skimmer issues

[harleymike]

have a reef octopus ps 2000 skimmer. Works great, most of the time.
But every once in a while it goes nuts. To the point that its overflowing.
I have adjusted the skimmer so the bubbles are way down and it skimm's on the dry side. But today i check on the skimmer and its over flowing going nuts. I Don't understand why. What am i missing. Do i need too clean the neck more often. Is it becase im letting it get too dirty.
Thanks for any help.
Mike

 

[benzzz]

Common causes.

Adding chemicals
Oils from our hands
Change in water level
Partialy blocked venturi tube

I am sure you know most of these already just throwing them out there

 

[harleymike]

All that is fine. It worked perfectly for the last 3 weeks.
The only thing I can think of is letting it get to dirty. I haven't cleaned it for a couple weeks. I dumped it out, but didn't scrub it out.

 

[jroovers]

Could be salt creep on the air intake.  I'd clean that out, and clean out the part of the pump where the venturi/air hose attaches.

 

[benzzz]

The only thing I clean is the cup. Are you talking the whols skimmer...  I clean that every 6 months or so

 

[harleymike]

All the gunk that builds up in the neck where the bubbles rise up. I don't keep it clean. Would that cause it to go nuts

 

[benzzz]

I dont touch the neck part. If at most I will wipe the top where the oring seals the cup on my vertex.

 

[unibob]

I clean neck and cup every 3 days because it's full and smells by then .

 

[harleymike]

Maybe I will try keeping it cleaner and see if that helps

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

my neck was fulla slimey gunk. cuz. sometimes i se it when i clean it when i home on weekends. and then get home 5 days later. the water has gone down in skimmer so it dryes up.  dso this past weekend i took cup off to clean it and took a tooth brush to whole inside

 

[curiousphil]

All the gunk that builds up in the neck where the bubbles rise up. I don't keep it clean. Would that cause it to go nuts

Typically a dirty neck will prevent the bubbles from making it to the collection cup, not the other way around where it overflows.

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

[quote author=harleymike link=topic=7945.msg83681#msg83681 date=1393520775]
All the gunk that builds up in the neck where the bubbles rise up. I don't keep it clean. Would that cause it to go nuts

ya durty neck wont let it flow up to the cup cuz its like wet dried up gunk
Typically a dirty neck will prevent the bubbles from making it to the collection cup, not the other way around where it overflows.
[/quote]

 

[Pistol]

A heavy coat of slime in the inlet venturi area of the pump can cause it to overflow.

 

[harleymike]

A heavy coat of slime in the inlet venturi area of the pump can cause it to overflow.

I will check that. Thanks

 

[Duke]

A snail, anything at all getting sucked in too will do it.

 

[harleymike]

I turned the skimmer down a bit. Skimming less wet. See how it goes
Thanks