I have a Reef Octopus NWB200 skimmer that I just can't get adjusted right. No matter how much I adjust the gate valve I still get a collection cup full of water. I'm wondering whether the amount of water in my sump that it's sitting in has something to do with it. The level is below the discharge pipe but it is sitting in 6 1/2 inches of water. Since I need that much water in the sump so that tne external pump doesn't suck air should I try raising the actual skimmer. Anyone have the same skimmer and what level is your water?
trouble dialing in my skimmer
- Thread starter kilo32
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have you used any epoxy lately? My skimmer goes nuts when I use any epoxy (even reef epoxy). I always turn it off for 24 hrs. If it is sitting in 6.5 inches of water I can't see that being an issue. Most skimmers sit in around 8" of water. I've never dealt with that model so hopefully someone in the know will chime in.
No...I haven't used epoxy or anything that I can recall. The only thing that I've done is to add a piece of horizontal pipe to the discharge gate valve but I didn't add any elbows, just extended the discharge about 4 or 5 inches so it dumps onto my sponge instead of directly into the sump in order to avoid micro bubbles. The pipe was only pushed in and not cemented.
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post a pic if you can
Don't know if this will help but you can see it sitting in my sump.
There's more in there since the pic was taken such as float switches, temp and ph probes and media reactor returns but the skimmer still is in the same spot.
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Is that where you keep the water level at in that chamber?
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I think it needs more water, will the sump allow for more water in the event of a power outage. My octo 110 is set and forget. Really easy to setup. Has it always been this way or is this something new that has happend?
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Mine has a valve on the intake that I have to keep partially closed in order to keep the exact same scenario from happening.
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I've got a 6 inch pipe coming straight out of my gate valve on the skimmer, then 45s and dipps below the water surface
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there should be some info on their site about minimal and maximum water levels, check and see and then get back to us.
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a hmmm, how long has the skimmer been online?
It's only been running a couple of weeks now. I just re-checked the manufacturers web site. They say that the 2 reasons for an overflowing skimmer is that the outlet pipe is either too low or actually under water which creates a back pressure resulting in overflow. The second reason is that the skimmer needs to be raised by placing something underneath it such as slices of pvc. It went on to say that it will work ok until it is broken in and then those problems can crop up. I guess I'll try and raise the skimmer to see if that helps. I'll post the results.
I just used 1 1/2" pvc to raise it up. Opened the gate valve all the way as recommended by the manufacturer and started it up. Bobbles reach the bottom of the widest part of the cone which the manufacturer also stated. I'll wait for a couple of hours and if nothing changes I'll start closing down the gate valve to raise those bubbles and see if it works.
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[good I think I was thinking backwards there
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