been cleaned,blown thru, and picked at with a a tooth pick LOL. Hopefully it was the cleaning that made it act up plus not having any load in the tank. If it doesn't start doing better, ya'll think I should call Vertex?

Thanks for all the input
Mike
 
My Vertex IN-180 has been acting up on me for awhile. My pump wore down the impeller washers. They were replaced by Proline Aquatics but it happened again recently. I spoke to Raymond at Vertex and they are sending me a whole new pump. I have a defective pump. The skimmer works great when I install the new impeller but after a few weeks the washers slowly wear down to nothing and the pump baring makes any foam. It also makes a loud rattling noise because it is off balance when the washers are missing.
 
I was one of the VERY first to get this skimmer here(posted many pictures, very happy at that time)and I definitely will NEVER order it again. Did they change the "metal" screws on the pump? Great body, great price, horrendous pump.
 
rickrooz1, my 180 with the BB3000 pump is taking up @ 10" x 14"
I doubt there is any way to mod so it would take up less space, than the way I have it.
(sorry for late reply)
 
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