DIY Skimmer - Do they need some sort of air vent?

[mloebl]

I built my own skimmer, and one thing I didn't add was any sort of vent hole in the top of the collection cup (there was a small hole from the center of the hole saw, but it was in the center so eventually clogged with skimmate.) I notice a lot of the one's I've seen DO have some sort of hole in the top. Is this really necessary to allow air to escape to avoid pressure issues or something left over from the manufacturing process?

Thanks!

-Mike

 

[JohnK]

Seems to me that you need a way for air to get out, otherwise I don't think it would be able to go in? I know with a beckett skimmer, if the air out is blocked, the skimmer stops pulling air.

 

[mloebl]

Seems to me that you need a way for air to get out, otherwise I don't think it would be able to go in? I know with a beckett skimmer, if the air out is blocked, the skimmer stops pulling air.

Thanks for the reply and that's kind of what I was thinking... I noticed that it was pulling really well until the vent in the top eventually closed up. I then noticed as the skimmate rain thru the drain line, it would jerk thru it as it skimmate was coming in, so figured there may be a pressure issue going on. I guess tonight I'll try drilling a hole offset to one side to see what it does. I was going to leave the cover off to see what happend, but would get a bit messy

-Mike

 

[JohnK]

Do you use a seperate waste collector? If so, can you set it up like a PM or aquac with a good sized drain tube into a sealed container, with a auto shutoff/air valve (ie ping pong ball in pvc fitting to make a simple float valve thing)?

If that didn't make sense, just look at a PM or aquac collector. Air flows out until the container is full, then the ping pong ball floats up and closes off the air outlet, shutting down the skimmer.

 

[mloebl]

Hi jimmyj7090,

Yup that makes perfect sense. My waste collecter line is a 1/2" so it may be a bit small. I do have a float valve hooked up so if if the water level in the bucket gets to a certain level, it shuts off the pump and sends me an email

-Mike

 

[smithcreek]

If you drill a hole or a couple holes out towards the edge of the collection cup cover try gluing a very short piece of acrylic tube, about 1/4"-3/8" on the inside of the cover. It needs to be larger than the neck (?, tube that sticks into the collection cup) by 1" or so. When I made my skimmer I put holes out towards the edge, but the skimmate would clog those up in a couple days. The acrylic tube glued to the cover keeps the skimmate from getting to those holes and directs it downwards into the cup.