MRC Skimmer club!!!

[william1]

:bash: :bash2: :stupid:

Ahhhhhh ha your right captain please beam me back to earth now...

 

[william1]

So i found this thread on an MRC skimmer. This guy modded the crap out of this skimmer.

 

[skriz]

Good pics on that thread, but pretty useless mod for the air valve...man that's an ugly and unecessary mod!

Also, don't bother with the "u-tube". It doesn't improve performance; it only increases backpressure on the pump.

 

[dannybradley]

WILLIAM1;247327 wrote: So i found this thread on an MRC skimmer. This guy modded the crap out of this skimmer.
http://www.steve68.com/beckett_upgrade.htm">http://www.steve68.com/beckett_upgrade.htm</a>[/QUOTE]

Man... What an amalgamation that thing has turned into. I don't think we would even come close to making a sale if our skimmers looked like that :).

But seriously, I've played around with these things a fair amount myself, and I've always gone back to the original design. The U-tube mod causes, in my opinion, way too much turbulance inside the tube. That was the first thing I tried on these skimmers. It made it too hard to produce a dry foam, which is how I run the one I have in the field.

The air valve mod, sheesh, might save you $3 on cotton balls over the next decade. I almost never run the air valves fully open, anyway. It's the amount of water going through each beckett that really determines the air intake. Connecting them together still won't make a perfect balance. You tend to get a better bubble size with the air valve only partially open. It's not totally the amount of air going in that matters, it's also about bubble quality.

Really what it comes down to, is that if you want to skim more, add an extension tube and a larger pump. 2 injectors can create an incredible amount of foam with enough pump. I'm not knocking the guy for his mods, though. If it's working for him, that's great!

 

[william1]

I might still have some back preasure in mine the water level is 3" up in the neck with only about 4" left to the top inside the cup. I use an ATO so im gonna shut it off for the night and let some water evaporate below the gate valve where it returns to the sump. I have also reduced the size of the pipe for the return by one size when I first hooked up the skimmer. This might be some of the problem too. I need to remove it and fix the problem I think.
Plus with the water level so high inside the tube chamber I think this might be affecting the amouint of bubbles Im getting.. Anyone wanna comment on this please...

 

[skriz]

dawgdude;247422 wrote: How much better can I do than the BL 55 on mine? Would something like an Iwaki 70 work better or does it hit a point where it isnt gonna do much more. Im not changing pumps, just understanding the concepts behind them.

The 70 would be killer on your skimmer! You'd be surprised what a good pressure rated pump will do to these skimmers.

 

[skriz]

WILLIAM1;247435 wrote: I might still have some back preasure in mine the water level is 3" up in the neck with only about 4" left to the top inside the cup. I use an ATO so im gonna shut it off for the night and let some water evaporate below the gate valve where it returns to the sump. I have also reduced the size of the pipe for the return by one size when I first hooked up the skimmer. This might be some of the problem too. I need to remove it and fix the problem I think.
Plus with the water level so high inside the tube chamber I think this might be affecting the amouint of bubbles Im getting.. Anyone wanna comment on this please...

you've added backpressure by having the outlet under water and by reducing the output. The water level being high is going to mainly affect your ability of adjusting the water level inside the skimmer; namely, you can go below the sump water level, which may be killing the skimmer.

If you can raise the skimmer slightly and safely lower the level in the sump to where you don't have these interferances, you'll be in better shape.

 

[william1]

If the water level in the sump is lower then the return that should help some right, with the back preasure. I dont have enough room to raise the skimmer but I can just make some correct adjustments..

Is the water level inside the tube chamber effecting the amount bubbles going into the skimmer? Can I raise the beckketts to get more bubbles?

 

[skriz]

dawgdude;247444 wrote: The ONLY thing that kills me about the high pressure pumps are that they pull like 300w 24/7 365. Not even a heater is on that much.

yeah, but they perfrom, and that's what it's all about! There are two ways you can counter this:

1. use the pan world 150, which is 180 watts
2. use a timer on the skimmer, shutting it down at night.

 

[skriz]

WILLIAM1;247448 wrote: If the water level in the sump is lower then the return that should help some right, with the back preasure. I dont have enough room to raise the skimmer but I can just make some correct adjustments..

Is the water level inside the tube chamber effecting the amount bubbles going into the skimmer? Can I raise the beckketts to get more bubbles?

1st Q, yes.

water level affecting the bubbles? No. Raising the becketts will only do 2 things: add more backpressure and reduce efficiency.

To get more bubbles, you must get more water to pass through the becketts. As the water passes, it will pull in more air.

 

[william1]

Ok that sounds reasonable to me... Not saying I wanted to mod the skimmer or anything. Im leaving it just like it is just getting it set up better..... I have seen alot of people using there skimmer way above the sumps and was wondering if thats better for this type of skimmer?

 

[skriz]

having the skimmer above the sump is better so that there is no backpressure. It just needs to be above the water level. Having it way up is just a way to get it out of the way and make it more accesible for maintenance.

 

[william1]

Thanks Raj for the help Im gonna work on it some more and see what I can do...

 

[petrasb]

I have a mrc-4r that is being feed by a 9.5 mag and a pan world 200 is recirculating. My total system is about 300gal. I now only run my skimmer about 3 days per week, after 24-36 hours there is not much coming out of the water. Maybe this is due to the 75gal refugium that is full of cheto, but I have a very heavy bio load. I will try to post pics soon.

 

[petrasb]

btw, I am very happy with the product. I also have a mrc 6r calcium reactor that works great.

 

[william1]

So the MRC skimmer comes out for corrections. And Im back to my Life reef skimmer for a couple of weeks. Went up to a mag9 on the lifereef and seems to be helping. Now a little extra cash for some plumbing and we should be set to reinstall the MR-2 dual beckket.