Euro-Reef RS-100 dialing in issues

navychief · #1 12/14/2007, 08:57 PM

I've had the RS-100 skimmer now for about a month. For the life of me, I cannot get this damned thing dialed in. If it makes skimmate, it's too low to go into the collection cup. If I raise the water level in the next by twisting the flow control, I can raise it to about level with the bottom of the cup, but like shrodinger's cat, you look away and it's gonna flood the cup. (actually, schrodinger's cat didn't "flood anything...lol)

Here's the setup:

SteveOhh · #2 12/14/2007, 09:56 PM

Make sure it's sitting in at least 9" of water......................I've found that if the water level drops too low in my sump, the skimmer won't perform the same.

navychief · #3 12/14/2007, 10:28 PM

Hummm. I moved the water level in my sump up to 7.5". You have the RS-100 and run 9" when measured from the skimmer bottom in the sump?

Tennsquire · #4 12/15/2007, 12:09 AM

Put a Sedra 5000 on it and it'll skim like a beast. I did this to my CS6-1 (same dimensions as your RS100) and the difference in performance was remarkable.

SteveOhh · #5 12/15/2007, 12:55 AM

Make sure the input elbow from the pump is at least 1" under water. It changes the head pressure on the pump & skims properly this way..............

navychief · #6 12/15/2007, 10:47 AM

SteveOhh.

Right now it's running above 1" on the input elbow. I think I'm starting to see some stability. I'm taking my time with patience as they say.

keithntracy · #7 12/15/2007, 10:51 AM

took me about 6-8 weeks to get my er stabalized.

dstall · #8 12/15/2007, 12:46 PM

I have a new RS 100 as well and i am not gettng a good seal at the neck coupling. getting several drips but seems to be skimming ok. it has only been running for about an hour though

colotl · #9 12/15/2007, 12:59 PM

I have an rs80. I have it under 9in of water and it skims better than what the recommended depth of 7-8 in. Less micro bubble because near the output

dstall · #10 12/15/2007, 01:16 PM

I have a new RS 100 as well and i am not gettng a good seal at the neck coupling. getting several drips but seems to be skimming ok. it has only been running for about an hour though. Does this leakage from the coupling affect the skimmer production?

colotl · #11 12/15/2007, 02:43 PM

dstall,
try putting some gasket lubricant. I had that problem and the lubricant that came with my unit fixed it

dstall · #12 12/15/2007, 03:01 PM

Mine did not come with any lubricant, i will follow up with LFS. Does it take a while(break in) before skimming start starts or am i doing something wrong? ALso not sure at what level the water/bubbles should be in the skimmer?? Base of neck or higer in the chamber?

colotl · #13 12/15/2007, 03:09 PM

I saw my cup collecting stuff within 2bours. I set mine up so the bubbles are near the bottom of the cup. Sometimes it passes this point by 1in then it receeds back. It gives me a dry skim. If you want wet I would close the gate till the bubbles are half way up the cup.

dstall · #14 12/15/2007, 03:10 PM

thanks

sheepdawg · #15 12/15/2007, 03:46 PM

How is your bio-load, the skimmer looks rather clean for a month of operation. Do you tinker with it everyday? What I learned is not to tinker with it and just let it break in, it needs to develop the film on the acrylic in order for the bubbles to climb.

roblack · #16 12/15/2007, 07:17 PM

I've been having what I think is the same problem with my ER RS180. Had it a few months. Was getting this dark sludge on the side of the cup, but very little foam/substance in the cup. Have overdone it too and floaded the cup with what amounted to tank water. Over 9 inches of water in the sump. At first, didn't even realize dialing it in was necessary, thought it was only to adjust the consistency of the skimmate. Working slowly, have been able to get it to perform. Mine is doing alot better now, but still not getting the cup a day that I hear so many others talking about (about a cup every 3 days).

navychief · #17 12/15/2007, 08:19 PM

Well, All I can say is that I put mine in at the end of October of this year and just now am I seeing some progress in making skimmate. I have to keep in mind that the bioload is extreamly low with being a new setup. I have found that (thanks to Steveohh) the skimmer works a lot better with NO overflows when I adjusted the sump water up to cover above the reaction chamber intake.

I'm starting to now see some brown skimmate, but not quite enough to make the cup. I will let be for now.

Tennsquire · #18 12/16/2007, 03:02 PM

Seriously, the RS100 is underpowered. Mine never did much until I upped the pump. I know some folks don't like to fool with their stock equipment, and I agree that the skimmer should originally be sold with the appropriate pump. ER told me a Sedra 5000 was too much for this skimmer (they also wanted to sell me an entire new skimmer; go figure). I tried it on the recommendation of several on RC, and they were right. It skimms like crazy with the bigger pump on it.

roblack · #19 12/16/2007, 05:40 PM

What alternate pump would you recommend for the RS180?

navychief · #20 12/16/2007, 09:30 PM

Things seem to be working since I upped the water level about the 6-8 inches that is stated in the owners manual

Tennsquire · #21 12/16/2007, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by roblack
What alternate pump would you recommend for the RS180?

I don't know anything about the 180. I have a CS6-1 (same dimensions as the RS100) on my prop system, and an RC135 on my display tank. Swapping to a bigger pump made a huge difference on the 6-1. The 135 is fine as is.

albfelix · #22 12/16/2007, 11:29 PM

you will never get it to skim trust me. euroreefs are either you get them to skim or not. you can never have them in between

navychief · #23 12/17/2007, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by albfelix
you will never get it to skim trust me. euroreefs are either you get them to skim or not. you can never have them in between

I'm starting to believe that. Last night it was working fine. This morning the cup was overflowed with water.

I don't know what to do? I guess see if I can return it??

dstall · #24 12/17/2007, 07:12 PM

My RS100 which i got 2 two days ago is skimming great.. It did take a little adjusting but it producing great

navychief · #25 12/17/2007, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dstall
My RS100 which i got 2 two days ago is skimming great.. It did take a little adjusting but it producing great

Yea. I found so far that the problem looks to be that I had the water set WAY too high. I have the water breaking into foam just below the quick disconnect neck. Skimmate is starting to produce very well. When I read the instructions, I misinterpruted the level. I though the water was supposed to be just below the rim, not the foam as is states.