Skimmer help needed, call the skimmer gurus

[dough]

Okay, my Octopus NW 150 has been cranking along for a while. In the last 5-6 weeks the darn thing goes heywire and skimmate starts over flowing the collection cup. I clean it out, turn down the foam height, readjust and it's fine for 3 or 4 days then again it goes crazy overflowing the cup and spilling in the sump.

I did clean the pump out on Saturday and everything was fine until tonight.

I'm not introducing anything new in the system. Same food and top off water.

Any suggestions?

 

[jessezm]

Ideas:
a) air intake is getting clogged, leading to extra flow inside the chamber and raising the water level (scenario pretty unlikely, but worth checking into)
b) Something in the tank is causing the foaming action, such as plumber's putty (learned the hard way), or an animal dying or spawning
c) none of the above...try again...

 

[jetchris]

Have you been adding more then usual topoff? Or do you have an ATO?

 

[wbholwell]

Doug,

I had the same thing happen to my NW 150 a month or so ago. It was caused by a combination of Jesse's scenario A and scenario B. The venturi was getting clogged with calcium build-up, and my clam was spawning. Did you check your venturi when you cleaned the pump? It involves unscrewing it from the front of the pump. Cleaning the venturi will become part of my scheduled routine maintenance.

If the venturi is clean, I'm willing to bet it was caused by animals spawing- probably snails or a clam. In this case lower the water level in the skimmer and see if it doesn't settle down in a day or two. I also recommend the gate valve mod, if you don't have it already.

 

[jessezm]

Wow, I guess I'm better than I thought!