Skimmer Drain

[Douggie-Style]

Hello All-

I have a Skimz 161.....great skimmer but the only negaive is it does not have a drain for the cup.

Has anyone ever drilled their collection to install a drain on the side? If so how?

I know It will be slow and steady but what kind of drill bit, drain,did you seal it.......ect.

Thanks!

 

[Cubsfan16]

I have the same skimmer and I'm considering doing the same. I'm planning on drilling and tapping the hole and adding a threaded 90degree barb fitting then using poly tubing to direct the nog to a waste container. Questions / googling I have yet to do is figure out what tap to use with plastic?

 

[RedDevil.258]

It's simple!

Most likely its acrylic so you can dill it with a large diameter drill bit. I have one of those quick bits that has many different sizes on it . I also had some extra small plumbing fittings with a barbed ends on them. Drill the hole press fit the fitting seal it with some silicone and Voila!! DIY drain.

 

[goat585]

I was thinking about buying this skimmer and it is good to know there is no drain. How is the cleaning cup held to the skimmer body? Is it twisted on screwed on etc?

I would get a threaded barb elbow as suggested and use a o-ring or silicone to seal it to the skimmer. You will need to get some sort of nut to hold down the fitting unless you tap the hole.

 

[Douggie-Style]

The cup is a 1/4 turn removal. Very easy. The skimmer works great and that is why I need the drain. It collects a ton of skimate.

Cubsfan16: Can you send me some DIY pics when you do your, your description is exactly what I want to do.

 

[mlreef]

Drilling should be pretty straight forward and easy to do.I would use weld on 16 for the fitting.

 

[Cubsfan16]

Douggie- Will do. I am probably going to just borrow a tap from work sometime this week or next. Ill post once i do it. Just curious, what depth do run your skimmer at?

The cup is a 1/4 turn removal. Very easy. The skimmer works great and that is why I need the drain. It collects a ton of skimate.

Cubsfan16: Can you send me some DIY pics when you do your, your description is exactly what I want to do.

 

[Douggie-Style]

Drain is done......I am not sure how to post pictures but I basically did drill a 3/4" hole midway up cup. (I did a 1/8" burr hole to prevent cracking, then used a paddle bit after that)

I then put in a 3/4" 90 degree barbed elbow and the fit was snug but I put an o-ring and silicone on either side of the hole.....no leaks and the tube is runs to a 1 gallon collection jug......no worries about overflow anymore!

 

[Douggie-Style]

Cubsfan-

Sorry, I run my skimmer at 8"

I had a friend that had the same skimmer and he said this depth worked perfect and indeed it does.....although I do get a wet skimmate and if I lifted it a bit I may be able to get a drier, thicker skimmate but in reality it really doesnt make much of a difference.

Good luck!