Help with my EV-180 Skimmer

Hello to all!
I set up my EV-180 problably 3-4 weeks ago, and i have not been able to get it to work properly. I hope its still in its break-in period, but i am not sure.
The only thing i could think that is not working properly is my pump. The skimmer requires a mag 7. So i installed a mag 7, but i could not fit the skimmer inside the sump, so i placed it outside, on the back of the tank and fuge. The water being collected by the skimmer is in the fuge. So from the fuge to the actuall skimmer, the pump has to deal with 1.5 feet of head.

Heres were i need help.

Is the 1.5 feet of head affecting the pump's performance enough to not skim?
Could it be that the water im collecting is from the fuge?

I have a mag 9.5 siting around that i could use, just i dont know if i should.
I just dont understand what it could be. I atached some pics of were the skimmer is, were the pump is, and the the little skimmate it has produced.
PLEASE HELP!!

 

It's quite possible that the water coming out of the refugium has nothing for the skimmer to pull out. That's why it's usually recommended to have the skimmer pull water from the sump or the main tank. That might be your problem but since I don't know much about that skimmer, I can't help you any more than that. Sorry!

 

It could have something to do with it.
I have the big 400 unit of it and in 2 days it was doing it's job.
I say put in the 9.5 and give it a shot. Just remember to put in a ball valve after the pump / before the skimmer. Also i believe if you read the directions you need to move the gate valve till the water line is just below the top of the black box before the clear tube. It took me a few days to get it just right. You can get the pdf directions on AquaC - Protein Skimmers!

If that still does not help feel free to call my cell which I will PM you with.

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks a lot jtreef ill be calling you in a bit.

Amcarrig, i cant figure out a way of getting the water straight from the tank. The water comes in and passes through a baffle, then straight into the fuge, and again into the small sump. If i was to pick the water out of the sump into the fuge, it is already been passed by the fuge.

Im really thankful for all your sugestions. I just emailed customer service, and i directed them to this thread to see how i have the skimmer set up. Lets see what they say. Ill keep you all posted. Thanks a lot Guys

 

Any time.
The best place to start is with the air valvue fully open. Ball valvue after the feeding pump fully open. And only messing with the gate valvue.

 

Okay guys, i finally got my skimmer working, and just how everyone said, its awesome, i love it!!!
Ima take a pic of all the foaming its doing.
What was messing my skimmer from doing its job was two things. One, i didnt have the T on the wastegate, thus it wasnt getting any air while coming out. And second, i had a small flewible tube on the mag 7 intake that was messing the performance up. Now i got it working, and yeah, the mag 7 is enough. Thanx for all your help guys, now i feel like i know everything there is to know about the EV 180!!!

 

now you can consider yourself an expert

 

LOL Thanks JTreef and amcarrig for all your help!

 

GOOD GOD!!! i didnt know that it wasnt working still! thats great that you got it working.

 

That is awesome 4603!!! I knew it had to be something minor. I cant believe that you were still having problems with it as I know we discussed the issue before I left for vacation. That sucks but fortunately it is ok now.
I wouldn't have tried to go with a bigger pump as altering the flow produced by the pump by use of a ball or gate valve would possibly cause wear and tear on the bigger pump due to scaling down the performance! Thank goodness it is working correctly now as the 180 is awesome and powerful!