skimmer issues??????

[cuz]

did a bit of cleaning last night my water level was below the intake on my eshopp hob skimmer and now i can't get the thing primed for the life of me!! Any tips or secrets anyone might know about would be appreciated so i can get this thig runnin again!! I've triedadding water to the neck as well as pinching off the air line but nothing seems to help????
p.s. when i unplug it i get a burst of bubbles out the intake tube??