Skimmer help....again

[Narazbad]

Here I go again with a skimmer issue, it seems I just have horrid luck with these beasts.

Have a coralife 65 skimmer hanging on the back of my tank. Hooked it up, massive water flow, no bubbles. Talked to a few people who said leave it running for a while and it should start doing something, also heard from Tom that it should have at least a little bit of bubbling at the bottom of the chamber. I have to have the regulator turned almost off, so it makes a horrible racket at night from the pump, so I unplugged it last night.

Today I plugged it in again, it had bubble flow for about 5 minutes. Not much, mind you, just a little bit, but I thought something was working. Been on for a few hours again now, making the noise again, and no more bubbles.

Anyone has any suggestions, feel free to give them over. I'm about to make a video of the thing and I'll post it on here once its online.

[Narazbad]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2iwznj1HaY

Link of video. You can hear the noise of the pump in the background.

[five O]

Looks like its time to upgrade your skimmer.

[tomgl]

Pull the impeller and take a photo please.

[Troylee]

it's pulling zero air man... check the airline it's clogged somewhere...

[Narazbad]

Yeah, I just checked that. For some reason the stupid thing is allowing water in the line. Maybe I should plug it in above water level then drop the pump in? Even when I blow the water through and get air in the line, as soon as air pressure stops it allows it back in.

[Troylee]

venturi is clogged... you don't have it connected right or something... look for a manual online and look it over carefully...

[Narazbad]

Its probably a POS...

[RickMartin]

usually when the venturi plugs with a snail or rock, it will force water out the airline

[Troylee]

If you don't feel like trouble shooting it just drop a airstone in it... Lol

[TheGreatAukSociety]

The problem is the valve at the output of the pump. Open that up all the way. It's producing insuffient suction to pull the air in.

[lvsuckerfish]

I say toss it and buy a new skimmer those aren't all that great unless using it for ozone.... I agree the line is airline is clogged zero aira partial clog will have water spitting out of the air line

[Narazbad]

Its a brand new skimmer, so I'm not gonna toss it. Air stone just pushes air out of the bottom of the pump into the tank. Opening up the valve all the way isn't an option because it floods the cup and makes a massive spill all over the house. Trying to avoid that.

[Troylee]

Something isn't hooked up right Kris... Bring it by I'll make it work..;)

[tomgl]

I know this is a new pump. Did you check to see is is has a needle wheel impeller?

[Narazbad]

Its a needle wheel, but its not a new pump. Remember, he handed me an old one and said "If it doesn't work, call me"

[TheGreatAukSociety]

Next question, Did you turn the red knob all the way counter clockwise?

[lvsuckerfish]

is this brand new as never hooked it up?

[lvsuckerfish]

it also doesn't seem like alot of flow is coming from the output. seems kinda slow

[Narazbad]

The output should be all the way open, the flow might be slow because of how low I have the pump on. I'm gonna pull the impeller and try it in a Rio 1100 that I had before (which had a broken impeller) and see if that does anything. If that doesn't work, I'll have to get my hands on a new pump somehow.

[Troylee]

Make sure you don't have the airline bottomed out in the foam reducer... Pull the airline out a little bit and see if you get bubbles..

[Narazbad]

Airline isn't near any foam...the only foam I know of is off the return line.