(problem resolved) with SWC 120 cone skimmer

saints fan 420 you gave me an idea to see if the pin was in right and see if i get side to side moment from the impeller when i push it with a small object while its of. well i dont it feels solid the pins in correct. im now thinking the mesh wheel on the impeller is hitting the sides as it spins. have you ever heard of this?

could that have swelled in the months time and its why this problem now? is this normal? apparently swc changes out the impeller that come with the pump to a mesh wheel for better air. i have the hard solid plastic one here was in the box as an extra part.

 

It sounds like the impeller is out of ballance. Is the impeller fully intact? When you say cleaned it, did you rinse it or use vinegar? Do you have dose or have a calcium reactor output in the skimmer chamber? Does the impeller spin easily on the shaft?

 

impeller is fully intact. that i can see. when i pilled it out the pin didn't come with it. it came apart pin/ end cap/ mesh wheel with magnet. i cleaned it running than took it apart and cleaned it.
i did have my kalk water going into that skimmer chamber but switched that a few days ago. this noise started last night. the mesh wheel looks very black not a spot of calcium build up in it.

how do i fix a out of balance impeller?

 

Does the impellor spin on the shaft easily? I would bet that there is a build up of Ca on the shaft and in the magnet. Soak the shaft, magnet, and impellor in vinegar for an hour then see if that works. I had an issue similar to your and there was just enough buildup of Ca on the shaft to prevent the magnet from spinning properly. Have you made sure that the impeller is attached to the magnet properly yet?

New impeller would fix an out of ballance one

 

ok i will try what you recommend. will let you know in an hour if it worked.

lol a new impeller would fix it. yea but where do i get one? and after only having the skimmer a month? this is not right.

 

here it is sitting in the vinegar
it did spin freely when i tried moving it with it in the pump and locked down

 

No, this should not be happening after such a short period of time. The only place that I was able to find that sold impellers was shop.reeffiltration.com. You may wind up having to contact the manufacturer. I hope the vinegar works.

 

when i put the impellers magnet side down on my counter top i can see the mesh wheel on the top is not even its tilted a bit. im guessing its whats causing the problem

 

well i contacted the company i purchased the skimmer from and they gave me the contact info for the the skimmer. i emailed swc got right back to me. im now waiting for the parts to fix the skimmer. if all goes well i should be skimming again next week some time. i sure hope this gets fixed and stays fixed.

 

At least we know what the issue is now and it is getting fixed.