Venturi Skimmer Concern

[Grey Legion]

I bought 2 Jebo 180 skimmer to used on my small marine tanks ( 35 & 70G ) I know all about Jebo but I got them at cost ( which was close to nothing ) so I can't complain ( yet ). I have a concern on how they work or better yet not work. I have one skimmer in use and it was skimming fine brown/green stinky stuff and all that, I thought I had it dialed in and all was good, until one day I came home to find the cup full of water !?!, I emptied it cleaned it and put it back on the skimmer and sat and watched for about a hour and all seemed well no signs of any problems or the risk of another overflow, the next morning all was fine, that night I came home to a flooded basement I had about 5-6G's of water on the floor and sure enough the cup was full of water again..I could see no problems with the skimmer, airline was clear with nothing blocking it ??

So riddle me this what is causing the change ?? I have it turned right down now, MAX air so I am afraid it won't be skimming well in the future but I am puzzled as to why it would be working one day and flooding the next ?? Lastly where should the bubbles start when hitting the cup throat, mine are now sitting well below it..

Any thought ??

Please don't answer with buy anew skimmer..LOL

 

[Krish]

I had the same issue with my AquaC EV-120. It would skimm fine for months and then all of a sudden, it would start pumping pure water. I use to fill a half gallon jug of water over night and flood the floor if I left it a day. I use to have to fine tune the skimmer again and it would resume working how it use to, but at a different setting (gate valve etc) then a few months later, same thing...I'm not sure if it has to do with changes in the tank or maintenance on the skimmer or what, but I know one time after cleaning the skimmer completely, I had to do some crazy adjustments on the skimmer to prevent it from pumping pure water! The last time was the first time I had to close the injector some. I use to only have to adjust the gate valve...

I guess that didn't help you much, but just wanted to let you know I experienced the same thing using another brand of skimmer

 

[Grey Legion]

That is a great help, at least I know it is not the skimmer but most likely a flaw in design.. I plan on adding a drain line to the cup to be on the safe side unit I can upgrade skimmers, I can't have water on the floor or live my life around skimmer flood checks...LOL

I think alot has to do with the choice of valve most use for a venturi system it is not a true needle valve and will change as time goes on, mine is a plastic needle that sits in a rubber oring, not a very good design of needle valve, we sell clippard valves where I work so I thought on trying one of them to see if I can get a better and more stable adjustment..

Before I snap and smash !!! :lol:

 

[Krish]

LOL!!! You know they make collection cans for skimmer that automatically shut down the skimmer before you have a flood. They are a bit expensive, but I guess it would help some people sleep better at night Here's one of them, but they make a few different ones

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...D&Product_Code=AQUAC-WC25&Category_Code=AquaC

 

[dnjan]

Drill a hole in the lid to the collection cup, and insert a 1/4" diameter tube so that it extends about a half inch to an inch into the collection cup. Connect this tube to the air-intake for the venturi. When the water level gets high enough, it will shut off the air intake, and stop the over-foaming.