MRC skimmer might replace Beckett for 1" Mazzei Injectors

[Buganddoug]

My MRC-2 skimmer needs to be adjusted all the time. Some times more than once a day. It is a pain in the butt. I am thinking of replacing the Beckett with 1" Mazzei Injector. The flow is 1020gph and my Blueline 55 is 1100 gph. I Have talk to many people with MRC skimmers that are having the same problem as me. Tim at MRC knows there something going on but can not pinpoint it.
I was Talking to Gary at Chapion Lighting about it and he thinks the 1" Mazzei Injector might fix the problem. He has sold lots of them on highend setups. Gary all so said they are the best Injectors he has seen and used.
So what do you think?
Thanks for any info,
Daniel

[thephoenix48]

Pump flow or air flow? Can you provide more details. Is it skimming too wet or not at all? Thanks for any information

[Buganddoug]

I am ajusting the water flow outlet so I can keep the water at the hight that I run it at. I keep my air at 45 SCFH. But some days my air might drop to 35 SCFH and if I open my air valve for more air it will not give me more air. SO I would tun off the air and my water hight is down like 2". So I turn the outlet close some to bring up the water hight and I turn the air back on to 45 SCFH and I am good for little time. I clean my Beckett about twice a week. It may be skimming wet one day the next it might be dry. I might get no skimming out of it for a couple of days.
The said part is the skimmer is built so nice but I just get sick of all the ajusting to keep it skimming. I have had this skimmer now for just about two years.

[Buganddoug]

Has any one used one. Or what did you do to your MRC to fix this problem?

[glassbox-design]

Some simple suggestions that may help.

-A screened intake on the pump.

-Ensure the output is above your sump water line

-Clean out the Becket injector.

The becket is a much better injector than a Mazzei IMO. There is a reason they are not often used anymore.

[Buganddoug]

OK No screened intake on pump side.
My output is 2" above water line.
I clean that Beckett aleast twice a week.
I think the reason they are not used very much is that they cost alot and they are big.

[glassbox-design]

Let the becket settle in, cleaning twice a week will be counter productive.

Put a screen on the intake, any debris that gets sucked in can get lodged in the becket injector and cause problems.

Mazzei's were once widely used and the Venturi in the hobby. In general venturi injectors are not used much anymore because of their poor air draw numbers.

[Buganddoug]

I do not get any debris in my Beckett. But when I keep it clean I get better skimming out of it.
I have been playing with this skimmer for all most two years now.

[hairyman1]

Stop playing and switch to the mazzei, then you can finally enjoy your hobby. Your frequent adjustments will go away and you will get the consistancy of foam/skimmate that your looking for. If anyone is concerned about air numbers then hook up a dwyer and see the results. Becketts were originally designed to aerate freshwater ponds with industrial size pumps. What you see in the hobby are scaled down versions, but they still need powerful pumps and are prone to clogging with diminished performance as you noticed. Properly (frequently) maintained they skim well and pull organics out quickly due mainly that they process more water due to their more powerful pumps that are required and not so much due to the air numbers that many people love to quote and brag about. See you first get the correct air/water ratio for the size skimmer you have then scale it up or down accurately and your in business. Becketts became popular when it was found that they draw more air when used with a very powerful pump. Since they are somewhat newer they are more advertised for larger systems. They are louder than standard venturis and mazzei injectors, but can be quieted when shrouded. There's lots more, but it's like the old saying when buying cars, "you buy horsepower, but drive torque." The horsepower being the air draw number and the torque being the correct air/water ratio. Have fun and read read.

[Buganddoug]

Hi I have a MRC-2 Skimmer and A Blueline55 pump on my 180 gallon reef.. I am not happy with this skimmer. I put a 1" Mazzei Injector in place of the Beckette but I can not get the water hight in the skimmer.
I think I am done with this skimmer. it will be going up for sale very soon. I might put the skimmer and pump up for sale or trade.
I had much better Skimming with my old downdraft. I wish I never got rid of that old skimmer.
I have spoke with Tim at MRC about this MRC and he was no help.

[grouper25]

I too have a MRC 2 on my 220 FOWLR. It has been a complete and utter disaster for me. So much so, that I have had it off for 3 months. I can never get the water level to stabilize and do not trust it enough to leave home with it on. I too have tried calling MRC but to no avail. My Coralife HOB for my 75 SPS works 10 X better than this piece of garbage. Soon , this will go in the trash heep as I would never sell something as inferior as this to a fellow reefer. Guess , I am just another un- happy customer. Wake up MRC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bernie lyons]

Your problem is NOT the beckett injector , it's the MRC skimmer itself . I've owned and played with dozens of beckett skimmers and the best by far is the Marine Technical Concepts HSA-1000 and HSA-3000 (dual beckett) . Rarely have I ever had to adjust them and intake screens does help to keep large debris out . I've owned mezzia injectors before and they require a larger pump to drive and cannot compete with a well designed beckett skimmer for performance . Sell the mrc and get a MTC HSA- type beckett skimmer , you'll be very happy with it .

bernie lyons

[hairyman1]

Marine Technical Concepts is an excellent company and if you want a beckett than you can't do better at present, however if your using the same diameter injectors than you do not need a more powerful pump to run a mazzei venturi and the maintenance is far less frequent, not to mention the noise (not a big deal to me anyway, but some people complain about beckett noise). Your skimmer will perform more consistantly as well. That being said if you want higher performance and are willing to make a few small tradoffs then you may prefer a beckett from MTC.

[erics3000]

I dont care about sound mine is in my garage. I have been having trouble with the level also. I just removed it so I can put it in my sump. I have a mrc mr-4 with the extension and a Marlin pump. Here is a picture in my thread. I had trouble feeding it from my overflows . It was running out of water so I am going to try in the sump and just have the skimmer pump draw from my sump.. If i still have trouble I was told to try and remove the riser. If that still doesnt work than maybe thé recirc mod. Have you heard abut the recirc mod?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1164144&perpage=25&pagenumber=23

[hairyman1]

No I never saw the recirculate mod for your beckett.

[megaspoot]

I have a precision marine bullet 3 that runs on a single becket. I'm having problems stabilizing the water level as well. I'm going to recirc it soon and feed the skimmer with another pump. Hopefully this will fix things.

[BigReef]

Here is am MTC Pro cal 4. Uses an Iwaki 70 that powers 4 Mazzei injectors.]http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/505MTC_PRO-CAL_IV.JPG

[hairyman1]

WOW bigtime. You don't play do you. It looks like aerated milk instead of water in there. How did you plumb 4 mazzei into one pump?

[Crazyju]

I also had trouble keeping my water level consistant with my mrc-2. I did the recirc mod and that took care of the inconsistant water level. Feed water going not going through the beckectt seems to be key. I can set the water whereever i want it and it stays there.

[hairyman1]

Facinating Crazyju! Good info.

[thephoenix48]

Crazyju, so your feed water is not going thru the Beckett? Can I assume that the beckett is your air source for recirculation? Do you have a pic of this set up? What pump are you using? What happens when the highly oxygenated water goes back thru the beckett? I'm facinated. Can you supply more info?

hm

[Crazyju]

Correct, my feed water is not going through the beckett. My skimmer came set up for dual becketts. I use one without the beckett as my feed from the overflow.Installed a bulkhead on the side to feed the recirc pump and ran the output to the beckett input. Set up this way flow through the skimmer never changes. As the beckett clogs only the air is reduced. Also, Only the recirc pump needs to be turned off to clean. Return pumps can be left on. I dont have a pic at the moment but will try to get one tonight.

[RGibson]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13731448#post13731448 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by grouper25
I too have a MRC 2 on my 220 FOWLR. It has been a complete and utter disaster for me. So much so, that I have had it off for 3 months. I can never get the water level to stabilize and do not trust it enough to leave home with it on. I too have tried calling MRC but to no avail. My Coralife HOB for my 75 SPS works 10 X better than this piece of garbage. Soon , this will go in the trash heep as I would never sell something as inferior as this to a fellow reefer. Guess , I am just another un- happy customer. Wake up MRC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The mrc skimmer just needs a better way to let the air out of the skimmer,drain line from the collection cup is to small 3/4 in would be better,i used 1 in line. a to small of drain line well make the water level go up and down.

[Crazyju]

Gibson is right on about the air. Larger output line or i blow mine out with a compressor every 2 to 3 months to keep it clean.

[RGibson]

The air going off and on well make the water level go up and down in the skimmer.You can chech your own skimmer by taking the lid off the collection cup,stay in the room wear the skimmer so you can which the skimmer.

[RGibson]

The beckett skimmer that i have used for many years has just one beckett injector with a MD55RLT pump and i only adjust it every 90 days that is when i clean the beckett.I have used dual becketts and recirc becketts but one beckett and a good pump works the best.

[rwessels]

I have an MR-6R and have the same problem. Some days I get skimate in the waste collector, other days it just accumulates in the neck of the skimmer. The water level in the skimmer seems very consistant - maybe that is the recirc part that I already have. It is just the bubble level. Also it is strange, one beckett pulls in about 3 times as much air as the other. Right now I am mainly pulling in water from my overflow. I will try to change that and see if that helps.

[RGibson]

The air line that goes to the beckett needs to be 1/2 in inside dia tubing this helps to keep the water consistant.The builders of beckett skimmers need to increase the drain,and air line tubing so the beckett can work as good as needle wheel technology.

[bernie lyons]

MTC has the proper air line to the becketts and the drains are properly sized as well. MRC plays with shorter reaction chambers and small necks which is wrong in my opinion . Marine technical concepts were the first company to use beckett technology and remain the best at what they do .

bernie lyons

[hairyman1]

RGibson what is a bubble lift protein skimmer cleaning system and is that why you only have to clean every 90 days?

[hairyman1]

Hey Bernie Lyons my company is headquartered where you live. Sales too.

[bernie lyons]

Hi hairyman1 , what kind of manufacturing do you do ?

bernie

[RGibson]

hairman1-bubble lift works by turning off the water leaving the skimmer going to the sump for just a few sec this makes the bubbles rise to clean out the 4.5 tube going to the collection cup.A timer turns the systems on 6 times a day.

[hairyman1]

Bernie, I am in candy manufacturing and work P/T in sales for a Co. headquartered in mississauga, Ontario, CA.

[hairyman1]

RGibson, Interesting and it only taks a few seconds 6 times a day to keep the neck clean. cool.

[rwessels]

How can I get or make one these bubble lift things? I think it would help me out ALOT!