How to clean a skimmer?

[Rickvn]

Hi....can somebody please advise me on how extensively to clean my skimmer? I have had it running for 7 months or so. All I clean is the collection cup which includes the riser tube up the middle where the foam creeps up and overflows into the cup. I also clean the pump & venturi. But I never clean the reaction chamber. I just read a few articles about how the whole thing should be cleaned including the reaction chamber, using tap water to remove fatty deposites and other rubbish. They also say vinegar solutions can be used. Then the same articles say that you should allow a new skimmer time to break in as they need to mature and that during the break-in they won't work fully. So my question is....won't a thorough cleaning undo all the maturing process and leave me with a sterile skimmer that could take weeks to get back up to full efficiency? Thanks. Rick.

 

[cmor1701d]

As there different types of skimmers you need to find out what yoru manufacturer recommends.

I do a total clean on my skimmer once a year. That means removing it from the sump and taking it apart. I soak what I can overnight in white vingar to remove/soften deposits, then cleain the part under running tap water with a soft brush. The parts then go into a bucket of RO water with a small ph for a few hours. Then into a 2nd bucket of RO water overnight before being put back together.

Weekly maintenace is just removing the colection cup (sometimes mor than weekly), dumping it and cleaning it. About every other month I need to clean the air feed of deposits, so that part comes off and gets cleaned.

The initial break in period is due to the oils used in the manufacturing process that coat the plastic. It takes a few weeks for skimmer to remove those. I have heard os people using the white vinegar soak on a new skimmer to remove those oils first. Once tehy are gone though the skimmer is back to peak efficiency within hours of being put back in service.