skimmer "surging"?

[Blindloser1080]

I have an Octopus BH-300-F HOB skimmer. Recently, it has been "surging"...the 1st chamber has water inside it, then it will go away, pump gets very loud, then sucks in more water when it's empty.

I've tried re-starting the siphon a few times, and it still seems to do this. Any ideas?

 

[Skimmy]

arrrg.. it's those failcat resun pumps...
absolute schwag..
the one in the first chamber is prone to cooking it's self because as you've noticed...it doesnt stay submerged...it's a design fault, and they have since changed pumps on these skimmers for the most recent models, putting the OTP 1000 pump in there instead.
you might also want to check the inlet for air...via the john guest valve...

you could potentially change the pumps out to sedra 2500's but it's a pita...
(at least the one in the first chamber is). for the price of 2 replacement sedra 2500's, you could get yourself a better skimmer.
bummer i know...

also, something may have gotten stuck in the needlewheel of the first pump as well...have you hauled it out of there and checked for obstructions??? a bish i know...

 

[Blindloser1080]

dang, that really sucks! i've only had it since november, and my freakin prizm lasted longer! i'll have to take the pump out tomorrow and check it manually to see if something's wrong with that 1st pump.

thanks!

 

[mcoomer]

Yeah...I have the same skimmer and it's the worst $170 I've ever spent in this hobby. The first pump was prone to stalling and was replaced under warranty. Also, the air inlets get blocked every few days so that they quit producing bubbles. Finally, when the pumps are producing bubbles the skimmer dumps tons of micro bubbles in the tank. I still have the box and have half a mind to ship it back to them with a note telling them I'll never buy another of their skimmers. Basically, they released a piece of crap and charged a premium price for it.

Mike

 

[Skimmy]

yep...the bh-100 and 300 is actually a good skimmer design, but it requires a good pump that can be external/submersible(in the first chamber), and one that moves less water so that it's less prone to put micro's in the display...hence the change over to the otp pump by SWC and octopus(the skimmer is made by honya shenizen, and sold to both companies)... it has been used on external skimmers and carx's for a few years, and with the advent of a new venturi, it moves more air than water, and the otp pump is super easy to mesh mod. so while the resun pump version of these skimmers truly are poor, with the new pump they are good. i liek the design because the pump is not in the tank, the reaction chamber is big, and there is room for carbon and heater in the 3rd chamber.

 

[mcoomer]

Probably a bit of a hijack of your thread, so please accept my apology, but just sent a note and received a reply:

Comment/Message

I have a HOB BH-300F that I've owned since November and I've been having nothing but trouble with this thing. You folks have already had to send me a new Resun pump when the one in the first chamber began to stall frequently and finally burned up. Now I've got the same problem with that pump and more recently the air inlet on the volute of the bottom pump has been clogging at least once a week. I tried to alleviate this problem by using a drill bit to open up the air inlet a bit but that hasn't taken care of the problem and pulling the skimmer apart every week to clear the volute is absolutely ridiculous.

Do you folks have a solution for the frequent Resun pump failures? Is there anything that I can do to make this skimmer work or did I waste my money on this thing? From what I've read on the net I'm not the only person that's having trouble with the pumps in this skimmer. It really makes me wonder how these skimmers made it to market with this issue. Don't you folks test your products? Give me a solution here!

Mike


Hi Michael,
I do apologize for the problem. We have sold thousands of these skimmers and all our HOB skimmers prior to 2009 had the Resun pumps. We have had a few issues with the Resun pumps so we switched out all our HOB skimmers with the OTP pumps that we use on all our other Octopus skimmers. We could not update the 300f as we tried doing so. Of course we test, test, and retest all our products. There is plenty of development and design work that we put into any of the products we sell. Is all our products fail proof? Of course not, no one in any business can say that.

What I can do is help you out on a replacement pump of course. I can also try to help you out on another skimmer at our cost for your trouble. You can take a look at our website and see if there is another skimmer that you might be interested in, and we can work out a deal. Just let me know.

Thanks.

xxxxxx
Account Rep
Vue Technology
(985)781-xxxx

I don't know if I even want another one of their skimmers. Still, I suppose it doesn't hurt to get some info, read some reviews, and find out if they have something I can use and what it would cost me. Reefing is supposed to be relaxing but boy can it be frustrating when something doesn't work right.

Mike