pm hot 1 going balistic

[wasabi]

my pm hot 1 is overflowing at random seems to be about every 2 weeks and filling the five gallon containe for overflow. it has came very close to burning my pumps up. any ideas on whats causing this? i drip kalk add 2 part calcium occasionally.i have a maxi 1200 with venturi powering the skimmer. i haventfed at the times it is overflowing.

 

[MIKE NY1]

wasabi, what usally causes this is an uneven air flow from the pump. Calcium deposts maybe building up on the venturi restricting the air flow. The less air the more water volume. The trick is to get a steady air/water mixture from the pump so you don't have to keep adjusting the ball valve on the return.

Good Luck
Mike

 

[Eat At Joe's]

How often do you clean the pump and venturi? When the air line feeding the powerhead gets clogged the pump pushes a lot more water since it no longer has the air flowing into the impeller and reducing its "efficiency". IME, when that happens, the once properly adjusted skimmer starts overflowing.

If you have removed the muffler from the airline, try putting it back on. In that way, the difference between the amount of air being pulled in normal operation and the amount of air pulled when clogged is minimized. So when the gate valve is adjusted with the muffler on, it should be close to the wide open position... therefore when the venturi clogs it is less likely to overflow. Since I have put the muffler back onto mine... the overflows have stopped (other than when a turbo snail crawled into the outake... but that is an entirely different mess). You may think that restricting the airflow will reduce the efficiency of the skimmer, but with an aspirating venturi, there is a fine balance between water flow and air flow. Too much airflow and the waterflow is decreased so much that the skimmer efficiency is reduced. IMO running without the muffler on the airline gives far too much airflow. My skimmer has been pulling a lot more gunk since putting the muffler back on it.

Also if you haven't been doing so... clean the pump once a week, and make sure you clean out the airline and venturi really well. Soaking the venturi in vinegar can also help if you have started to build up calcium deposits on it.

In addition, you may think about getting one of the PM waste collectors... that way if it does overflow... it won't be that much and at least then you won't burn your pumps out.

Hope that helps.

 

[wasabi]

thanks for the info. i clean the collection cup about twice a week and the pump monthly. i just recently cleaned the entire skimmer. i thought maybe it was snails but its happening to frequently and i catch the pump overflowing with no snails involved.i have the muffler in place and i usually just barely open it with a fine mist of bubbles coming out, very little water maybe ill try opening up the mufffler and adjusting the ball valve and see if that helps.