red sea rsk 300 skimmer

[melonheadorion]

i just bought the rsk 300 to upgrade from the reef octopus 110int. the function is great of course, but one thing that i have seemed to have found is that the red sea skimmer is causing my sump level to fluctuate. not a huge amount, but enough to create issues for my ATO. my ATO is a cheap setup where it obviously tops off when low, but also has an audible alarm if its over the sensor too much. my 110int never did that. what would possibly cause this? well, i think that i have noticed that the water level in the skimmer itself is not consistent. why it isnt consistent is the overall question. watching the level of the bubbles, its looks as if the motor is surging, but there is no audible sound that indicates this, so its like its just how it normally operates.
are there any others out there that have this skimmer that has noticed this as well? im sure if i get a non generic ATO, the minor fluctuation that it is, wont be an issue, but the fact that the one i have, has an audible alarm, just creates annoyance.

 

[HankstankXXXL750]

How long have you had the skimmer and was it purchased new. I have several Red Sea skimmers. And all of them ran inconsistent to start. Most over produced for a while, people say it has something to do with being new and the forming process. Mine then settled down and run pretty consistent.

 

[melonheadorion]

How long have you had the skimmer and was it purchased new. I have several Red Sea skimmers. And all of them ran inconsistent to start. Most over produced for a while, people say it has something to do with being new and the forming process. Mine then settled down and run pretty consistent.

ive run it for about a week now. it was not purchased new, but has less than a month worth of use.
when you say that they ran inconsistent, was that just foam production? because my issue is not skimmate production. it is physically like the level of water is rising and falling, from what i can see, and doesnt seem to be the foaming that is inconsistent. the entire head of foam rises and falls as if there is a lobe in the pumping. its a frequent rise and fall where i can watch it happen consistently at any point, which seems odd to me. i know that skimmers will run inconsistent at start, but it is usually a case where it runs and you have to dial it in, but then a day later, the water level is higher or lower than what you set it to, so you have to reset it to match the new production, and a day later, again, etc. i havent run into an issue where it rises and falls like this, but ive only ever had 2 skimmers, and neither of which were internal skimmers like the RSK 300.

My original thought is that it gets affected by water intake, since the inlet is on the bottom of the skimmer (there is nothing blocking the inlet)

 

[ScubaFish802]

How long have you had the skimmer and was it purchased new. I have several Red Sea skimmers. And all of them ran inconsistent to start. Most over produced for a while, people say it has something to do with being new and the forming process. Mine then settled down and run pretty consistent.

+2, my RSK 300 took much longer than my previous icecap skimmer to break in and was noticeably erratic in that time - since breaking in it has been great though

 

[HankstankXXXL750]

ive run it for about a week now. it was not purchased new, but has less than a month worth of use.
when you say that they ran inconsistent, was that just foam production? because my issue is not skimmate production. it is physically like the level of water is rising and falling, from what i can see, and doesnt seem to be the foaming that is inconsistent.

Yes I was talking over production, if yours was previously used that shouldn’t be an issue. The pump should be a constant not variable pump. Are there any obstructions that could be impeding the uptake?

 

[melonheadorion]

there are no obstructions. i might try putting some eggcrate under it to make sure.

from what i can tell, by listening, it doesnt seem to be surging at all. seems to be a constant speed, so if it is really the water level changing, it would only make sense that its either the pump itself, or a restriciton of some sort. at this point, i would have to rule out the pump, but maybe it does just need time to break in still. i dont know.

in the end, the only issue is maybe about a 1/4 inch of water, which in my sump is about 2 fluid cups of water raised (not lowered), which is casuing the audible alarm. the easy fix will be to get a better ATO. the raise in water level isnt causing ATO to pump in water, so its not causing salinity problems, but the audio at 4 am is annoying

 

[NotoriousDMC]

I have the same skimmer and this happens only when the skimmer turns off (higher level) and on (lower water level), which makes sense, of course.

 

[melonheadorion]

I have the same skimmer and this happens only when the skimmer turns off (higher level) and on (lower water level), which makes sense, of course.

i keep mine on constantly, so that makes sense if i turn it on and/or off, but this happens during the course of the entire time its on

 

[NotoriousDMC]

i keep mine on constantly, so that makes sense if i turn it on and/or off, but this happens during the course of the entire time its on

Odd. Check air intake as well. Less air will cause the skimmer to draw more water.

 

[melonheadorion]

Odd. Check air intake as well. Less air will cause the skimmer to draw more water.

i have actually used my reef octo silencer to increase the air intake. however, thinking about that, that could be the reason for the fluctuation. i will put the RS silencer back on it to see what happens.

 

[melonheadorion]

with any luck, i figured it out. earlier this morning, i had removed the skimmer and put my old one back in. after responding most recently, to put it in and test it with the original silencer, i noticed that the air inlet on the back was not fully into the rubber grommet on the inside going to the pump. it definately seems to be running more consistent now. not seeing any fluctation with the levels in the skimmer. i will obviously get an audible warning if the sump level rises above the ATO sensor

 

[melonheadorion]

well, come to find out, it still does it. it raised 1/4 to a half inch in the return compartment of the sump.

baffles me as to what would cause this other than the skimmer, especially when it doesnt with the Reef Octo.
the water level is acting as if there is an imbalance of incoming vs outgoing water, but there isnt. (if there were, i would see it when the reef octo is in use as well). so, theoretically, it would have to be something with the intake of water on the skimmer either increasing or decreasing the amount of water within its body, and i think it might be based on time of day. for example, when i originally created this post, i had put it in, and all day it was good. i marked on the sump, the water level, and it didnt move all day until about 8pm. here it is just after midnight, and it has dropped about half of that.

logically thinking, i would suspect that it has something to do with time of day. the audible alarm was triggered at about 8pm which is around lights off. i would venture to say that the time of day, and how much the skimmer is working, is affecting how much water is or is not in the body of the skimmer, causing the sump level to raise or lower.

 

[HankstankXXXL750]

That doesn’t seem to make any sense to me. The pump should be pushing the same water volume, and the air intake should be uniform as well. Are you sure there is t anything in the DT that would affect this?
A day night change in flow, different schedule for lower heads or even return pump if it is programmable?

 

[melonheadorion]

i do not have anything that changes flow from day to night, or anything in between. everything stays the same all day, every day

again, its only this skimmer that it does it to. i had my reef octo on this system since i put it into place, and the only fluctuation i ever had with it was lowering of the water level, which kicked on the ATO. this RS system will obviously have evap, but ive never had any issue of the return chamber actually rising above the ATO shutoff.

i know that its the skimmer causing it. that is undeniable, but the question is why? it would have to be 1 of 2 things that i can think of. a pump running inconsistently, not taking in the same exact volume as it runs, or it needs more break in time, even though its not a new skimmer.

 

[HankstankXXXL750]

Does the water level change in the neck of the skimmer.

 

[melonheadorion]

Does the water level change in the neck of the skimmer.

thats what i was referring to previoously when i mentioned it was rising and falling within the skimmer. not huge amounts, but the bubbles are surging more than the average skimmate would