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  #1  
Old 01/05/2008, 11:40 AM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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SWC Xtreme 160 has arrived!

I just got my SWC Xtreme 160!

Packaging of the skimmer was good all parts arrived w/o damage.





  #2  
Old 01/05/2008, 11:48 AM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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A few shots of the skimmer before assembly.



A little less mesh on the threadwheel than I was expecting. It's also not very even at all. Good thing I have extra mesh laying around to clean it up a bit after break in.



The venturi hole is larger than I expected and a little rougher than I had hoped. The venturi is loose and and be removed as needed. I may end up gluing it eventually, but for now it's just pushed in tight by hand.


The intake contains a flow restricter that fits up against the venturi. It's the center piece pictured below.

  #3  
Old 01/05/2008, 11:52 AM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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The bubble action shot!

The one instant flaw I saw with the thickness of the included airline tubing. It is simply too thin walled to not kink constantly. It was discarded and replaced with some extra tubing I had laying around. See kink below:



After a quick vinegar wipe down it was off to the break in tub. I dumped my last cup of skimmate into the tub so the skimmer has plenty of nasty stuff to work with.

  #4  
Old 01/05/2008, 11:55 AM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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As soon as the pump has run for 24 hours I'll post air readings and kill-a-watt numbers along with my initial impressions. It's too early to tell exactly how well this baby will skim, but I'm hopeful it will be a nice performer especially for the price.
  #5  
Old 01/05/2008, 11:58 AM
BigBadBlenny BigBadBlenny is offline
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cool gratzz. looks like a great skimmer.. whre did you buy it? is it made in winnipeg manatoba canada?
  #6  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:00 PM
luke33 luke33 is offline
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What are the initial air readings?
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  #7  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:01 PM
nycsicktank nycsicktank is offline
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thats great.
hows the noise level? footprint? man cant wait!!
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  #8  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:02 PM
tangafish tangafish is offline
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thanks for the pics! So in comparison to other skimmers you have used how would you rate it? construction? materials I know you mentioned some flaws but it certainly looks like it is working good but time will tell
  #9  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:10 PM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by luke33
What are the initial air readings?
The initial air readings are all over the place. The meter just bounces up and down, I believe this is due to either the uneven mesh wheel or part of the break in process. I'm hesitant to post any hard numbers until the pump has run at least 24 hours. Probably needs more like a week of breaking before I'd be comfortable that any numbers are accurate and sustainable.
  #10  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:11 PM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by BigBadBlenny
cool gratzz. looks like a great skimmer.. whre did you buy it? is it made in winnipeg manatoba canada?
The skimmer was purchased from Marine Solutions Inc. I honestly don't know where it was manufactured.

http://www.marinesolutionsinc.com/catalog/index.php
  #11  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:17 PM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by nycsicktank
thats great.
hows the noise level? footprint? man cant wait!!
Right now the pump is noisy. But I've used this exact same pump in the past and it's been silent. I have no reason to think noise will be a problem long term. The skimmer did come with a nice little silencer, but I won't be using that as my skimmer line is always run to outside air.

The footprint is

Height - 21 1/2" - I'd say 22" min to get the collection cup off
Width - 7"
Length- 9" - the base is square @ 7" x 7", but the standpipe take up another inch and a a half or so.

The skimmer is currently running in 8" of water. I tried in 9" first but that was a little deep to control the height of the water in the skimmer neck.
  #12  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:19 PM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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A couple more action pics



  #13  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:29 PM
saltydragon saltydragon is offline
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wow....looks good so far.....so the pump is diy modded before its shipped out......did you remeshed the wheel before start up or left it as-in for now?
  #14  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:33 PM
tsouth tsouth is offline
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Sooo this is a "mesh wheel" pump? Idk sounds iffy to me. How often am I going to have to replace the mesh? Is this the way to go or is a Needle wheel better? I hope mine gets here soon

Last edited by tsouth; 01/05/2008 at 12:41 PM.
  #15  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:38 PM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by tangafish
thanks for the pics! So in comparison to other skimmers you have used how would you rate it? construction? materials I know you mentioned some flaws but it certainly looks like it is working good but time will tell
I feel the construction is strong enough. I know some people get hung up on the thickness of the acrylic, but I never have. The welds and joints look strong and clean. The collection cup fits very nicely in the body of the skimmer, and the pump connection is snug.

The acrylic appears to be 3mm



As far as comparisons go it's WAAAYYY to early to compare it to other skimmers. I'd need at least a month of continuous use to be able to draw a comparison.
  #16  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:41 PM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by saltydragon
wow....looks good so far.....so the pump is diy modded before its shipped out......did you remeshed the wheel before start up or left it as-in for now?
It does appear that the mods are completed by Marine Solutions Inc before the product is shipped out. I did not alter the amount of mesh on the pump for now. I figure I should at least let the pump break in before I even think about modifying the "as shipped" configuration.
  #17  
Old 01/05/2008, 12:45 PM
Creetin Creetin is offline
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Looks like alot of bubbles are escaping.
My sicce's since day one had no variances in air so something must be up. Could be that mesh, Could be the airline needs to be restricted a bit. Try a airvalve on it
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  #18  
Old 01/05/2008, 01:02 PM
nycsicktank nycsicktank is offline
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is this the mesh type you use for mesh mod?
http://www.seattlefabrics.com/Dive%20Mesh.jpg
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  #19  
Old 01/05/2008, 01:27 PM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Creetin
Looks like alot of bubbles are escaping.
My sicce's since day one had no variances in air so something must be up. Could be that mesh, Could be the airline needs to be restricted a bit. Try a airvalve on it
I agree and I've had the same experience as you with previous Sicce pumps. I'm fairly certain that the problem is the uneven mesh shown in the pic above, I tried restricting the air intake in the past and found that when the mesh was right it wasn't necessary for me. I'm going to let it run for a few hours and swap in my "spare" impeller with 2 layers of mesh trimmed evenly and see what happens. When I've got that up and running I'll post new pics.
  #20  
Old 01/05/2008, 01:29 PM
saltydragon saltydragon is offline
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it should be enkamat...

this guy on ebay sells small sheets of it...its enough to do a few skimmers..

http://cgi.ebay.com/Enkamat-P4-for-n...QQcmdZViewItem
  #21  
Old 01/05/2008, 01:32 PM
mg426 mg426 is offline
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Tagging along for this one.
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  #22  
Old 01/05/2008, 01:42 PM
JediReefer JediReefer is offline
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Hmm, I am not so sure I like the whole DIY mod thing...The quality of the skimmer looks great, but the mesh wheel and the DIY drilling for the venturi...IDK I want that on my skimmer.

Depends on how great this thing performs. Keep us updated.
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  #23  
Old 01/05/2008, 03:30 PM
b16drag b16drag is offline
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joker thanks for being honest and posting up what you found. I'll be tagging along on this one since I NEED a good skimmer and was just about to go with the regular Octopus NW 150, but saw the "xtreme" and the INT-PS150 or something.

Please do keep us updated!
  #24  
Old 01/05/2008, 03:38 PM
jokerjp jokerjp is offline
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OK so I decided to take air readings on the existing threadwheel. The meter was really bouncing around so I shot a quick video.

Since Picasa doesn't let me link vid's you'll have to click the link to see it.
LINK
  #25  
Old 01/05/2008, 03:40 PM
LA-Lawman LA-Lawman is offline
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i think i would rebuild the threadwheel?
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