AquaMaxx ConeS CO-1 Review

That is actually one of the main things I wanted to clear up with second and third image in my post. What appears to be the open angled pipe is actually covered/enclosed and there is a small oval opening the foam comes up and out of. So the cup can hold skimmate up to the oval which is pretty close to the top of the cup.

 

Thanks for the explanation guys. That is really too bad about the cup. If there is any good news here, it is that it may be fairly easy to fabricate your own cup for pretty cheap. Alternatively, in my case, up the street from me is a place called Tap Plastics (http://www.tapplastics.com/) that would crank it out if they had the original cup to work off of. I bet they'd charge about $30 for materials and labor. Not sure if you have something similar, but just an idea.

 

Very nice review. I bet the rocketship legs do more than damped the noise, it has to add 1hp for the coolness factor! The bubbles look so dense in those mini cones it looks like milk! I think the mini-cones are an interesting design and I hope they work well.

I would be interested in seeing a short video of the skimmer running? And maybe showing the skimmer cup as well?

 

Matt, you read my mind. Once the newness wears off I may try either retrofitting the cup or having a new cup built to see what difference it makes. I am jealous that you have Tap Plastics so close by.

Sure, would be happy to do a video. Out of town so will try to get something up next week.

 

nc208082 you are right about cleaning the collection cup! It is PAINFUL to clean with all the tight angles resulting in nooks and crannies. If you want it totally clean you would need something like a q-tip.

The other thing I am not pleased with is the air silencer. I keep the water level at slightly over 9.5 inches which is within the recommended range. This places the bottom portion of the air silencer under the water. Problem is that it then fills with water because the pieces aren't sealed together and then you have a bubbling air silencer. I should be able to fix with either an o-ring or I can seal it with glue it but I would have thought they would have done something like that on their end.

 

Alright, so a week has passed and the pictures below are what I ended up with. I was out of town so just let the skimmer run without any adjusting or cleaning. The skimmate is a little on the wet side for my taste so I will have to try dialing-it-in over the next few days. As nc208082 mentioned, the underside of the angle collects a lot of sludge and I wonder if this prevents it from accumulating in the cup as efficiently. The jury is still out as to whether the Aquamaxx is performing any better than my old Octopus.

 

For the air silencer I had the same problem, I ended up creating a stand out of egg crate and raising skimmer up so it sits at about 8.5 inches of water, I also took the silencer apart and wrapped the bottom of the tube with teflon tape a few times and put it back together tightly. This sealed it perfectly and makes no more noise.

 

Thanks for the details guys. Keep them coming. Any more thought to a new cup?

 

At this point I am somewhat underwhelmed at the skimmer's performance. I personally think the angled cup makes it very difficult to skim dry. If you like wet skim then this won't be as much of an issue. I am still considering fabricating a new collection cup to see if that helps. A slight hum from the legs also showed up a couple weeks in. I placed silicon tubing under each leg and that seemed to take care of the noise.

Here is a video of the skimmer running as requested:

 

That is a shame that the cup is so flawed as that body is dense with bubbles. I hope you make a new cup. I bet it will really open it up.