March 2005
These unbiased reviews represents Randall Clarke's honest appraisal of the product based on his experience and knowledge at the time of writing. As they say, your mileage may vary
Revisions Made
Jan 31 2006
Jan 29 2007 |
Key Features
- a full sized and mini skimmer are available
- weir door size options
- UV capable with optional Bulb(s) purchase
- foam filtration/debris screening
- rigid plastic net/basket
I was new to savio skimmers this year (2004) and installed 3. However, I don't think you need to install a plethora of units to spot the obvious deficiencies with this unit. Don't get me wrong, it may be the best skimmer on the market but it is not without is shortcomings |
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I never understood why anyone would build a thin walled flimsy skimmer. But that's all that was initially available on the market a few years ago - and at an exorbitant price. Savio has addressed this issue in spades. This unit is solid and extremely strong - I'm over 200 lbs. and when standing on it it will not budge . It is rounded which provides the most structural strength - you will not see any of these units deform out of shape after a Winter freeze
The plastic collection basket is solid enough, although I'm dubious as to the ultimate life span of it, and am not familiar with the replacement cost. The capacity of the skimmer is ample enough, you can also add UV bulbs. The full size regular unit allows for 2 bulbs, the mini skimmer will accept 1 bulb
There is a foam insert for some extra water polishing. This is easily removed for cleaning but I find it most ponds, it clogs too quickly. The drilling through of a few bypass holes is a workaround |
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The biggest negatives I can see is are a weak skimming action and a lack of skimmer adjustability. Other models seem to be more adept in terms of flow and skimming action with varying flows. On one particular install, the savio did not perform well in skimming some surface foam. As a matter of fact, the bulk of it went right past the mouth of the skimmer. The weir door does not seem to be buoyant enough to float just below the surface. It is this key reduction of area which increases the celerity of water and therefore the skimming draw. Other weir doors have foam to float their doors properly. The Savio does not. (I suspect the door is hollow and filled with air), it simply does not perform as is should. This can be rectified by gluing some foam to the weir door and/or by using a more powerful pump
I would also suggest that savio put out a default unit that just uses the largest weir door. Snap-on plastic sections could be fabricated that would reduce the size of the opening, thereby increasing the flow rate into the skimmer. You could then start off with a smaller pump and if you required more skimming, you would not have to re-install the unit - snap off the sections and install a more powerful pump and your done. Ultimately I will say the skimmer does work, it could work better and I think the option to be able to easily use it with a large variance in flow rates is important
Even though the regular unit is sizable, their is still not a lot of space for a submersible pump. I recommend an external pump be used. On one unit I installed a 1.5" bulkhead for an external pump and from what I could eyeball, the template for the 2 inch bulkhead would cause me to saw into part of the internal framing. This would be a no-no. If possible, the best bulkhead location would be at the bottom of the unit in the pump cavity. Placed here, water will be better filtered because it will pass through the filter screening and there is more space to install a larger bulkhead
Another issue I have is the lid of the unit. It is way too tight. You should be able to fit the lid into to place easily, instead the tolerance is low and the aggravation high. Not sure if the reasoning here, I don't think the lid is going to blow away, its so heavy duty.
I also have a real problem with the fact that there is no www.savio.com or www.savioskimmers.com or www.savioskimmer.com....What is savio doing ??? Errr.. It took awhile to discover their website is actually www.savio.cc. This is poor
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Build Quality
The unit is very solid and strong. Lid does not fit easily which is really not acceptable and sometimes the debris basket catches when being removed
Functionality
This skimmer works, I just think it could work a little better with a door that is more buoyant and a design that would allow for a wide variance of flow rates to be used
Expandability
The ability to ad UV lamps at a reasonable price is a definite plus
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