Skimmer gone crazy!

[erikharrison]

My skimmer is skimming wayyyyyyyy to much. I have my thirty gallon fuge filled to the top and my Corailfe Super Skimmer 65 HOB is going crazy. I just filled it up yesterday, and have it turned all the way down. I had to tie the air inlet hose off to reduce the amount of bubbles since the water level is up in the cup! Without it being tied, it just fills the cup up. My pump is around 6" under the surface, and can be raised if needed. Any ideas?

[tony]

that sounds to deep for the pump

when i cut the air line the pump i cut mine so that there is maybe 1/4" at the most between the pump/skimmer

this is going from my best recollection since i am at work.

do you have the pump valve running wide open? you can throttle it back a little temporarily

[erikharrison]

I have the pump turned all the way down. You said you have the airline cut? Did you mean the inlet hose?

[villjr]

I know sometimes the CSS will react strangely to changes and will take a day or two to adjust. Have you adjusted the height of the bubbles in the collection cup using the red dial?

[villjr]

If you added that extra airline hose, remove it and put back the original.

[erikharrison]

I have the red knob turned all the way down. The water level is WAYYYYYYYYYYYY to high, even though I have it turned down all the way.

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/7315/ccupap0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[erikharrison]

I'll remove the excess airline. I put it on the open side to muffle the sound. It has worked fine until now, but it did make the level rise, now that I think about it. BTW Ernest I added you to my myspace!

[tony]

yes the inlet hose

not the vented air line

[erikharrison]

Should I also raise the height of the skimmer pump to about 2" under the surface? I read on RC that is the best spot. Will this also help reduce the water level?

[tony]

IMO yes

IIRC the instructions even say 2-3" below the surface

[villjr]

I have my CSS in a 10 gallon tankand the pump is 8" below the surface and works great. I think it just needs to adjust.

[erikharrison]

cool beans, I bought it w/o instructions, so I have been learning as I go. It has been a great skimmer, just having a little problem. Thanks for the info guys.

[erikharrison]

Ernest, if I un-knot the air inlet on the pump side, the cup will overflow before I get home from work. I have a tea bucket underneath to catch the runoff.

[villjr]

Do you mean the air inlet hose that came with it originally? You said you made some mods to it. Could those be giving you increased bubble production?

[erikharrison]

essentially there is the air inlet that goes directly into the needlewheel. Off that inlet hose there is a silencer which has another inlet hole. That was making noise so I added an airhose to the silencer to quiet the noise. I did notice that either the bubbles increased, or the water level just rose. I think it did cause the water level to just go up. I will take it off and just leave it be to see if that fixes it. Right now I am essentially choking the line to keep it from overflowing. It is still producing skimmate, but I am sure it is less than normal.