varios6s skimmer pump woes

[Nomadic1]

I've used needle wheel skimmers since 2004-ish, including brands like Deltec, EuroReef, and Vertex. Recently, the pump on my Vertex skimmer died, and I decided to retrofit it with a DC skimmer pump from coralvue, the VarioS6s. It has been an exercise in futility. Without fail, the needle wheel impeller gets hopelessly clogged up with debris within 2 days of cleaning it, and the skimmer stops skimming due to inadequate air intake. I have to pull the entire pump, disassemble it, clean it, then repeat every two days. I have given up, and am not happy I spent $350+ on what is now a paperweight. All the water prior to the skimmer is pre-filtered via filter socks. I could literally let the Deltec, EuroReef, and vertex skimmer pumps run year round, cleaning them twice a year, and even if the impellers had debris in them, they would never stop skimming. Has anyone else experienced this issue with these pumps?

 

[ndrwater]

Aounds like there is enought getting past your socks to be an issue...

Deltec, Vertex etc are a MUCH more expensive pump and may handle chewing up debris better than the Varios.
Id start with making sure nothing, or at least very little actually gets to the intake of the pump first...

 

[Joe w1994]

I've used needle wheel skimmers since 2004-ish, including brands like Deltec, EuroReef, and Vertex. Recently, the pump on my Vertex skimmer died, and I decided to retrofit it with a DC skimmer pump from coralvue, the VarioS6s. It has been an exercise in futility. Without fail, the needle wheel impeller gets hopelessly clogged up with debris within 2 days of cleaning it, and the skimmer stops skimming due to inadequate air intake. I have to pull the entire pump, disassemble it, clean it, then repeat every two days. I have given up, and am not happy I spent $350+ on what is now a paperweight. All the water prior to the skimmer is pre-filtered via filter socks. I could literally let the Deltec, EuroReef, and vertex skimmer pumps run year round, cleaning them twice a year, and even if the impellers had debris in them, they would never stop skimming. Has anyone else experienced this issue with these pumps?

I noticed the coral view pumps lately are hit and miss had 2 brand new skimmers not even 3 months old had the pumps go out and they sent me new ones...try the warranty should be 3 years if you baught them new