# Skimmer Virgin



## CamH (Jan 5, 2014)

Good afternoon,

So after seemingly solving a plumbing issue I thought I'd go ahead and test out my skimmer while I have the tank filled with water. It's not salt water but it's just to test things out. I have a used SWC skimmer but the pump is a new SicceSK-2500. I plugged it in and it just hums. That's it. I detached the pump from the skimmer body and got some bubbles but when I reattach it to the base I get nothing. Now I don't get anything regardless if it's attached to the base. Am I doing something wrong?


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## CamH (Jan 5, 2014)

Bumping this ahead of my previous thread


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## lewig (Aug 4, 2013)

CamH said:


> Good afternoon,
> 
> So after seemingly solving a plumbing issue I thought I'd go ahead and test out my skimmer while I have the tank filled with water. It's not salt water but it's just to test things out. I have a used SWC skimmer but the pump is a new SicceSK-2500. I plugged it in and it just hums. That's it. I detached the pump from the skimmer body and got some bubbles but when I reattach it to the base I get nothing. Now I don't get anything regardless if it's attached to the base. Am I doing something wrong?


Check an air intake line from the skimmer pump,it must be above the water; also with freshwater you'll see minimum of bubbles due to the density of freshwater vs. saltwater; check air intake line for blockage


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## CamH (Jan 5, 2014)

lewig said:


> Check an air intake line from the skimmer pump,it must be above the water; also with freshwater you'll see minimum of bubbles due to the density of freshwater vs. saltwater; check air intake line for blockage


I'll try it in a bucket of saltwater tomorrow. I know they're not very efficient in freshwater but I thought I'd see something. I'll check the airline as well. Thanks


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

I'll second checking the airline intake, I experienced something like this recently, and it turned out the valve plugged into one end of the airline was clogged. Once I removed the valve, the skimmer worked fine.

Can you verify that the pump is working?


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## CamH (Jan 5, 2014)

solarz said:


> Can you verify that the pump is working?


It hums when plugged in and on one try I got bubbles. It wasn't working when connected to the base so I disconnected it and that's when I got some bubbles. Didn't get any after that in either situation


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

CamH said:


> It hums when plugged in and on one try I got bubbles. It wasn't working when connected to the base so I disconnected it and that's when I got some bubbles. Didn't get any after that in either situation


Can you detach the pump and see if it's actually moving water?


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## CamH (Jan 5, 2014)

Yes but it wasn't doing anything but humming


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Used skimmers sitting dry IF it had not been cleaned out and rinsed in FW will get a seized impeller from crystallized salt. Be it in the well or to the impeller. Hopefully the shaft IS NOT ceramic as if it has seized, it takes delicate work and patience to free them up.

Vinegar and an ultrasonic cleaner works well if you have access to the latter


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## CamH (Jan 5, 2014)

wtac said:


> Used skimmers sitting dry IF it had not been cleaned out and rinsed in FW will get a seized impeller from crystallized salt. Be it in the well or to the impeller. Hopefully the shaft IS NOT ceramic as if it has seized, it takes delicate work and patience to free them up.
> 
> Vinegar and an ultrasonic cleaner works well if you have access to the latter


It's a new pump. Got it going this morning but it is really loud! Have the unit sitting on a silicone pad and still noisy. I thought it might be the unit itself vibrating so I pulled it off the unit and just held it and still really noisy. Wondering if maybe I got a bum pump?


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Ah...read it wrong and had another thing in mind...sry about that.

Put just the pump itself (block the air intake) in a bucket of water an plug it in. You should get water coming out of the exit port. Then unblock the air to see if it will draw air.

If all goes well, partially block the exit port of the pump (thumb or finger) to simulate some head pressure. If the pump stops, there is a problem with either the impeller or motorblock.

Its quite been awhile since I've tinkered with the Sicce PSK pumps. They are a PITA.


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## CamH (Jan 5, 2014)

Did what you said and it works fine... But only if it's aligned right. Almost like there's a short in it. Never seen a pump act like this. And you can hear it from 10' away. Called Aquatic Kingdom and they said to bring it in so I'll do that either tomorrow or Monday. Thanks for the help


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## CamH (Jan 5, 2014)

Update: Daniel at Aquatic Kingdom switched the pumps but the new pump wouldn't quiet down either. Called Aquatic Kingdom and they're going to allow a return. Not going to take the cash though. Service there is really good so going to take in store credit

Going to get a BM Curve 7 and see how that goes


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