My new SWC 200 extreme skimmer?

[ac7av]

Got mine in a few days ago and just set it up for a test run in the sink with 9 inches of water. She bubbles to life!! Any way I am so excited about this thing, I have dreamed about it for over a year or so. I have to say the build quality looks pretty good. Why does it not come with some kind of manual or does it? I got nothing but the diagram on where to put part A into part B.

Second question is what the heck is the noise or is this not normal. This is the nosiest thing in my house. I can only describe it like the old football games of the late 70s to early 80s. You know that one that plugged into the wall and vibrated the table the players bounced around on, chasing the little foam rubber football. This can’t be normal, or is it? If I pinch off the air line the noise goes away but there is no adjustment for the air only the output water. I know the new pump style that is not yet available for this model is better but I can’t believe people would put up with this kind of noise.

 

[Randy-S]

Nope no manual so you got everything
as far as noise it should not be that loud. I purchased the swc 250a skimmer and had to glue my pump onto the skimmer -this was not in the instructions i had to call swc to get this information. Mine runs dead silent.

 

[mcvicker]

are you using the silencer? also I am not sure how the venturi is set up, but different ways make more or less noise.
-chris

 

[chadmace]

I have the same skimmer. I noticed it made more noise in the bathtub getting the vinegar treatment than it did in the sump. Once it was in the sump the only noise it made was the sound of the mesh wheel mixing the air & water before injecting it into the skimmer body. It is not very noisy thought. I have mine in my living room and with the tank stand closed i can't hear it. You may want to check out the mesh mod it came with. Sometimes you have to redo it. (I had to.)

 

[ac7av]

I received no mesh mod impeller with it
I thought one was suppose to come with it but apparently not. Or was it?
It just has the needle wheel impeller in it.
Yes the silencer is on it that’s not what is making the noise. The noise is coming directly from the pump. It sounds like it is beating is self up unless you pinch off all the air from the tube to the silencer.

 

[nwinverts]

Have you removed the cover and looked at the impeller? Mine came with the mesh mod already installed...

As far as noise goes, it quieted down after a couple weeks. Although it was never that noisy to begin with.Are you sure it is picking up the air properly? When mine doesn't it sounds like marbles are rolling around in it... The pump will cavitate and make lots of noise. Plug it in and blow down the air tube at the same time. Hopefully that will cure your problem.

No they don't come with a manual. If they did they would probably cost $500.:shock:

 

[ac7av]

I looked it is definitely not the mesh mod impeller and there is not one in the box. The right up on it says it comes with both, I just checked it again so I guess I will have to send them an e-mail on that but in the mean time I did put it into the sump and set it up for 9 inches of water and fooled around with it for a while and it is much quieter. I guess its just air in some place even though it was still pumping water. I just kept putting my finger over the silencer and removing it after a few seconds and it kind of sputtered a few times and got much quieter. I can just hear it over the main return pump but not enough that I would even know something else is running when the doors are closed. Happy Happy Happy dance around the fish tank.

 

[tat2z_21]

Well I m glad that you got it fixed. It sounded to me like there was some air stuck in the pump body. I am not sure how true this is but I have tried op checking a skimmer in freshwater and because of the viscosity difference between the salt water and the fresh water the skimmer just made noises. But either way it sounds like you fixed it and it is working properly. Good skimmer.

 

[ac7av]

I just got an email back from swc and they said they no longer are automatically sending out the mesh mod impellers because of the problems it has been causing with the pumps.

Also just wanted to ad this thing is ripping the nastys out of the water. I already have almost half a cup of brown swamp muck and the things only been running for 3 hours give or take.

Fascinating about how one could get so excited about scum.

 

[nwinverts]

Actually, water backs up in the air tube when the pump isn't running... This can be a problem with all pinwheel and mesh mod Skimmers.

Glad to hear your on the right track...

 

[ac7av]

What a difference that just over the night can make on the water clarity with this thing.

Do you suppose you could turn the pump so that the inlet is pointing up to reduce the air noise problems with the pump cavitating at startup? This way the air would just bubble out the pump inlet so there would be no air at the startup in the pump. It just sounds so bad that I would think this could damage the pump just turning it off for cleaning and back on again.

 

[tat2z_21]

I heard actually that placing the joint where your airline hooks to your intake at the 6 o'clock position actually increases airflow CFM's I am sure the one to ask about this would be Skimmerwhisperer.