Need Help W/New Turbofloater Skimmer BAD!!!!!

[DennisW]

Ok...I just cant get this sucker to work for the life of me and the directions are of no help!!!!!!!I know this thing can skim but I'm not doing something right! Heres what I did:

I filled the kitchen sink up with water. I added some salt mix to it. I put the skimmer in the sink. I hooked up the needle wheel to the rio 2500. I connected a rio 800 to a piece of clear, flexable tubing and connected it to the piece of pipe that comes out for the inlet. I then plug the rio800 in and the skimmer fills up with water and runs out the two tubes, back into the sink. Fine. Then I plug the rio2500 in and I get a few big bubbles and a few medium size bubbles and that is it!!!!!! . When I unplug the rio800 that feeds it, I start getting more bubbles in the skimmer. But of course the water level starts dropping in the skimmer so I plug the rio800 back in and all the bubbles go away!!!!!!!!!

I havent gotten anything even CLOSE to a good bubble mixture in the skimmer. The bubbles are way to BIG and way to few! What the hell am I doing wrong???? Does it have to do with the way Im testing it? Is the water in the sink with some regular salt mix not going to work? Does the rio need to be in the tank and shoot water down to the skimmer? I have been running the rio800 feed pump right next to the rio2500 circ pump for the skimmer. Is there maybe some interference? Man....I just dont get it and I wanted to put in the new sump TOMMORROW!

Sorry so long but I really need help
Thanx!
Dennis

PS: This is a brand new skimmer from Premium Aquatics. I called and left message with them but they are gone for the day.

[bill-e]

Dennis,

What the heck are you doing?

Forget running it in your sink. The residue in the sink alone is going to cause it not to skim. Skimmers need a few days up a few weeks to break in because of the manufacturing residue on them...you just made it worse by putting it in the sink.

I suggest you set it in your sump as per installation directions and let it run for a while. After a few days it should start to work, and you can then fine tune it.

[Alice]

Take a deep breath Dennis...and then do what Bill said

[DennisW]

Ok....first off.....on a GOOD note....the baffle system for the sump worked AWSOME bill-e!!! I used a candle to bend it and it all came out PERFECT!!!!! Pics to follow! Thanks again!

Regarding the skimmer. If I were to go and get a regular everyday venturi skimmer, put it in the sink with saltwater and turn it on, wouldnt it fill up RIGHT AWAY with TONS of bubbles???? Or what if I took an airstone skimmer, hooked it up and ran it in the sink w/saltwater? Wouldnt it cause all kinds of bubbles???? THIS SKIMMER DOES NOT BUBBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry.

I dont see how where it is running, ie; in the sink, has anything to do with weather or not it produces bubbles. Im not looking for skimmate ......just bubbles. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, BUT I know that I am not going to pull many dissolved organics out of my kitchen sink.

I guess from everything Ive read about this skimmer on these boards, I have to do what bill-e suggested and just hook it up and see what happens. I would have loved to have had it working before putting it on the tank but hey.........as Mick Jager once said....."you cant always get what you want..".

Dennis

[bill-e]

Dennis,

You know I was just funnin with you. But I can imagine how any skimmer put in a sink which surely contains soap residue is goint to work anything like it's supposed to. Now that's not to say that your TF isnt defective, I just think it's a lousy place to test it.

I'm not familiar with the TF, are u using the 800 to supply water the the skimmer, and the 2500 to perform the venturi action?

I still say stick it in your sump and let it run for a while.

I am interested in seeing the pics of the baffle system.

[Alice]

Hey Dennis!

Glad you got the sump done

Just a little moral support here, when I hooked up the new skimmer in the 125 (you know where I got it so you know what kind it is, lol) it wasn't doing a darn thing either and the first thing I did was to cuss the skimmer brand, but then it dawned on me that it needed to break in first It skims about as well as can be expected now.

~Alice

[DennisW]

First thing first....Bill-e...I know you were just funnin' with me!!!

Second........Thankyou Bill-e for the quick responses to my emails and all the help you gave me!

Finely......THE FREAK'N SKIMMER WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Some one told me in a post that what you have to do is keep plugging in the rio2500 and unplugging it. Eventually it will start spinning the impeller and the bubbles will come out. It did. Yea! It took about 5 times of plugging it in and uplugging it to get it to work but now it does!!!!! It is producing a great amount of VERY fine bubbles!!!!!!!!

Thanks Bill-e and Alice! I always know I can count on ya!

Dennis

[sculpin]

If you want this skimmer to work at its full potential, add an air pump to supply the air inlet tube. I have used an $8 Hagen 802 air pump with excellent results. The venturi inlet to the needle wheel produces insufficient vacuum to draw much air into the skimmer. Therefore, adding extra air, via an air pump, allows the skimmer to work at much higher efficiency (roughly double that without the air pump).

[DennisW]

Sculpin,

I have in fact added an airpump and the results were definitly better. Thankyou.

Dennis