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Unread 03/26/2018, 02:38 AM   #426
mike810
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Hey fellas,

I have a deluxe 250 int and I've been running it anywhere from 36-44 watts experimenting with the skimmer. My nutrients are climbing so I'm trying to get the most out of the skimmer due to a high fish load. Anytime I run the wattage pass 44, it shuts down and gives me an F3 error. It happens randomly, 5 minutes or 10-15 minutes. I will pull the pump tomorrow and clean it but why no error with 44 watts and below and F3 error with anything above 44 watts?


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Unread 03/26/2018, 09:41 AM   #427
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Hey fellas,

I have a deluxe 250 int and I've been running it anywhere from 36-44 watts experimenting with the skimmer. My nutrients are climbing so I'm trying to get the most out of the skimmer due to a high fish load. Anytime I run the wattage pass 44, it shuts down and gives me an F3 error. It happens randomly, 5 minutes or 10-15 minutes. I will pull the pump tomorrow and clean it but why no error with 44 watts and below and F3 error with anything above 44 watts?
My guess is that it's time to break the pump down and give is a thorough cleaning inside and out. There is likely some resistance on the impeller and cleaning should solve it. That said, 44 watts is too high IMO for that skimmer. I would suggest running it between 36 and 40 watts. You will need to raise the level up inside the skimmer either via the telescope tube or the wedge pipe but the slower speed will result in better contact time and more dense foam as well as a more stable foam head with less turbulence in the skimmer body.


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Unread 03/26/2018, 08:20 PM   #428
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7 hours of run time, is this good foam based on the run time and heavy bioload? Running at 40 watts in 9" of water.


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Unread 03/26/2018, 08:27 PM   #429
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Looks pretty good Mike!


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Unread 03/26/2018, 10:38 PM   #430
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7 hours of run time, is this good foam based on the run time and heavy bioload? Running at 40 watts in 9" of water.
Holy cow!!! I’d say that’s great looking foam! I’d be curious how it would look if you drop it a couple more watts. You’d increase the contact time and stiffen the foam up a bit more. It’s hard to imagine better foam than that but that skimmer is a foam makin machine! Color me jealous! I love my SM250 but that Deluxe is the one skimmer I’d trade my SM250 for in a heart beat. You really can’t beat the fine tuning the Deluxe offers and it’s ease of use. Plus the proof is in that foam head!!


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Unread 03/27/2018, 01:10 AM   #431
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I'll drop it down to 36 and will report back.


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Unread 03/27/2018, 09:09 AM   #432
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I'll drop it down to 36 and will report back.
Be sure to raise the water level inside the body when you do. I'd bet you will get some really dense foam at 36-38 watts but 40 could be the sweet spot for you load. You never know unless you try it through.


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Unread 03/27/2018, 01:13 PM   #433
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Be sure to raise the water level inside the body when you do. I'd bet you will get some really dense foam at 36-38 watts but 40 could be the sweet spot for you load. You never know unless you try it through.
The foam production after 12 hours of run time was pretty weak at 36 watts. I did raise the water level inside the body when I dropped the wattage to 36. I have since raised it back up to 40 watts and will try another experiment when I get home.

I'm going to try lowering the water level in the sump and increasing the wattage. 40 watts seems to be the spot with 9" of water level in the sump.


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Unread 03/27/2018, 05:53 PM   #434
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The foam production after 12 hours of run time was pretty weak at 36 watts. I did raise the water level inside the body when I dropped the wattage to 36. I have since raised it back up to 40 watts and will try another experiment when I get home.

I'm going to try lowering the water level in the sump and increasing the wattage. 40 watts seems to be the spot with 9" of water level in the sump.
Then I’d run with it at 90 watts. That foam looked great and the contact time is important. Once you get above 40 watts, you are sacrificing contact time which is important in terms of the skimmers perfomance and efficiency.


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Unread 03/27/2018, 10:35 PM   #435
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I took the pump apart to clean it and check for any blockage. I could not find anything out of place and no unusual wear on the impeller, shaft or block. Only thing was normal slime which I cleaned off. Still, the pump shuts off with an F3 error anytime the wattage is above 44-46. I'm testing it out right now at 46 watts to see if it shuts off.

Any ideas? I checked the air line and no blockage in the line or the silencer itself.


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Unread 03/28/2018, 09:31 AM   #436
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Originally Posted by mike810 View Post
I took the pump apart to clean it and check for any blockage. I could not find anything out of place and no unusual wear on the impeller, shaft or block. Only thing was normal slime which I cleaned off. Still, the pump shuts off with an F3 error anytime the wattage is above 44-46. I'm testing it out right now at 46 watts to see if it shuts off.

Any ideas? I checked the air line and no blockage in the line or the silencer itself.
At 46 watts on that pump, the pump can't pull enough air and what is likely happening is that it detects increased intake pressure when trying to pull the water through the nozzle. The larger skimmers have larger diameter intake nozzles which result in less restriction of water and air. I'd liken the issue to sucking through a straw and pinching the tip. The pump can sense that. And as noted above, 40 watts is about the max I would normally suggest for that skimmer and in your case, the F3 error on the display is the pump telling you that you are hitting it's limits in terms of what it can draw without being restricted on the intake side.


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Unread 03/28/2018, 09:50 PM   #437
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At 46 watts on that pump, the pump can't pull enough air and what is likely happening is that it detects increased intake pressure when trying to pull the water through the nozzle. The larger skimmers have larger diameter intake nozzles which result in less restriction of water and air. I'd liken the issue to sucking through a straw and pinching the tip. The pump can sense that. And as noted above, 40 watts is about the max I would normally suggest for that skimmer and in your case, the F3 error on the display is the pump telling you that you are hitting it's limits in terms of what it can draw without being restricted on the intake side.
That's good to know about the air draw. It's amazing that these pumps can detect something like that. I had it running at 46 watts and it was producing great foam but I noticed it would shut off at 46 watts also. It just took a long time for it to shut up, several hours instead of minutes at the higher wattage.

I guess I will be running it at 40 watts max. I lowered the sump water level to 7.5" from 9" so I'll see how the skimmer does. This also gives me a bit more cushion for when the power goes out. The water would get a little too high for comfort when the return pump shut off.


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Unread 03/29/2018, 09:17 AM   #438
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That's good to know about the air draw. It's amazing that these pumps can detect something like that. I had it running at 46 watts and it was producing great foam but I noticed it would shut off at 46 watts also. It just took a long time for it to shut up, several hours instead of minutes at the higher wattage.

I guess I will be running it at 40 watts max. I lowered the sump water level to 7.5" from 9" so I'll see how the skimmer does. This also gives me a bit more cushion for when the power goes out. The water would get a little too high for comfort when the return pump shut off.
Yea, they have bi directional communication between the pump and controller. The controller can sense increases and decreases in load which tips the controller off to certain events such as restricted air, impeller resistance and increased load. In theory, it's a novel idea. Especially the air blockage F8 error but it does raise some eye brows from time to time. Ultimately, the intent of the F3 error is to prevent premature failure due to things getting into the pump or excessive buildup on the impeller or magnet cavity as well as excessive slime coating in the magnet cavity. All of which can lead to overloading the motor and causing premature failure.


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Unread 03/30/2018, 01:20 AM   #439
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Yea, they have bi directional communication between the pump and controller. The controller can sense increases and decreases in load which tips the controller off to certain events such as restricted air, impeller resistance and increased load. In theory, it's a novel idea. Especially the air blockage F8 error but it does raise some eye brows from time to time. Ultimately, the intent of the F3 error is to prevent premature failure due to things getting into the pump or excessive buildup on the impeller or magnet cavity as well as excessive slime coating in the magnet cavity. All of which can lead to overloading the motor and causing premature failure.
Well, I figured out why the pump wouldn't run above 44 watts without throwing an F3 error. The telescopic tube was raised too high. Once I lowered it, I was able to run at 60 watts without any problems.

Either way, I've backed down the wattage to 36 and going to see how it does there. Right now I have the setting to where the micro bubbles turn into big bubbles right at the bottom of the cup. What is the optimal water level height inside the skimmer?

I'm trying to improve the efficiency of the skimmer as I only get maybe half an inch of skimmate a week if not less. I see people saying they need to empty their cups once or twice a week. I could probably go weeks before the cup even gets half full. I do think I have a good bioload with close to 50 fish in my 360 DT. 9 of them being tangs ranging in size from 4-7".


EDIT: Once a foam head is formed, where should that sit inside the neck? Probably easier for me to understand.



Last edited by mike810; 03/30/2018 at 02:28 AM.
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Unread 03/30/2018, 07:12 PM   #440
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Well, I figured out why the pump wouldn't run above 44 watts without throwing an F3 error. The telescopic tube was raised too high. Once I lowered it, I was able to run at 60 watts without any problems.

Either way, I've backed down the wattage to 36 and going to see how it does there. Right now I have the setting to where the micro bubbles turn into big bubbles right at the bottom of the cup. What is the optimal water level height inside the skimmer?

I'm trying to improve the efficiency of the skimmer as I only get maybe half an inch of skimmate a week if not less. I see people saying they need to empty their cups once or twice a week. I could probably go weeks before the cup even gets half full. I do think I have a good bioload with close to 50 fish in my 360 DT. 9 of them being tangs ranging in size from 4-7".


EDIT: Once a foam head is formed, where should that sit inside the neck? Probably easier for me to understand.

That makes sense since the height of the tube will have a direct impact on the head pressure.
As far as the skimmate production, that is all relative to the amount of fish and load in the display. With close to 50 fish, it’s really going to be a matter of fine tuning but I am thinking you’re going need to wetten the skimmate up a bit by running the level in the skimmer higher. That is where the telescope tube and wedge pipe comes into play. If it were me, I’d do some more testing but I suspect the 40 watts you were running in that previous picture is pretty close to the sweet spot and a bit of fine tuning with the wedge pipe was all that was needed to get more skimmate in the cup.


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Unread 03/31/2018, 07:52 PM   #441
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I think I finally found the sweet spot I am happy with. 40 watts seems to be perfect for me. Sump water level 8.5", wedge closed 50% and tube raised so the output is just above the water line at a 45 degree angle. Anxious to see what it can pull out in a week. This is about 10 hours run time.


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Unread 04/01/2018, 08:32 AM   #442
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I think I finally found the sweet spot I am happy with. 40 watts seems to be perfect for me. Sump water level 8.5", wedge closed 50% and tube raised so the output is just above the water line at a 45 degree angle. Anxious to see what it can pull out in a week. This is about 10 hours run time.
Good god.. That thing is kicking butt! I’m thinking you’ve had that thing mistuned for a while and there are more dissolved organics in the water than you think. My guess is that the foam should settle down a bit once the skimmer catches up. Either way, that thing definitely looks dialed in!


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Unread 04/01/2018, 02:48 PM   #443
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Good god.. That thing is kicking butt! I’m thinking you’ve had that thing mistuned for a while and there are more dissolved organics in the water than you think. My guess is that the foam should settle down a bit once the skimmer catches up. Either way, that thing definitely looks dialed in!
Yeah, I'm sure fiddling with it for the last several days built up a good amount of docs.


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Unread 06/07/2018, 05:23 AM   #444
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What is the best way to get availability of items at the US shop and prices on items that are not listed? I am looking for some parts/accessories for my Dreambox. I sent an e-mail through the US website, but never got a reply.
Thanks


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Unread 06/07/2018, 07:44 AM   #445
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What is the best way to get availability of items at the US shop and prices on items that are not listed? I am looking for some parts/accessories for my Dreambox. I sent an e-mail through the US website, but never got a reply.
Thanks
Send me an email directly. The web email goes to Germany and that can cause delays in response time.


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Current Tank Info: 480G display mixed reef, 90G sump, 90G refugium, 60G display refugium. Check out my build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1783476
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Unread 06/07/2018, 05:34 PM   #446
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Thanks.
Will be sending you an e-mail


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Unread 06/25/2018, 07:12 AM   #447
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Finally I found and have been reading this excellent thread.

I have bothering Scott with questions concerning my a bit oversized BK skimmer the past few weeks, and thought I should contribute here with my Dreambox.

As written in my signature I have a Eco Dreambox equipped with a RD3 80W Return pump which also feeds 2 mediafilters, a BK Deluxe 200 skimmer, a RO tank with the AutoSwitch ON/OFF with non-contact level switch.
Together with this I use a Twolittlefishies KW mixer, a Tunze 3171 Calcium Automat (calciumreactor). The mixer hangs on the Dreambox and the 3171 fits inside.
I use now one mediafilter for Siporax, and the other combines Rowaphos and active carbon.

I also have installed a Deltec 20W UV system recently when I had some fishdisease breakouts

So the Phosban reactor and the Deltec calciumreactor are gone, and the UV unit are added since the picture was taken.

There are som fiddling around to place none-RE equipment, so my dream is to see some nice designed Kalk additive equipment and UV from our German masters.

dreambox1.jpg

Dreambox2.jpg

Dreambox4.jpg


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Unread 07/08/2018, 04:06 AM   #448
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Ready for shipment to USA

Fleece-Dreambox, 200 x 100 x 50 cm, All-In,

Bubble King 300 internal
2xRD3-Speedys 230 Watt
Mediafilter 125 mm stackable
1xRD3 Speedy 50 Watt
LED-Lights
Cable-Holder
Cockpit
Bypass



best regards ... Klaus


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Unread 07/08/2018, 04:08 AM   #449
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more Pictures ...


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Unread 08/19/2018, 07:45 AM   #450
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I have a ECO Dreambox, please look at pictures in post 447 in this thread.

One thing I really miss from my old tank setup is a refugium for chaetomorpha in my at that time glass sump.

I am looking at the refugiums from RE and find that I can place up to a 20x60x50cm refugium to the right in my cabinet. However this may be at the wrong side of the Dreambox.
Anyone having such refugium placed to the right with downdraft to filter socks on left side, and if so how is the refugium connected with flow in and out?


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