Venturi keeps getting clogged with salt creep

[NYBumkin]

I was researching this as well. I found a post on The Boston Reefers society of someone who keeps a siracha bottle of RODI water at the tank and squirts a little in the Venturi muffler. I tried it, clears it right up.
For me it seems to be buildup from whatever is in the air going into the muffler, not so much creep from the Venturi working it’s way up the tube. It builds up around the pointed part of the thumbscrew that adjusts the air flow into the Venturi tube.
relocating the muffler outside the sump cabinet may definitely help this, but I’m going to do the rinse method for now.

 

[Lasse]

The problem

About once a month I have to take my Venturi out and scrape the salt out of it because it causes my skimmer to overflow. It's getting pretty ridiculous. Sometimes it's as little as 2 weeks before my skimmer starts acting up from it. Is there any way to prevent this?

This is hard blockage at the air intake of the venturi

The solution

I have my skimmer turn off for 15 minutes everyday so I think that keeps my venturi clear.

But I do shutdown my skimmer a couple times a day which seems to help.

I had one that did it constantly. I ended up hooking up to a timer to shut it down an hour every night. Seemed to do the trick. Hth.

I had exactly this problem. I shout down the skimmer 1 minute a day - before -> rinsing every two weeks. After -> rinsing every 6 month

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Montiman]

A solution I have seen for this issue for gear heads is plumbing a Tom's aqualifter from your ATO reservoir to the venturi and then connecting the pump to a timer to have it run a couple times per day. This periodically flushes the venturi of salt creep in an automated fashion.

I would first test with RO water before automating the process but I know people who do this and find it solves the issue.

 

[Lasse]

A solution I have seen for this issue for gear heads is plumbing a Tom's aqualifter from your ATO reservoir to the venturi and then connecting the pump to a timer to have it run a couple times per day. This periodically flushes the venturi of salt creep in an automated fashion.

I would first test with RO water before automating the process but I know people who do this and find it solves the issue.

IMO - this is to complicate things. With a daily stop - the water from the skimmer backflush the air intake of the venturo in the same way and it is flushed away before any build up will establish itself. I have tested in my setup - the water level in that part is around 17 cm when the skimmer is filled up and that contra pressure seems to be enough to flush the air intake of the venturo free from CaCO3 build up (if it is done every day) IMO it is better to stop 2 * 1 minute instead for 1*15 minutes - it is the backflush that will do the job.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Montiman]

IMO - this is to complicate things. With a daily stop - the water from the skimmer backflush the air intake of the venturo in the same way and it is flushed away before any build up will establish itself. I have tested in my setup - the water level in that part is around 17 cm when the skimmer is filled up and that contra pressure seems to be enough to flush the air intake of the venturo free from CaCO3 build up (if it is done every day) IMO it is better to stop 2 * 1 minute instead for 1*15 minutes - it is the backflush that will do the job.

Sincerely Lasse

You do have a point. Those I know who use the aqualifter method use beckett or Mazzei skimmers where the venturi would not be submerged durring a stop.

 

[John08007]

Mine, bubble magnus, has a hose leading from venturi to a muffler. Never ever had a problem with it. Idk why you would have a problem, is there a lot of bubbling in your sump?

Are you able to extend or add a hose to extend the air intake away from the water?

 

[Lasse]

My skimmer have something like the Bubble magnus curve inlet for the air into the venturi.

And it is deep down in the intake (blue marking) and connecting to the incoming pipe (lower picture - red marking) thats it will be a upbuild of calcium carbonate which block the air intake.

And - I take air from the outside. Probably - there is a rise in pH just there the air is mixing with the water and CaCO3 will precipitate


Sincerely Lasse