Help w/ CS1 & Swabbie.........

[ErikS]

Okay so I've had the combo a few months & overall it's most excellent..........but I do have a couple of "issues". I use quotes because they have nothing to do with performance.

 

#1 - microbubbles. It's long broken in & still gives me a fair amount of micro-bubbles, quick remedies? Using the as supplied plumbing, outlet is pretty much right at the waterline.

 

#2 - the production just shuts down every several days (haven't logged it so not certain), I'd say less than a week. I run it non-stop & the swabie for a few minutes every six hours. It will run great for days & then the foam head just collapses (looks like when it hasn't broken in yet). Turn it off & right back on = bam, back producing as normal. In all my days with various skimmers I've not seen anything like this - it's not tied to anything, seems random. It's not feeding, or hands in tank, or anything I can ID.

 

Simple solution to #2 is to put it on a timer & do an on/off cycle everyday.........just curious if you had seen this before?

 

Number 1 is purely asthetics so not really important, just trying to figure out something.

[ctenophore]

A filter sock on the skimmer output will solve micro bubbles.

 

The second thing is weird though. The fact that it works normally immediately after a power restart is interesting. Any chance you have an airflow meter to try on the intake side of the silencer? It almost sounds like air draw is slowing down, although I don't see how that's possible with a fixed speed ac pump.

 

sent from phone. please excuse brevity.

 

 

[ErikS]

A filter sock on the skimmer output will solve micro bubbles.

 

The second thing is weird though. The fact that it works normally immediately after a power restart is interesting. Any chance you have an airflow meter to try on the intake side of the silencer? It almost sounds like air draw is slowing down, although I don't see how that's possible with a fixed speed ac pump.

 

sent from phone. please excuse brevity.

Thanks for the sock idea, I'll give that a shot.

 

I know, the skimmer thing is weird. It's why I waited quite a bit before asking. I don't have an airflow meter but I notice no sound difference, makes the same amount of noise. I've checked it for everything physical (dirt, buildup, clogs, etc). This one I just do not get. I mean I get that performance goes up when it's a feed cycle - even though it's a recirc design the higher water level means the pump moves more water (effectively increasing the set water level)............that makes sense, but this one? No clue as I can't find any connection to an event or time frame. It's several days but not an exact, sometimes it's two & sometimes it's four days. I always clean the cup & swabie on Sat morning so it's not that either?????

[ctenophore]

I notice that my CS1 on my quarantine system does this too, but I attribute that to the biopellet reactor output that feeds the skimmer.  The water flow is inconsistent due to the pellets, so that affects the water level internally.  You might check the feed pump too.  Although power cycling the sicce to fix it doesn't make sense.