As some of you know I recently bought a Tom Aquatics pro-series wet / dry filter. So far Im please with the exception of this mornings problems which I would like to point out for the benefit of other owners and future buyers.
Specificallythe HOB skimmer box with auto start & stop that prevents flooding of the sump and is self starting after a power failure. The HOB skimmer box has a series of air line tubing that allows or stops the siphon in the siphon tube should a power outage occur and also uses suction from a small aux water pump to reestablish siphon once power is restored.
After only a months uninterrupted use those airlines have become affected by mineral deposits that interrupted the flow of air and broke the siphon all while the sump pump was running dry. I had originally thought that the sump pump had a failure but I recall a fish keeper on another site having the same symptoms that were caused by the same filter system and HOB skimmer box.
Thankfully the series of air lines, siphon tube, and aux pump are all designed to lift off the HOB skimmer box without having to unclasp and disconnect the large out flow and return water lines. Rather then trying to clean out the airline hoses comprised of a total of 4 feet, I simply removed them, rinsed out the large siphon tube, connectors, and aux pump filter. Then reassembled the unit using new air line I have left over from when I had air stones instead of power-heads today, about 50 feet.
Anyway the new airline took care of the problem and the auto start reestablished siphon making water available to the sump pump which apparently can run dry without damage. So rather then clean those small air lines, I recommend having new airline on hand and just replacing them altogether.
Specificallythe HOB skimmer box with auto start & stop that prevents flooding of the sump and is self starting after a power failure. The HOB skimmer box has a series of air line tubing that allows or stops the siphon in the siphon tube should a power outage occur and also uses suction from a small aux water pump to reestablish siphon once power is restored.
After only a months uninterrupted use those airlines have become affected by mineral deposits that interrupted the flow of air and broke the siphon all while the sump pump was running dry. I had originally thought that the sump pump had a failure but I recall a fish keeper on another site having the same symptoms that were caused by the same filter system and HOB skimmer box.
Thankfully the series of air lines, siphon tube, and aux pump are all designed to lift off the HOB skimmer box without having to unclasp and disconnect the large out flow and return water lines. Rather then trying to clean out the airline hoses comprised of a total of 4 feet, I simply removed them, rinsed out the large siphon tube, connectors, and aux pump filter. Then reassembled the unit using new air line I have left over from when I had air stones instead of power-heads today, about 50 feet.
Anyway the new airline took care of the problem and the auto start reestablished siphon making water available to the sump pump which apparently can run dry without damage. So rather then clean those small air lines, I recommend having new airline on hand and just replacing them altogether.
