skimmer silencers

[El Camaron]

I noticed teh other day my skimmer had stopped working, i unpluged it and pluged it back in and with in 5 secods it shut off, imideatly i cleaned the cup and neck and was about to take the skimmer and pump out to see if there was anything wrong but while i was cleaning the cup i figued i remove the silencer from the top, i decided to blow air through it and to my surprise i felt completly clogged, i am guessing salt creep?? anyways after a minute of hot water and blowing air through it to unclog it, skimmer was back to normal. Anyone else have the same experience? i have never had to clean a silencer before nor was i ever told to.

[zoozilla]

Yes, that happens to my ORCA 250 every so often. I typically clean the air-intake 1/month with hot water. If possible, you may have to dismantle the recirc pump and vinegar soak it.

[amay121]

Not necessarily the silencer. Could be the venturi. Reeflo Orcas had the issue where the calcium would build up into a ball and clog the venturi.

 

But, the fastest way I know of silencing a skimmer is to either (1) Turn it off and leave it off or (2) Take a hammer and smash it to bits.

 

Me, I'd say smash it. It's more fun and you get to take your anger out on something.

Edited February 24, 2010 by amay121

[El Camaron]

cool, glad to hear im not the only one. my skimmer is the the compact 6 by GSA, the tube pulliing air is clear so i could see nothing clogged in it.

[Der ABT]

i actually took the one i had off cause i got sick of it, but when i had it on an older tank i increased the length of the tubing so it was away from the sump/humidity/salt and it didnt clog as much, I always thought mine was from my kalkwasser but i never proved anything.

[zoozilla]

cool, glad to hear im not the only one. my skimmer is the the compact 6 by GSA, the tube pulliing air is clear so i could see nothing clogged in it.

 

Yep, the clog will typically occur where you can't see it: that's where air meets water at the tube - venturi interface.

[lanman]

When I think my skimmers aren't working up to potential, the first thing I do is make it suck ro/di water into the air tube. That usually clears the problem right up.

 

bob

[zoozilla]

When I think my skimmers aren't working up to potential, the first thing I do is make it suck ro/di water into the air tube. That usually clears the problem right up.

 

bob

 

+1 - Yep, this method works very well.

[El Camaron]

so while its pulling air, drop some ro water so it clears any salt creep or debri?

[zoozilla]

so while its pulling air, drop some ro water so it clears any salt creep or debri?

 

 

That's correct.

[El Camaron]

awesome, thanks Dan and Bob.

[lanman]

I actually take a bowl or cup of water, and stick the air tube into it. Suck in a good gulp, then let it run... suck in another gulp.

 

Speaking of which - it's time to go 'water' my Deltec again....

 

bob

[Jon Lazar]

I programmed my Aquacontroller to leave the skimmer off for an hour after feeding. I used to have clogged venturis every several months, but this seems to have fixed that problem too.