My collection cup Overfloweth!

Thanks for the good luck wishes.
I was just told to put the cup on, and dump the bubbles/water about 3 to 5 times and that should get my break in period down. I hope this is true. I'm ready to see this bad boy do its job!

I'm starting to see green slime sticking to the glass of the sump, that's because of all the foam that comes from the skimmer. Maybe dumpling that out of there will help. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the both of us!

- Mag.

 

I'm not sure if this started working because breaking in is over or not. But I can only assume the procedure described above works pretty well.

I put my cup on yesterday evening and let the bubbles fill the cup and become water, then I dumped the water in the sink. I repeated the process 5 times. Today, the bubbles were still overflowing the cup, but it would take it at least 30 or 40 minutes now instead of the 10 seconds it used to take it to overflow when it was band new.

Later this morning, I repeated the process another 4 times. I let the bubbles fill the cup, bubbles become water and this water gets dumped on the sink. DO NOT dump it back in the sump/tank.

Now the bubbles are stable and only reaching half way on the clear neck of the collection cup. A 1/4" green foam is starting to accumulate at the top. And I'm assuming this is what other people called "skimmate" (forgive my spelling if incorrect).

I can't wait to take a look tonight and see if the green gunk is being produced at a better rate... I'm only assuming it can only get better.

By the way, if anybody is going to try this, beware of 2 things:

1) Your skimmer needs a vinegar bath 1 part vinegar to 8 parts water. Wash it inside and out with this solution. It will make your break in process a lot shorter. I didn't know this when I got my skimmer, so I had to wait a while.

2) When you put the cup and dump the water it collects, make sure to have some RO water reserve to top off the sump/DT to keep the skimmer operating at the proper level.

I hope this helps somebody. I'll post this again on CupidOfCripe thread as well. It may help somebody.

 

Hey Mag, congrats!
Mine however, almost 2 weeks in, has still not completed the break in cycle. It is however pulling some nice brownish gunk from the tank. It still only takes about a minute to overflow my collection cup. I'm starting to get real anxious about all this.
I'm doing some maintenance today, so I'll probably take out the collection cup and clean, i also will try what you said worked for you, Mag. Thanks for the advice! Wish me luck!

 

So i let my skimmer's collection cup fill (i had been draining constantly) and then shut it off and cleaned the cup and emptied all water. Started it back up about 5 minutes ago, it has not yet overflowed! And it seems to have slowed down on production? But it will still over flow so i think i will do this 2-3 more times. I just hope it doesn't overflow while i'm at work!

 

It's been 2 hours since i cleaned it and still no overflow! Thanks Magnus! +K for you!

 

Awesome!!! I'm very happy for you! It's like weird science here. I was amazed as well when I saw my bubbles slow down so much after performing the process described.

I'm now having problems with my pump though. It makes such a laud noise that's impossible to watch TV or have a conversation without being distracted by it.

I already contacted Eshopps about it, but haven't had an answer yet. I hope it's not a bad pump and that I just need to clean it.

But I'm seriously happy for you and me. It kind of felt like a journey together for a common cause.... well... I believe it actually was!

+K to you as well. No more overflowing!


- Mag.

 

Sorry to hear that your pump is loud, Mag. I have not had that problem, yet. And i hope not to. Maybe you can adjust the intake nozzle on the pump (the cylinder looking thingy)? I don't know just throwing it out there!

 

Unfortunately there's nothing to allow adjustment on the intake. I hope I don't have to replace the pump since i just saw on a different thread they're like 50 bucks or so and I'm absolutely out of cash and work doesn't seem to come along.

Impeller replacement would be a cheaper choice, but it's a wheel mesh impeller or whatever they call it. I don't even know what type, brand or GPH pump it is. I can't remove it from the skimmer to see if there's any tag anywhere.

How was your skimmer though? Any unpredicted overflowing while you were at work?

- Mag.

 

Just stopping by to check on you!

How's that skimmer doing? Is the cup nasty, green and smelly like mine?
Hope it is

- Mag.