Severe microbubbles problem with psk-100h

[fmelindy]

Just purchased this psk-100h for use on my 50 gallon (lightly stocked so fr, only 3 yellow tail damsels and a very small yellow tang, but tons of sps corals) and well, really I have two issues. One is I'm only getting soda fizz in the neck and no skimmate and the other is microbubbles - lots of em. Have had it on the tank for about a week now and neither problem seems to be in the process of resolving itself. One of the problems is that I don't seem to be able to put on the foam on the outlet all the way up without the skimmer overflowing itself, I'm pretty sure that would stop a lot of the microbubbles but only half on it's only half effective. Any ideas?

[fmelindy]

pump is also really loud... anyone have any ideas? Anyone from eshopps want to chime in?

[fmelindy]

hello???? (echoing sound from a cavernous empty room....)

[CUZ]

do you have the air filter on the air intake tube? as well as the sponge filter on the end of the out put tube for micro-bubbles? When i bought this same model mine was missing them and had to return for them..after i put them on things got better.

[fmelindy]

yep, both of those things are in place and neither is helping that much...

[hottuna]

i'm a little curious as to why no one from eshopps ever answers these problems...am considering a hang on...but the lack of cust service worries me...

[fmelindy]

I was thinking the same thing... I'm after reviewing most of the threads on this forum and I don't think I've ever seen a response from anyone officially representing eshopps..... odd, eh?

[1DeR9_3Hy]

Has anyone contacted Eshopps via email?

[krazykarel]

I was just about to order one from DFS, but I think I will wait to hear the responses here first.

[fmelindy]

if they're maintaining a support forum here on RC, you shouldn't really need to contact the by email, should you? or should you???

[fmelindy]

I guess this is not a support forum, though, is it??? *shrugs*

Anyway, anyone else have any ideas?

[1DeR9_3Hy]

if they're maintaining a support forum here on RC, you shouldn't really need to contact the by email, should you? or should you???


Although these are often used as support and Q&A forums from sponsors, i beleive the original use for these forums are to announce products and discuss them with customers.

With that said, its odd someone from Eshopps has not joined in yet...for a while there they were very much on top of this forum.

[ezsalt73]

Contact them by email. I had a problem and they responded fairly quickly. They even emailed me 2 days later to follow up on my problem.

[rhinonm]

I have a psk 100h and let me tell you the skimmer is awesome. i went through the same problems you are experiencing and they are "break-in" related. Couple things; make sure your sponge on the return is slightly out of the water, the skimmer will take a few days to buildup a film on the sponge before the micro bubbles stop. I had the fiz problem too; it will last about a week. The first week i thought I had a problem. Give your skimmer 2 weeks before you judge it. I have mine on a heavily stocked 65g and I have to clean it every day. I am very happy with this skimmer. I will post pics tomorrow; I just cleaned out the cup.

[eshoppsinc]

pump is also really loud... anyone have any ideas? Anyone from eshopps want to chime in?

hello all, sorry for the late reply evreyone. if there's a technical question, the best way is to email us and you will get a response back right away. for Reef Central, we use it to announe new product and latest news.

As to answer this question, you might have a loose impeller. just email us and we will help you out.

[eshoppsinc]

we try our best to answer any questions a.s.a.p but please excuse us if we can't due to schedule conflict.

[eshoppsinc]

Just purchased this psk-100h for use on my 50 gallon (lightly stocked so fr, only 3 yellow tail damsels and a very small yellow tang, but tons of sps corals) and well, really I have two issues. One is I'm only getting soda fizz in the neck and no skimmate and the other is microbubbles - lots of em. Have had it on the tank for about a week now and neither problem seems to be in the process of resolving itself. One of the problems is that I don't seem to be able to put on the foam on the outlet all the way up without the skimmer overflowing itself, I'm pretty sure that would stop a lot of the microbubbles but only half on it's only half effective. Any ideas?

Hello, this is common as the skimmer haven't break in yet. give it sometime and everything will be fine. what you can do is put the sponge above water level 1/2" so the bubbles will go to the top instead go back down to your tank.

[eshoppsinc]

pump is also really loud... anyone have any ideas? Anyone from eshopps want to chime in?

you might have a loose impeller, just email us and we help you out.

[eshoppsinc]

Just purchased this psk-100h for use on my 50 gallon (lightly stocked so fr, only 3 yellow tail damsels and a very small yellow tang, but tons of sps corals) and well, really I have two issues. One is I'm only getting soda fizz in the neck and no skimmate and the other is microbubbles - lots of em. Have had it on the tank for about a week now and neither problem seems to be in the process of resolving itself. One of the problems is that I don't seem to be able to put on the foam on the outlet all the way up without the skimmer overflowing itself, I'm pretty sure that would stop a lot of the microbubbles but only half on it's only half effective. Any ideas?

hi, have you try adjust the know so the water level is all the way at the lowest while you put on your sponge? but even if it overflow, this is only for a few minutes. after it settles in with the spong one, it should be normal. Play with it and give us an update.

[eshoppsinc]

Contact them by email. I had a problem and they responded fairly quickly. They even emailed me 2 days later to follow up on my problem.

yes, the best way is email us directly and we response right away. sometime we just don't have time to come to the forum because we're all tight up with all the trade/frag shows. I hope all of you understand.

[fmelindy]

email sent. Will update the forum when there is a resolution so all users can benefit.

[Reefposer]

email sent. Will update the forum when there is a resolution so all users can benefit.

Any update? My pump was shot out of the box. Gave it a few taps then it worked and crystal clear water come out for a minute, then I had the same problems as you. Now the pump crapped out again so I'm waiting to hear back from the store I got it from to get a replacement pump.

This is the 2nd one I've received with a problem. I really want to believe this thing is as good as people say and the videos show it does in fact work without returning what looks like grey water to the tank there are so many bubbles. Maybe I just have bad luck.

[fmelindy]

I'm still waiting for a new impeller from eshopps, as per their suggestion. I must say they were very responsive when I emailed customer support directly. But, on the other hand, I'm still waiting for the impeller so it's all up in the air right now. I'll update the forum when it arrives and I've had a chance to test it out.

[eshoppsinc]

I'm still waiting for a new impeller from eshopps, as per their suggestion. I must say they were very responsive when I emailed customer support directly. But, on the other hand, I'm still waiting for the impeller so it's all up in the air right now. I'll update the forum when it arrives and I've had a chance to test it out.

hi, i believe it was sent last week aready. you should receive it by this week, good luck.

[fmelindy]

Just wanted to update everyone - I have received the new impeller today. Thanks, eshopps, for the quick attention and excellent customer service! No faults there. So I'm just getting it set up again and I can tell you that the new impeller is about one tenth as loud as the first one, so that's good. I still have the soda fizz and microbubbles but, to be fair, I just got it set up so I'll update again after a few days.

[fmelindy]

so far, so good... much, much quieter, actually producing a foam head already. Not broken in yet, so I will continue to update. Looks like a keeper now, though!

[fmelindy]

oh yeah.... much less microbubbles today than yesterday, even.

[fmelindy]

just to update.... much less microbubbles now, almost completely gone. Still having trouble with consistent skimmate production, though. Sometimes copious thin stuff, sometimes none at all. I'm unable to get it dialed in for a nice consistent dry skim yet. Still working on it, though. I do have a very mild bioload.

[fmelindy]

skimmer is still on the loud side, in my opinion. Certainly wouldn't describe as "quiet" and nowhere even remotely near "silent"

[Kev135]

I had the same problem with the loud pump E mailed them and got a response back with in minuets, they said they would send me a new impeller, did you get a pin wheel or mesh impeller? have the micro bubbles stopped yet, mine haven't it has been going for about 8 days?

[cincyreefer1]

i just hooked mine up too and the pump is annoyingly loud...wow. I just wrote them but no response yet. My skimmer is pulling a foam head but the noise is ridic. I opened it up and I have a mesh impeller and thats where the noise seems to be coming from the pump...ugh this sucks will let everyone know the outcome.

[1DeR9_3Hy]

i just hooked mine up too and the pump is annoyingly loud...wow. I just wrote them but no response yet. My skimmer is pulling a foam head but the noise is ridic. I opened it up and I have a mesh impeller and thats where the noise seems to be coming from the pump...ugh this sucks will let everyone know the outcome.

Could be cavitation, this happens if i pull the pump apart to clean it. Turn it off and restart it a few times after letting all the air bubbles come out of the intake plumbing.

Its worth a shot :)

[cincyreefer1]

well spoke with eshopps rep on phone and they were very helpful. Apparently i have a bad impeller which isnt uncommon with a bad batch of these that were shipped out. So new impeller on the way , I'll update if anyone is interested once i get the part.

[eshoppsinc]

Could be cavitation, this happens if i pull the pump apart to clean it. Turn it off and restart it a few times after letting all the air bubbles come out of the intake plumbing.

Its worth a shot :)

This is a very good point, you said it best as this is what we do also to get the skimmer start and acting normal. Sometime the air is in the air tube and all it takes is plug and unplug the pump to get the air out.

[cincyreefer1]

well my new impeller arrived quickly, ty to eshopps. However it was running great last night alot quieter and seemed to be breaking in. I wake up this morning to a soda like fizz coming into the collection cup and overflowing out the drain tube. At work now so I shut it down b4 i left this morning. IDK now what it is but its getting annoying to keep having to mess with.

[eshoppsinc]

well my new impeller arrived quickly, ty to eshopps. However it was running great last night alot quieter and seemed to be breaking in. I wake up this morning to a soda like fizz coming into the collection cup and overflowing out the drain tube. At work now so I shut it down b4 i left this morning. IDK now what it is but its getting annoying to keep having to mess with.

is a new impeller for your tank, give it sometime for break in period.

[cincyreefer1]

my apologies i was a lil cranky lol...it seems to really be doing its job today so i havent touched it. Really pulling out a dry foam today.

[cincyreefer1]

<a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af115/Brentb411/?action=view&current=BRENTSSTUFF171-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af115/Brentb411/BRENTSSTUFF171-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>my first attempt at posting a pic
http://<a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af115/Brentb411/?action=view&current=BRENTSSTUFF171-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af115/Brentb411/BRENTSSTUFF171-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[cincyreefer1]

well that didnt work lol

[cincyreefer1]

<a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af115/Brentb411/?action=view&current=BRENTSSTUFF171-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af115/Brentb411/BRENTSSTUFF171-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[CreatiVe2]

http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af115/Brentb411/BRENTSSTUFF171-1.jpg

[cincyreefer1]

ty lol

[eshoppsinc]

my apologies i was a lil cranky lol...it seems to really be doing its job today so i havent touched it. Really pulling out a dry foam today.

awesome, more pictures please. your link doesn't work.

[cincyreefer1]

awesome, more pictures please. your link doesn't work.

its the picture creative2 posted...i needed some assistance lol

[fvc421]

try using stress coat marine water conditioner for use with protein skimmers-only use the amount directed or the skimmer will go crazy.

[fvc421]

I got some foam pipe insulation from the plumbing dept at home depot and wraped it on my water intake on my psk-100 and it did reduce the noise from the water rushing though the pipe. you still hear it but not as loud.

[fvc421]

I got some foam pipe insulation from the plumbing dept. at home depot and covered the water intake pipe from the elbow from the pump up to the top where the other elbow is on my psk-100h and it does reduce the noise from the water rushing though the intake. You still here it but not as loud. Real good skimmer!

[eshoppsinc]

try using stress coat marine water conditioner for use with protein skimmers-only use the amount directed or the skimmer will go crazy.

yes, if people don't know about this, it will definately drive the skimmer go crazy, many bubbles overflowing.

[eshoppsinc]

I got some foam pipe insulation from the plumbing dept. at home depot and covered the water intake pipe from the elbow from the pump up to the top where the other elbow is on my psk-100h and it does reduce the noise from the water rushing though the intake. You still here it but not as loud. Real good skimmer!

the noice tend to go away once the piping start to get slimy as the time go by.

[cincyreefer1]

well ive got another email in to eshopps as after about 3 weeks it seems to have stopped making a foam head. This is getting very frusturating as when it is on the skimmer works really well, but geez these problems are getting old!!!

[fmelindy]

Well, as for me, I'm getting happier with mine every day. The noise issue is completely resolved with the new impeller eshopps sent me. Now all I hear is the water through the plumbing the other members described. The pump itself is practically "silent". If it weren't for the noise in the plumbing, I'd have to touch it to know it was on. The noise through the plumbing is also getting better all the time. Plus, most importantly, the skimmate production is getting better and more consistent. Still not where I'd like it to be but getting closer to it all the time. So far I'd call the skimmer a very good purchase at it's price point.

[fmelindy]

*sigh* and now the microbubbles problem is suddenly back for no apparent reason. Nothing changed, just boom - here we go again. I'm getting really tired of this...