Critique my SWC 160 Cone recirculating mod

[edsreef]

It looks like it would work to me. See what you think...
Notes:
*Reason for the mod is I only have 5" sump water level and can't raise it; please don't go there, it's not an option.
*Tee fitting is oversized to neutralize turbulence; sort of an inlet/outlet @ skimmer body.
*1/2" input line will either be gravity fed (siphon; no bubbles) from overflow box, or from a pump (will try the siphon method first).
*I thought 10" height would work best because that's the water level these skimmers are reported to operate best at.
*I would contour sand the pipe at the the new hole and use a Uniseal.
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee424/edsreef/160conemod.jpg

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Maybe I'm missing something but I have a feeling this ain't gonna work. Why not just add two holes to the skimmer body - one to supply the skimmer pump with water, and a second for the feed line from your 1/2" plumbing?

[edsreef]

I thought because of the cone shaped body a seperate input would be too disruptive to the upflow. (??) Think about my way for a little bit and see what you think...not sayin I'm right...just consider how it would work. I think it would lesson the gushing of water into the skimmer body (??).

[username in use]

I think the water coming from the DT and the water coming from the skimmer body are going to "compete" with each other and rob you of some pump performance. I think dwizm hit it on the head. Just put the feed line into the bottom on the opposite side of the pump, not into the middle of the body and it shouldnt affect the turbulence much.

[edsreef]

So you don't think I need to try to "boost" the internal pressure due to my low sump water level?

Also, I found a GPH # for the Atman 2500. Not sure if it's correct but it's all I could find, 740 GPH (2800lph). It doesn't appear my new inlet would actually draw any water in at that point. The pump would draw my dirty water along with the recirc water. Might add a little pressure to the body though...

[username in use]

I dont see how gravity feeding into the pump will boost body pressure any more than gravity feeding directly into the body. Also, once you hook up the drain to the pump, its not a siphon anymore and may not drain at the rate you have it set at to be a clean siphon. I also think your going to lose efficiency of the "recirc" by having the drain feed into the same pipe.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Thing is, we don't have enough information to even know what will happen if the plumbing is arranged according to that diagram. We don't know which way water will flow in each leg of the T, for instance.

Meanwhile, switching to a two-hole design (one for feed water, one to source water for the pump), everything "just works."

[edsreef]

Is my thinking "off" here? I was told by someone pretty knowledgable about skimmers that the 160 Cone would not work in my 5" depth sump. So I thought what is it that the higher water level does that makes it work properly? The answer, I thought, was higher pressure. Not significant, but apparently enough that the skimmer won't function in 5" but will at 10" and best at 10". I'm thinking that the slight pressure increase is minimalized inside the skimmer body once the pump starts blasting bubbles into it so the net effect would be a slight boost in pressure at the pump input. Is this wrong?

Would the "normal" way of recirculating/feeding the skimmer eliminate my low sump water problem?

[edsreef]

Thing is, we don't have enough information to even know what will happen if the plumbing is arranged according to that diagram. We don't know which way water will flow in each leg of the T, for instance.

Meanwhile, switching to a two-hole design (one for feed water, one to source water for the pump), everything "just works."

Would the "normal" way of recirculating/feeding the skimmer eliminate my low sump water problem? Does that method of recirc mean it doesn't matter what depth my sump water level is??
Thank you both for your responses. I'd really like to have more discussion on this.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

In a "normal" design recirculating skimmer, the water level and flow rate through the skimmer are controlled by the inlet and outlet. The skimmer doesn't "know" anything about water level in your sump, or even if it's in water or not. You could run the skimmer outside the sump, above the display tank, or in your attic and you'd get the same exact result, assuming you were able to keep conditions on the inlet and outlet the same.

[edsreef]

Thank you....problem solved.:bounce3:

[viggen]

like stated above water level doesn't matter on a RC skimmer, one of the great things about this design. Where the water exits the skimmer is how you adjust the water level, the pressure on the skimmer pump remains constant thus where it sits doesn't matter

You want 1-1.5x a hour turnover through the skimmer. No clue what size tank you have but that ratio is what the majority of manufacturers suggest. Putting the input of dirty water towards the top of the skimmer will allow that water to work against the bubbles which works the best. I doubt the side the dirty water enters the tank matters, just put it on whatever side is easiest to setup.

[edsreef]

like stated above water level doesn't matter on a RC skimmer, one of the great things about this design. Where the water exits the skimmer is how you adjust the water level, the pressure on the skimmer pump remains constant thus where it sits doesn't matter

You want 1-1.5x a hour turnover through the skimmer. No clue what size tank you have but that ratio is what the majority of manufacturers suggest. Putting the input of dirty water towards the top of the skimmer will allow that water to work against the bubbles which works the best. I doubt the side the dirty water enters the tank matters, just put it on whatever side is easiest to setup.


This seemed to be the case with cylinder bodies but I was just looking at the SRO Cone Recirc skimmers and they're feeding them in the bottom and I really think there's a good reason for this with the cone design since the higher you go the more constricted the space. Are there any other recirculating cone skimmers you can suggest that I can look at? Interstingly, I also noticed the RO/SRO 5000 with the black base has a Tee fitting going into the venturi with the recirc and water feed tapped into it. I'm still going to give that a try and if it doesn't work I have the other "normal" option. My tank is a 90gal with 20gal sump/fuge so if I can get around 200gph and put a valve inline to choke it down I should be fine. Nice to know this is going to work in my sump! (one way or another) Thanks :lol2: