EuroReef Club

[bozack]

does upgrading the ER's that come with the Sedra 5000 to a 9000 make a noticeable difference?

Or it is similiar to just modding the 5000?

[shag26272]

I did the meshmod on my RS80. I cut the little stubs off the impeller so it was flat and used Enkamat PF4 that I bought on ebay for 5 bucks. I used 4 layers with 2 small zip ties that go through holes I drilled in the plastic. You still need the spacers. My skimmer is performing about 25% better at least.

[hahnmeister]

Originally posted by hahnmeister
Can someone tell me the ID of the restrction on the intake venturi for the eheim 1262's?

^^^ does anybody know?

[EuroReef Tec1]

bozack PM sent

[jimdogg187]

Originally posted by hahnmeister
^^^ does anybody know?

I could tell you..... but then I'd have to kill you......

[shag26272]

It would be nice when people asked questions about upgrading pumps and such that everyone could see the answer instead of just a PM. Just an idea.

[hahnmeister]

Or I pay $48 SPE5 Volute & Venturi Combo.

[Steve1714]

jtravis2,
this modification should work on any and all needle wheel pumps, you do need to place the spacers back in like they were originally so it works properly. I cannot say this method will suck in more air but i can say the bubbles are smaller. There fore if the bubbles are smaller and the intake of air remains the same this means you just increased the available surface area for proteins to stick to and this would make the skimmer skim better/more. I don't recommend chopping the pins and mounting the mesh because you won't be able to balance it correctly and it will wobble and this will cause the impeller to wear incorrectly and eventually stop working. For example; If you have ever installed a new tire on your car and forgot to get it balanced you would feel it wobble, same goes for these impellers, if not properly balanced it will destroy itself and possibly the inside of the pump as well.

Steve G

[shag26272]

No offense but all of the effective meshmods I have seen have taken off the pins.

[A sea K]

Steve,
I'm with you on trying to achieve a smaller bubble and that is why I'm interested in the info. I think your headed in the right direction and I appreciate the info.
I'll give this a try as soon as I have some time but will have to wait for now as my life in general is pretty frantic at the moment.

Hahn,
If mine wasnt glued to the pump I'd pull it and get your info but I cant. Sorry.
I do have a ER venturi off a Sedra but my guess is you already know that info and want to see if the Eheim venturi is different.

[ASaleem91]

Hey,
I have a CS 8-2. I just cleaned out the skimmer cup and realized that there is a leak coming from the the locking part of the neck. I think that I need to replace my O-ring. What do you guys think?

thanks,
Ali

[hahnmeister]

You could try the silicone paste/gel that they sell at a hardware/home improvement store for faucets. Its amazing what rubbing a little bit of that on an o-ring can solve.

[Uncle Boo]

I have an RS135. My tank has been cycling for about two and a half weeks and the skimmer has been working fine. This morning I noticed the water level in the skimmer was very high. I have opened the air valve all the way and the outflow tube is adjusted to wide open.

When I came home from work the water level was still high, above the connection where the collection cup attaches to the body. I emptied the cup, made sure the pipe was set to open, and made sure the air tube was not obstructed.

What could be causing the high water level? The foam seems very dry and not much is collecting in the cup. I have an auto top off so the water level in the sump is consistent.

[Uncle Boo]

I figured out the problem myself. I heated up some RO/DI water in my microwave and poured it down the air tube. It is back working like a champ again.

[Uncle Boo]

Double post.

[Steve1714]

This may be helpful to some to show the difference my version of the mesh-mod makes to bubble production.

I set this up using a total of 6 pumps, 3 pumps with 6 layers of mesh pushed through the pins verses 3 pumps without mesh. The water flow into the skimmer from the tank stayed constant and the out flow was opened all the way. I used a kill a watt meter to show the watts being used by the pumps.
For the 3 pumps without the mesh my skimmer requires 129watts and looks like this:




Then i switched off those pumps and turned on the 3 pumps with the 6 layered mesh and my skimmer was using 151watts and looked like this:




So that is an increase of 22 watts to get some improvement to bubble production. I'll haft to see what bubble production looks like with 4 normal NW pumps to quantify the improvement in relation to the increased wattage.
(My interpretation of the results), If you only had one pump on your skimmer and you wanted more bubble production without adding another pump or up grading to a larger pump and you didn't want to cut the pins on the impeller to do the other mesh-mod you should try this mesh application first to see if it works for you.
For skimmers with 2 or more pumps you could use this method to fine tune the foam production, so if 2 pumps on is too dry of skimmate and 3 pumps is too wet of skimmate then 2 pumps with the mesh should produce what you are looking for. This would be a more efficient way than cutting back the air intake to the venturi which increases the wattage used by the pump substantially.

I'll keep tinkering around and see if i can barrow an air flow meeter from someone and will post my findings....

Steve G

[shag26272]

Youre adding more weight to it. if you cut off the pins like most people Im sure the watts would not go up. You said before that if you cut off the pins it is not balanced. The mesh can move slightly and balance itself just like a washer machine does.

[petedoc]

I need to replace my sedra 5000 on my CS 6-2, the pump seems to be quiting. Where can I find a suitable replacement and have it shipped fast?

[Steve1714]

shag26272,
do you have access to a watt meeter? if so i am curious as to how much your pump is using. These Eheim pumps are rated at 80 watts and normally run around 40 watts with the normal NW. I live in CA where Electricity is around .39 a kilowatt hr so efficiency is my bottom line.
I do not believe weight is the factor, I would say that it is the added friction with the water adding resistance.

Steve G

[shag26272]

yes you may be right , or it could be a little of both, I dont have a KW meter maybe someone else can test it. I know its a pretty popular mod. I have only seen people measure the air differences the skimmers are taking in. I would also be interested to see if more air means more power used.

[EuroReef Tec1]

Shag: PM sent

Petedoc: PM sent

[hahnmeister]

Originally posted by Steve1714
shag26272,
do you have access to a watt meeter? if so i am curious as to how much your pump is using. These Eheim pumps are rated at 80 watts and normally run around 40 watts with the normal NW. I live in CA where Electricity is around .39 a kilowatt hr so efficiency is my bottom line.
I do not believe weight is the factor, I would say that it is the added friction with the water adding resistance.

Steve G

Well then you should be looking at a different skimmer all together rather than a Euroreef. The smaller needlewheel pumps are fine when its just one or two of them, but when you get bigger, and you end up with four or five of them... you might as well be running a beckett!

If electrical efficiency is a big concern, then Red Dragon fed Bubblekings should be high on your list (or fauna-marins which use Red Dragons). ATI bubblemasters as well.

OR DIY something. I get 120scfh with 85watts on a 4' tall body with a single Laguna Max-Flo 2400 pond pump. Thats better numbers than a Needlewheel Dart, and for $150. Perhaps Euroreef should consider getting pumps from Askoll like Royal Exclusiv does... make their own volutes, and needlewheels, and have their own version of a Red Dragon for less than $400 per pump (easily possible). In fact, on some pumps, all you really need is to redo the impeller, as the impeller well on the 2400 is large enough as is (its just that they are not threaded input/outputs because they are pond pumps).... so thats a $150 pump that needs a $100 needlewheel impeller redo, if that. And it will waste three eheim needlewheels in comparison, or a single needlewheel dart... at about half the wattage.

[Steve1714]

Your right about using a different style of pump for the larger skimmers as far as efficiency goes, and Jeff at ER did suggest this option to me. I believe they are running tests with some models using the dart type pump. So i can't argue i have the most efficient skimmer, but i believe that i got the perfect skimmer for my personal situation. The "experiment" post i did basically only benefits those people who have only one or two pumps and want to see if just pushing mesh through the pins is effective at producing more air bubbles and i would say it is, but there is a trade off as far as electrical usage. Also, I would rather see more people doing the non-destructive mesh modification.

Steve G

[mkarston]

If I could butt in for just a second... I am considering the Euro-Reef RS250 to run my 265 gal reef (total water volume). Would this skimmer perform well if in a sump of 14" of water? If not I may have to consider the RS180 which is a little shorter (would this be able to support my tank?)

Thanks for the info!

[EuroReef Tec1]

MKARSTON: PM sent