I'm about to chuck Oct BH300F in the dumpster!!

[qn5reef]

I've owned Oct BH300F since Feb. of 2008. Since then, I went through 3 Resun pumps (GARBAGE) due to over heating. I never modded the pumps. The problem is that pump in the first chamber only submerge in the water maybe 1/2 way. To increase the water level in the first chamber of this skimmer, I increased the water level in my display tank. This seemed to fix the problem temporary. Somehow, the water level in the first chamber went down even though the water level in the display tank remained the same. What can I do to fix this never ending problem with this skimmer?

[todd141]

I've had mine for about 6 months and so far it has been working flawlessly. Maybe you got a bad one?

I see you have a lot more experience with saltwater aquariums than I do, but these things came with practically no instructions whatsoever so please excuse me if I mention the obvious.

How do you have all the tubing connected - on mine, i have the john guest valve turned off and nothing connected to the blue tube that comes out of the guest fitting. I only have to connect the first pump's line to the guest fitting and open the guest valve if I let the first chamber run dry (like when I'm doing a water change and forget to turn off the skimmer.) I then shut off the guest valve and connect the muffler to the tube from the first pump.

Does your skimmer make any noise? Mine is completely silent until I stand about a foot away from it. When the first chamber runs low it makes a "churning" sound.

[hairyman1]

Were the pumps replaced under warranty? If not than stop buying the same pump. Find a pump that will fit and has similar or slightly greater air draw.

[spsfreak]

from what you are describing it sounds like evaporation... do you have an ATO? If you put more water in the tank then it will basically go directly to your sump and live there, hince the raise in the water level of the first chamber. Again, sounds like you are losing water to evaporation, typically evaporation occurs in the area where your return pump lives, if your sump is sectioned off.

[chimmike]

sounds like the placement of the skimmer is incorrect, or as stated, you need an ATO. The skimmer should be in an area that does not get level fluctuations.

I'd suggest getting an autotopoff as recommended.

[qn5reef]

thanks everyone for replying.
todd141 - the gate valve on my skimmer is closed and my tubings are connected to the air silencer. The skimmer is pretty quiet when the pump is under the water 3/4 the way. But when it's covered 1/2 way or less, it's loud and annoying.
hairyman1 - They were under warranty until Feb. Plus, I am not a big fan of dealing with Coralvue. I also used Sedra 2500 in the past but had not luck.
spsfreak & chimmike - I do have an ATO set up so the water level in the system is always constant.

I cleaned the pump last night to see if that would fix the problem but I had no luck. The water level in the first chamber was high enough to cover the whole pump for a while. But when I checked it this morning, the water level in the first chamber was down again. When the pump is covered half way, it will over heat and shuts off then eventually, it will stop working......

Any idea to fix this problem?

[hairyman1]

Ok. What I think is happening is that your intake siphon is developing an air bubble that is lowering the water level in the first chamber enough to expose the pump. Your JG valve may be leaking air into the intake slowly causing this. I'm guessing you don't have any obstructions in your pipe right? I dunno if JG are repairable, but there cheap enough at Home depot. Let me know.

[qn5reef]

hairyman1 - Thanks, I will try to replace the JG valve this weekend to see if this will fix the problem. I noticed when the water level is low in the first chamber and I bend the air tube to the first pump for 5 seconds to stop the air flow and let it go. The water level in the first chamber goes up to cover the whole pump for maybe 10 hrs or so. Then the water level starts to go down again. Also, it quites down the pump for maybe 3hrs or so too.

[carman9941]

I agree with hairyman, do you get like a pulseing of bubbles in the skimmer body?

[qn5reef]

carman9941 - No, there are no bubbles coming out from the intake pipe.

[BLANKENSHIP76]

I have good success with Resun Pumps. Sometimes the problems with these pumps is that the impeller used by the skimmer company's doesn't match the pump correctly. Hence, all the blame gets put back on the pump, not the junk impeller/volute the skimmer company developed.

Jeremy, from Premium noted that on the first batch of Vertex skimmer pumps. So don't always blame the pump!!

However, with your situation I would think you would need to find a way to keep the entire pump submerged, it seems like not having the entire pump underwater could cause heat issues.

[carman9941]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14639359#post14639359 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by qn5reef
carman9941 - No, there are no bubbles coming out from the intake pipe.

Not from the pipe, inside the skimmer body itself, when the pump loses its prime it wont have a body full of bubbles but sort of a pulse of bubbles, are you have that trouble?

[qn5reef]

carman9941 - no, there aren't pulse of bubbles in the skimmerbody.