Official Royal Exclusiv Dream Box Owners Thread.
- Thread starter slief
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Please define water pouring out the hole. You should have the ozone port plugged off if you aren't using ozone. If you have the red hose connected and drawing air, that can impact the amount of air flow going into the venturi port with the air intake hose which could result in some water percolating up into the venturi port. If I am understanding you correctly, that could mean that there is something in the pump like a snail or debris. Could also mean the venturi port is clogged. If your sump level is 9" or less, the depth shouldn't be an issue. Heck, some have run deeper. My guess is that there is something inside the pump. Shut it down and take the pump apart and inspect the needle wheel.
no I mean water is coming out of the hole in the red pipe that goes to the air silencer (where the red air hose from the pump is going in). I have a red sea reefer 450 and the water level is too high so I bought a skimmer stand. My double cone 180 with speedy pump now sits in 20 cm of water but I have to adjust the pump to 34-36 watts to get the bubbles to the neck of the skimmer.
I think you need to take the pump apart and inspect the impeller. Also make sure there are no blockages in the venturi intake at the pump. Cap off the ozone port as well. And also make sure you rinse and dry out the foam filter in the silencer. To get the bubbles up, you need to close the wedge pipe more. That is how you adjust the level inside the skimmer. Not with the pump speed. The pump speed is used to get the most dense foam. I’d suggest 18-22 watts as a starting point. You may however need to increase the sump depth a bit. I’d suggest 8.5”-9” of depth.
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Hey fellas,
I have a deluxe 250 int and I've been running it anywhere from 36-44 watts experimenting with the skimmer. My nutrients are climbing so I'm trying to get the most out of the skimmer due to a high fish load. Anytime I run the wattage pass 44, it shuts down and gives me an F3 error. It happens randomly, 5 minutes or 10-15 minutes. I will pull the pump tomorrow and clean it but why no error with 44 watts and below and F3 error with anything above 44 watts?
I have a deluxe 250 int and I've been running it anywhere from 36-44 watts experimenting with the skimmer. My nutrients are climbing so I'm trying to get the most out of the skimmer due to a high fish load. Anytime I run the wattage pass 44, it shuts down and gives me an F3 error. It happens randomly, 5 minutes or 10-15 minutes. I will pull the pump tomorrow and clean it but why no error with 44 watts and below and F3 error with anything above 44 watts?
My guess is that it's time to break the pump down and give is a thorough cleaning inside and out. There is likely some resistance on the impeller and cleaning should solve it. That said, 44 watts is too high IMO for that skimmer. I would suggest running it between 36 and 40 watts. You will need to raise the level up inside the skimmer either via the telescope tube or the wedge pipe but the slower speed will result in better contact time and more dense foam as well as a more stable foam head with less turbulence in the skimmer body.
ReefClownMIA
.Registered Member
Looks pretty good Mike!
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Holy cow!!! I'd say that's great looking foam! I'd be curious how it would look if you drop it a couple more watts. You'd increase the contact time and stiffen the foam up a bit more. It's hard to imagine better foam than that but that skimmer is a foam makin machine! Color me jealous! I love my SM250 but that Deluxe is the one skimmer I'd trade my SM250 for in a heart beat. You really can't beat the fine tuning the Deluxe offers and it's ease of use. Plus the proof is in that foam head!!
Be sure to raise the water level inside the body when you do. I'd bet you will get some really dense foam at 36-38 watts but 40 could be the sweet spot for you load. You never know unless you try it through.
The foam production after 12 hours of run time was pretty weak at 36 watts. I did raise the water level inside the body when I dropped the wattage to 36. I have since raised it back up to 40 watts and will try another experiment when I get home.
I'm going to try lowering the water level in the sump and increasing the wattage. 40 watts seems to be the spot with 9" of water level in the sump.
Then I'd run with it at 90 watts. That foam looked great and the contact time is important. Once you get above 40 watts, you are sacrificing contact time which is important in terms of the skimmers perfomance and efficiency.
I took the pump apart to clean it and check for any blockage. I could not find anything out of place and no unusual wear on the impeller, shaft or block. Only thing was normal slime which I cleaned off. Still, the pump shuts off with an F3 error anytime the wattage is above 44-46. I'm testing it out right now at 46 watts to see if it shuts off.
Any ideas? I checked the air line and no blockage in the line or the silencer itself.
Any ideas? I checked the air line and no blockage in the line or the silencer itself.
At 46 watts on that pump, the pump can't pull enough air and what is likely happening is that it detects increased intake pressure when trying to pull the water through the nozzle. The larger skimmers have larger diameter intake nozzles which result in less restriction of water and air. I'd liken the issue to sucking through a straw and pinching the tip. The pump can sense that. And as noted above, 40 watts is about the max I would normally suggest for that skimmer and in your case, the F3 error on the display is the pump telling you that you are hitting it's limits in terms of what it can draw without being restricted on the intake side.
That's good to know about the air draw. It's amazing that these pumps can detect something like that. I had it running at 46 watts and it was producing great foam but I noticed it would shut off at 46 watts also. It just took a long time for it to shut up, several hours instead of minutes at the higher wattage.
I guess I will be running it at 40 watts max. I lowered the sump water level to 7.5" from 9" so I'll see how the skimmer does. This also gives me a bit more cushion for when the power goes out. The water would get a little too high for comfort when the return pump shut off.
Yea, they have bi directional communication between the pump and controller. The controller can sense increases and decreases in load which tips the controller off to certain events such as restricted air, impeller resistance and increased load. In theory, it's a novel idea. Especially the air blockage F8 error but it does raise some eye brows from time to time. Ultimately, the intent of the F3 error is to prevent premature failure due to things getting into the pump or excessive buildup on the impeller or magnet cavity as well as excessive slime coating in the magnet cavity. All of which can lead to overloading the motor and causing premature failure.
Well, I figured out why the pump wouldn't run above 44 watts without throwing an F3 error. The telescopic tube was raised too high. Once I lowered it, I was able to run at 60 watts without any problems.
Either way, I've backed down the wattage to 36 and going to see how it does there. Right now I have the setting to where the micro bubbles turn into big bubbles right at the bottom of the cup. What is the optimal water level height inside the skimmer?
I'm trying to improve the efficiency of the skimmer as I only get maybe half an inch of skimmate a week if not less. I see people saying they need to empty their cups once or twice a week. I could probably go weeks before the cup even gets half full. I do think I have a good bioload with close to 50 fish in my 360 DT. 9 of them being tangs ranging in size from 4-7".
EDIT: Once a foam head is formed, where should that sit inside the neck? Probably easier for me to understand.
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That makes sense since the height of the tube will have a direct impact on the head pressure.
As far as the skimmate production, that is all relative to the amount of fish and load in the display. With close to 50 fish, it's really going to be a matter of fine tuning but I am thinking you're going need to wetten the skimmate up a bit by running the level in the skimmer higher. That is where the telescope tube and wedge pipe comes into play. If it were me, I'd do some more testing but I suspect the 40 watts you were running in that previous picture is pretty close to the sweet spot and a bit of fine tuning with the wedge pipe was all that was needed to get more skimmate in the cup.
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