Swabbie on the way
 

I'm can't wait for my Swabbie to arrive. It shipped out the other day and I'm looking forward to having a clean skimmer neck with less hassle on my behalf. I'll post a review in the review forum after it arrives and I've had it running for a few weeks.

Here's a link in case you've been living in a cave and haven't heard of these. When automated cleaners first came out they were in excess of $800. These guys brought them down to earth!

http://www.avastmarine.com/ssc/do/pr...immers/SWABBIE

I am interested in a Swabbie but there is one question I want answered.

Having the blade device inside the skimmer neck, it seems that it would break up the column of foam bubbles. So the question is, would the improvement in skimming from having a clean skimmer neck outweigh the diminished skimming due to the foreign object (Swabbie blade on its arm) hanging down in the skimmer neck.

They seem really reasonable priced and if they work I would like to get one.

One thing the expensive ones have that this does not however is a water feed solenoid and spray assembly. I'm sure this would make the wiper more effective and I wonder where spray only or wipe only when it's done this often is more effective.

Great price for these tho that's for sure.

seriously... is it that hard to clean the thing every other day....

I invented a really similar mechanism to aid me in this same chore...

i call it...the toothbrush...lol

I had the same concerns. To date, the reviews I've seen suggest that whatever minor performance loss occurs by having the apparatus in the neck is offset by having a squeaky clean neck. But I'll find out first hand and post my findings.

True. And from what I've read it seems that with this type of automated cleaner it requires removal for cleaning every 1-2 weeks as some skimmate starts to accumulate on the apparatus. I'll gladly remove it every 1-2 weeks to clean it. And again, after I've had some time with it I'll see what kind of effect it has on skimmer performance overall.

No it's not. But with this thing set on a timer it cleans the neck 6 times a day (or however many times you choose). That's certainly not the type of maintenance I want to perform.

See above. Frequent cleanings multiple times per day improves performance.

So after it scrapes the neck where does the crud go? Back in to the bubbles?

Damn, I'm a slacker. I might clean the neck once every 1 to 2 weeks!

anyone have any actual research or numbers to support that this item actually improves your skimmer efficiency more so than jus cleaing your skimmer neck every week or two?

Oceanic?

Thanks for the link I'll head back to my cave now:biggrin:

Swabbie's here. I'm going to be quite busy this weekend but I'll post my first impressions late this weekend or early next week after it has been running for a day.

Update:

The Swabbie is performing better than I ever could have imagined!

Not only is the Swabbie not interfering with skimmer performance it has, without question, improved the performance of my BK Mini 160. I have more skimmate and it's actually darker without any changes to the skimmer's water/bubble line on my part.

Longer term results with be forthcoming.

very cool..
a video would be sweet if possible....

have you watched in when it "swabs" to see where all the crap it swabs off goes to?