Mak-4 vs. MAG 12 vs. Other?

[xeon]

The pump on my skimmer went kaput (MAG7).  So I am thinking of getting a new pump to use with my skimmer (EV-120) and run through my 1/4hp chiller.  I was thinking about using a MAG12 or MAK-4.  The flow on either should work out, the MAK-4 appears to probably have more.  I'm leaning towards the MAK-4 since I can modify my sump for an external pump.  Any comments or suggestions betweent the two pumps?

[michaelg]

personally, I would still run 2 pumps.  It can be hard to balance them even with valves- and while the chiller isn't picky about flow, the skimmer is.  Are you sure you can't fix the skimmer by replacing the impellar?

[xeon]

I'm not sure if I can fix the skimmer pump (MAG7).  It does not work of course, it hums and trips the GFCI.  It was less than a year in usage and was cleaned about every month or 6 weeks at least.  Danner says it wasn't cleaned enough.  When I did clean it, it was never very gunked up with trash and/or deposits.  In fact when it failed it had been cleaned less than a week before it went south.  Due to the nature of the failure, I'm thinking it is the motor... could be wrong though.  I also did not retain the receipt... one of the few I do not have.    

 

My theory on using the single pump is that I can adjust flow with ball valves and the skimmer has a gate valve on the output to fine tune a tad bit more.  I initially used a MAG5 with limited success and upgraded to a MAG7, which honestly was a slight overkill.  I had the gate valve all the way open and the water level was too high IMO.  The flow is important with the skimmer as you noted, I wonder how much of a PITA it would be.  I was thinking if I got it in the neighborhood between the MAG5 and 7 flow, it would be satisfactory.  The tuning might be more problematic and as you said the chiller isn't too terrible picky about flow.  Hmm something to think about.

[peacetypes]

i like the MAGs