How bout some meter reading to compare data before you mod? Thanks!

Mine just came in! I won't bother posting any photos of me unwrapping it, since the packaging was the exact same as blazer's. Question for you guys on the light grey barbed fitting for the feed to this skimmer - does it just slide into the dark gray union? Here's some photos - is this right? Unless I'm overlooking something I can't get it to fit any other way, and it doesn't seem to fit very tightly.

Exploded view:
[img]http://pics.unrulymck.com/images/A_0/8/5/4/4580/DSCF0166.Large.jpg[/img]

Assembled view:
[img]http://pics.unrulymck.com/images/A_0/8/5/4/4580/DSCF0167.Large.JPG[/img]

Loose fitting:
[img]http://pics.unrulymck.com/images/A_0/8/5/4/4580/DSCF0168.Large.JPG[/img]

Time to give it a wash in the bath.

I hooked up my air meter today and found the pump is pulling about 240 l/hr or air when the pump is running on the tank. I pulled the pump and I'm messing around with the mesh mod (which so far drops the air BTW) and I'm going to mess with the venturi to see what comes out of it. I'll post the results later today.

This has been a great thread to read, I ordered mine on Monday, and should have delivery this coming Monday (long coast-to-coast shipment). I'll be interested in the air pull data after you get a chance to mod yours a little. And also interested in the answer to the assembly question above.

Would it be correct to assume that a MJ1200 would be too much flow for a feed pump? I'll be using this skimmer on a 55g tank with 29g sump (about half full). Return pump is still in question, but I'm guessing about 300 to 400 for flow through the sump. I happen to have a few MJ1200's sitting around is why I asked. A MJ400 is probably more appropriate, right?

lsuberl,
I wanted to use a spare MJ1200 as a feed pump too, but after reading it seems liek that is too powerful as a feed pump... some people have said they use a aquaclear 10 and I think someone said they were using a MJ400... I am going to be running this skimmer on a 30 gallon, total water, system... so I'm going to need a really slow pump...

I'm posting this on all of the AEUSA threads....

This thread has been referenced a few times:

[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1005653&perpage=25&highlight=genx%202400%20mod&pagenumber=7[/url]

on page 7 here you guys should see that RandyStaceyE has modded the 2400 with a mesh impeller and is extremely pleased with it. I don't know if this will give you guys any new ideas but I am going to try it when my Dwyer meter gets here on Monday.

I did the mesh mod yesterday and I'm pulling a little less air (around 240 l/hr) over the stock impeller. I also woke up to zero skimmate, it's almost like the skimmer is brand new and not broken in as it isn't producing a foam head. I'm going to reduce the amount of mesh and see if that helps any. But it's looking like the stock impeller is the way to go, I can't get this to pull any more air.

Wow, that's interesting to know. Seems like almost every skimmer out there has been mesh modded for improved performance. This one seems to be pretty well tuned out of the box, which is how I'll leave it! Are you still pretty satisfied with the overall performance of the skimmer Blazer88? Mine should arrive Monday, and I'll probably leak test it and clean it later in the week. What's best to clean the oils out with? Detergent?

Did you trim away most of the needlewheel or did you leave it stock?

I cut away all of the "needles" and just left the plastic arms in place to zip-tie the mesh to. I was happy with the performance before the mesh, it's still a major upgrade over my Coralife Superskimmer. I am going to trim back the impeller even more and use smaller zipties later today to see if that help at all.

alot of times the meshmod has to break in.. dont ask me why, but give it a couple of days, and check it again..

what size tubing is used for the inlet and outlet of the skimmer..?? Is this the same size tubing that would be used with a MJ400 as a feed pump..?? Thanks...

Mine should be here today and I want to pick up all the tubing on the way home... Thanks again..

Jester

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9876138#post9876138 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Blazer88 [/i]
[B]I cut away all of the "needles" and just left the plastic arms in place to zip-tie the mesh to. I was happy with the performance before the mesh, it's still a major upgrade over my Coralife Superskimmer. I am going to trim back the impeller even more and use smaller zipties later today to see if that help at all. [/B][/QUOTE]

Many people cut away so there are just 4 arms or so left in a square, perhaps even just cutting away the needles is not enough. I will definitely try hacking the impeller down when I get my meter and let you know.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9877152#post9877152 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HoopsGuru [/i]
[B]Many people cut away so there are just 4 arms or so left in a square, perhaps even just cutting away the needles is not enough. I will definitely try hacking the impeller down when I get my meter and let you know. [/B][/QUOTE]

That is exactly what I'm planning on doing. I figured it may take a little bit to break in but 24 hours should be good enough to see ANY type of foam production. I'm heading to HD in a few minutes to get some more zip ties as the only ones I had very fairly large.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9877043#post9877043 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jester [/i]
[B]what size tubing is used for the inlet and outlet of the skimmer..?? Is this the same size tubing that would be used with a MJ400 as a feed pump..?? Thanks...

Mine should be here today and I want to pick up all the tubing on the way home... Thanks again..

Jester [/B][/QUOTE]

The inlets do not match in size, the inlet to the skimmer is larger than the MJ400. I put a tight fitting tube on the inlet of the MJ and the larger size (that matched the skimmer) slid right over that one. It may not be 100% water tight but the pump sits in my sump, no biggie.

do you happen to remember what the inlet and outlet sizes were on the skimmer..?? Thanks again..

Jester

Sorry Jester, I don't know what they are off the top of my head. I would just take the parts into HD or something to see what fits.

About the mesh, I trimmed it back and it actually got worse. It would barely register of my air meter. The first mesh try (left all of the arms on) was pulling about the same as the stock needle wheel but I wasn't getting any foam. So, the stock impeller is back in and I'm not going to mess around with it any more. It turns out that modding this doesn't seem to do any good. I'll keep an eye on the other threads and see if they have better luck than myself.

I have an ocean runner 2700 that I'm going to try and install onto mine. Do you think this will give me reasonably better air injection? It is going to take some fiddling with to get it to install seeing as how the pumps are not the same dimensions and the fittings are all metric. Therefore, I'd like to know if anyone thinks this would be worth it or not.

I got my skimmer in the mail today... man, this thing is huge...!!!! I'm a little overwhelmed by it right now... I dont really know where to start with hooking it up... heheheee... the best skimmer I've ever owned was a CPR BakPakk-II...

Are all the pipes that go together for the outlet side of the skimmer jsut slip fittings..?? or do i need to glue them together to make them water tight...??

There are three pipes that are very similar in length and then a really long pipe... do people trim these pipes or something... from looking at the pic earlier.. it looks like all his connections were closer to the valve than mine would be without cutting... I guess I have no idea what to do when it comes to this...

Thanks again for everyones help...

Jester

This skimmer looks just like my octopus with a different pump, right down to the barbed fitting just sliding in. (by the way I super glued mine) I wonder if the companies just buy the skimmer premade and they just add the pump they want. The styrofoam packing was even the same. LOL

what type of soap does everyone use to clean the skimmers before hooking it up..?? will dawn work..??

I glued my outlet pipes as I run mine external, didn't want to run the risk of leaks.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9879581#post9879581 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aninjaatemyshoe [/i]
[B]I glued my outlet pipes as I run mine external, didn't want to run the risk of leaks. [/B][/QUOTE]

I'm thinking I'm going to have to do the samething... I have mine up and running on the kitchen counter right now and the only leak I have is around the inlet... I'm probably going to glue it tomorrow if it doesnt stop... that seems liek a really weird way to make an inlet... all the other great fittings and then the inlet is a piece that just pushes in.. hmmmmm....

Mine didn't have a leak except in the silicone airline tubing, which isn't a problem unless the recirc pump is turned off. For the inlet, you could try getting a small rubber gasket to put between the nozzle and the fitting. I'm suprized that they didn't have one there to begin with. It's worth a try before you go the irreversible path of gluing.

blazer,
bring that puppy to me, i'll try to work some magic..;) and bring the dwyer, we'll see if there's an increase with the euroreef impellar as well. the sedra 3500 pulls 420 lph of air, a substantial increase over 240 lph.

That's the plan Mark. Can I swing it down on Sunday? I'd love to swap in the ER impeller and see what difference that makes. I didn't want to drop $55 if the ER wouldn't make any difference.