AquaEuro USA Recirculating 135 - My Review (lot's of pics) - Page 4

driftin · #76 05/11/2007, 11:54 AM

I've had my skimmer set up for about 3 days now after giving it a wash and running some skimmate through it in the bathtub. So far, it seems to be pulling great skimmate. I expect I'll have to adjust it once I give it time to fully break in - both the flow rate from my overflow and the ball valve - but for now it's pulling great dry skimmate.

Only real complaint -- the pump does seem to run hot, my tank temperatures have risen a solid 3 or 4 degrees since setting up this skimmer. I'm not as worried about others on here about the air levels - as I said, the skimmate production looks good to me. I want to replace the pump simply to get one that runs cooler. I don't want to have to buy a chiller because of this little pump.

driftin · #77 05/11/2007, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aninjaatemyshoe
... 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.

I wrapped a few layers of teflon tape around the light grey fitting. When I pressed it into the union it was a nice tight fit, leak tight, and still removable. Worked great.

HoopsGuru · #78 05/12/2007, 08:39 PM

I'm a bit surprised one 40w pump on your tank would be the sole cause of it increasing 3-4 degrees. I have not seen a change even though I run the classic 400 on my 180g tank although I do have the benefit of being in a daylight basement.

lsuberl · #79 05/12/2007, 09:07 PM

The inlet fitting on mine was pretty tight right out of the box. I haven't had to apply any teflon to it or anything. No leaks during the couple of leak tests that I done so far. It looks like there's some variability from unit to unit with that particular part.

I haven't put mine on a running aquarium yet, its part of a setup that I expect to have up and running within the month. The heat issue from the pump is of interest to me though. If the pump in an inefficient one, I can definitely believe that it could contribute to some temperature increase. Maybe some of the others who have it on full tank setups can contribute their experiences here.

hahnmeister · #80 05/12/2007, 10:42 PM

For some insight into the heat and wattage issues... its coming in at 40 watts RMS, but the VA, or TRUE power that its using is over 100watts (about 130) as indicated by the power factor of .3! Luckily, the electric meter only reads RMS, and so thats what most people only bother with, but the equasion for pump efficiency shows us that power factor is a direct multiplier for pump efficiency... simply put, a pump with a power factor of .6, and all other parameters being the same, will be 2x as efficient as a pump with a power factor of .3. Most pumps have a power factor of .8 to .9 with normal operation, and then usually slightly lower (say .6 to .7) in needlewheel version. The best needle/mesh/pinwheel pumps have an impeller sized just right so the power factor is nearly, or identical to the starting pump. This allows for less heat buildup since there is greater efficiency... as that remainder is going to heat. In the case of the AE 590, the .3 PF means that something like 70% of its wattage is going to heat.... ouch... thats someting like a 70watt heater! Which sounds right. When I was breaking in the skimmer by only running it on a 5g bucket, the internal temp was like a jacuzzi, even though the air was even on and the room temp was 65!

hahnmeister · #81 05/12/2007, 10:51 PM

On a related note, I finished drilling my AE265 out yesterday. I thought I would try to find some union fittings that I could swap around with the metric threads (keep the threaded ring and adapt a US fitting to fit inside)... but that was a no-go. The metric fitting unions are very compact and the closest thing that will match up is a 1/2" union... OUCH. So I got out the hole saw and started drilling!

The plastic used on these things is 100% not up to US standards. Simply taking a hole-saw to it caused the release of gasses the likes of which I have never smelled from working with PVC, HDPE, ABS, acrylic... etc. No doubt, since its Chinese made, they are using some pretty nasty chemicals to make this acrylic. On the up-side, it drilled very easily... not brittle at all like with acrylic usually. No chipping, no cracking... a very gummy material. So now I have two 1.25" holes in the body to bond 1" PVC pipe into. Or, Im thinking maybe I should get some uni-seals instead... but that means Ill have to enlarge the hole(s). I suppose, Im only going to use one of the two though... as a single oceanrunner 3700 should be enough for this skimmer.

Anyways, be sure to drill outside or in a well-vented area. I swear that after 2 minutes of drilling, I was trying to hold my breath as well as I could and still got high. Its some nasty smelling stuff (smells like burning rubber in chlorine).

aninjaatemyshoe · #82 05/13/2007, 03:03 PM

Hahn, do you think those chemicals could release over time and damage livestock? I really hope I didn't make a mistake in buying this guy. If so, I'm sticking to the best names in the biz from now on.

Also, do you think an OR 2700 on a recirc 135 would be a good improvement? I'm thinking of doing exactly what you did.

hahnmeister · #83 05/13/2007, 10:24 PM

No, the chemicals are most likely harmless over the normal operation of the skimmer. Just dont melt any of it and you will keep the bad stuff in the plastic.

skwirl · #84 05/13/2007, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aninjaatemyshoe
Hahn, do you think those chemicals could release over time and damage livestock? I really hope I didn't make a mistake in buying this guy. If so, I'm sticking to the best names in the biz from now on.

Also, do you think an OR 2700 on a recirc 135 would be a good improvement? I'm thinking of doing exactly what you did.

do you think the 3700 would be too much?

hahnmeister · #85 05/14/2007, 12:42 AM

3700 would be too much, just a little too much air, and a little too much turbulence. the 2700 might be a nice alternative, but Im not all that familiar with it to tell you the truth. I have messed around with the 3700 alot, but havent even seen a 2700 in person... the specs suggest a good match though. A pump that does about 500lph of air, with minimal water input would be ideal. The Aquaclear 802 'pimped' would make a great pump for this at 20 watts and about 18scfh. An aquabee 2000/1 would be great as well. Something in this range... some 400-600gph pump that has a decent size inlet and outlet and good size volute. Perhaps the hydor seltz pumps would be worth looking into. The new hydor performer skimmers use these and they look like serious contenders.

Gone Postal · #86 05/14/2007, 05:06 AM

I have the same skimmer but not sure how to set it up.
I'm new at this.
My last tank, a 29gal semi reef, no skimmer. My new tank is 65gal with a 20 gal sump. I think I'll put the skimmer in my sump. I have a couple of questions.

First the Collection cup has what I think is a drain, what do I connect it to?
I was told to "T" off the water inlet one to the water inlet the other to the tank.
I was not told to do with the water outlet system.
There were no instruction with my skimmer, only and drawling. Please help, I emailed AquaEuro and still waiting for a response.

Help me Obie Wan your my only hope!

JRaquatics · #87 05/14/2007, 01:11 PM

Do you know if hydor replaced its bearings for the shaft to ceramic instead of plastic?

driftin · #88 05/14/2007, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gone Postal

First the Collection cup has what I think is a drain, what do I connect it to?

I think you'll find different people set theirs up differently, there's no single correct way to do this. Here's my thoughts:
One of the two hoses that came with the skimmer fits over this barbed fitting. I ran it outside my sump to an empty 1.5gallon water jug which collects the skimmate. I made sure the hose wasn't kinked, it's really soft plastic.

Quote:

I was told to "T" off the water inlet one to the water inlet the other to the tank.

I went to home depot with the barbed inlet fitting and bought some flexible tubing that fit it - I think it was 5/8" inner diameter. As it turns out this fit very snugly into a 1/2" PVC ball valve. I used a tee fitting on my drain line from the tank to send some water to the skimmer, the rest to my sump and fuge. I put a ball valve on each leg so I could divert it whichever way I wanted. I glued the home depot hose into the 1/2" ball valve, and slipped the other end of the hose over the barbed fitting into the skimmer.

I was reading that you want 1-1.5 times the volume of your tank running through the skimmer every hour. For me, that was ~100 gph. To check and adjust the flow rate I took the hose off the skimmer and ran it into an empty bucket. I adjusted the ball valves until I had around 100 gph (1 gallon every 36 seconds). Sometime I'll cross-check that against the 120 second rule of thumb that Hahn posted, which seems to make more sense than basing the flow rate solely on system volume.

Quote:

I was not told to do with the water outlet system.
There were no instruction with my skimmer, only and drawling. Please help, I emailed AquaEuro and still waiting for a response.

Help me Obie Wan your my only hope!

Since mine was in the sump, I didn't worry about gluing the outlet pipes. I just assembled them like they look in that drawing - using the tees to dump the skimmer water back into my sump. The skimmer package had a lot more pipe than I needed - they probably include enough pipe for people who install their skimmers outside of the sump. Once I feel like the skimmer is fully broken in (and I think it actually might be already), I'll play with the ball valve on the outlet to get the water level where I want it. Right now I have it 100% open and I'm getting nice, dry skimmate production, so I might wind up leaving it as is.

Hope that helped somewhat.

skwirl · #89 05/14/2007, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aninjaatemyshoe
Hahn, do you think those chemicals could release over time and damage livestock? I really hope I didn't make a mistake in buying this guy. If so, I'm sticking to the best names in the biz from now on.

Also, do you think an OR 2700 on a recirc 135 would be a good improvement? I'm thinking of doing exactly what you did.

ohh yeaaa!!!
get the d.a.s. aquabee.. i think they cost about 109 at pet o rama.
i have 2 of em, and they are sweeeeeet
i have the "internal" ones, but i think the only difference is the connections.

AquaEuroUSA · #90 05/24/2007, 10:52 AM

We would like to sincerely apologize for the rusty pumps. We appreciate our customers and are working to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible. If you have yet to check the back of your pumps, please do so immediately. If you have rust or an exposed metal plate, please give us a call at 1-800-978-3480 and speak with Johnnie. Give her your name, phone number, address, the pump model and # of pumps, and where you purchased your skimmer from. We will be sending you a label, so that you can mail the pumps back to us. As soon as we get the replacement pumps, we will be able to ship the pumps out quicker since we'll already have your address on file. Again, if you have not checked the back of your pumps, please do so immediately.

AquaEuroUSA

davidabrown66 · #91 05/24/2007, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by hahnmeister
On a related note, I finished drilling my AE265 out yesterday. I thought I would try to find some union fittings that I could swap around with the metric threads (keep the threaded ring and adapt a US fitting to fit inside)... but that was a no-go. The metric fitting unions are very compact and the closest thing that will match up is a 1/2" union... OUCH. So I got out the hole saw and started drilling!

The plastic used on these things is 100% not up to US standards. Simply taking a hole-saw to it caused the release of gasses the likes of which I have never smelled from working with PVC, HDPE, ABS, acrylic... etc. No doubt, since its Chinese made, they are using some pretty nasty chemicals to make this acrylic. On the up-side, it drilled very easily... not brittle at all like with acrylic usually. No chipping, no cracking... a very gummy material. So now I have two 1.25" holes in the body to bond 1" PVC pipe into. Or, Im thinking maybe I should get some uni-seals instead... but that means Ill have to enlarge the hole(s). I suppose, Im only going to use one of the two though... as a single oceanrunner 3700 should be enough for this skimmer.

Anyways, be sure to drill outside or in a well-vented area. I swear that after 2 minutes of drilling, I was trying to hold my breath as well as I could and still got high. Its some nasty smelling stuff (smells like burning rubber in chlorine).

Do you have any pics? I'm trying to do the same on my Octopus DNW-200 with metric fittings.

It uses an OTP-3000 which you may already know also uses metric. How does the OR 3700 compare?

hahnmeister · #92 05/24/2007, 09:51 PM

I could take some pics, sure... no problem. its really easier to do than I thought it would be. I remember the first guy to drill his Octo skimmer shattered the body. I dont know how he did it because this plastic seems to have more 'give' to it than most cast acrylic skimmers I have dealt with in the past. It was almost like drilling PVC.