Replacing the old skimmer for pool renovate. difficult? necessary?

[boutselis]

Is it difficult to replace a skimmer? Mine is over 20 years old. its the type with the floating cylinder inside a basket that moves up and down with the water. It doesn't seem to be cracked. it does seem to leak. like the bond between it and the surrounding cement is bad. I've posted a picture of the inside where I think its leaking. You can see an old buddy repair.

So how hard is it? It looks intimidating all wrapped in concrete and i want to do it my self because I'm getting quotes over $1000 for replacement. I'm sure I can cut the patio, dig under it, detach the line and chip away all the concrete holding it in place. Thats the easy part. attaching it properly is obviously the problem.

And my other question is it necessary. I was assuming that because its over 20 years old it should be replaced regardless because its a piece of old plastic. I've worked on PVC underground sprinkler line that got a little brittle with age. is that happening to skimmer too?

 

[tcrote5516]

I would replace it but my pool is also in NH and has seen countless freeze thaw cycles. It sees a lot of pressure when freezing. In FL the plastic may hold up better due to the relatively easy life it has. With that said, UV is far more damaging to plastic so I would take a hard look at the sections that are exposed to the sun. Time is the other enemy and 20 years is a long time. I guess the question becomes is it any less work to do it now while you're renovating other parts of the pool vs. sometime in the future when it fails? If the answer is yes than change it. If the answer is no, "if it aint broke don't fix it".

 

[boutselis]

thats a good way to look at it. so the obvious answer is yes as to wether or not to do it.

but how difficult is it? whats the process?

 

[kadavis]

http://www.pentairpool.com/pdfs/AdmiralS20OM.pdf, this looks like the skimmer you have. To a novice it is a difficult job, that is why there quoting $1000.00 to replace. If you feel comfortable cutting and breaking deck, re-attaching the plumbing, securing the skimmer in concrete and making sure the mouth of skimmer is aligned and waterproofed and re-tiled then it's not to difficult

 

[boutselis]

( FIRST OFF I WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE FOR ALL THIS GREAT HELP. THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED)

I won't know if I felt comfortable doing it until I'm finished. thank you for that link. Looking at the skimmer in that manual and seeing the instructions cleared up a problem I was creating in my mind that doesn't actually exist.

I don't have an equalizer line. I've done fine without it since I bought the house in 2004. I'm certainly capable of core drilling a hole and putting in some pipe but If that can just be plugged up I may just do that instead.

I see a lot of skimmers with little doors on them. I think the manual called it a trimmer plate. what is its function?

 

[kadavis]

It is called a weir door, it is what creates the water flowing into skimmer to pull surface debri in. Yours is missing in the picture and instead somebody put in the floating device into the basket. You don't need to install a equalizer line if the front line of the skimmer closest to pool is connected to the main drain at the bottom of pool. That also is tricky to reinstall. If the main drain line is a seperate line then you need the equalizer put in

 

[boutselis]

yes. both are on one line and hooked together with a valve. So I have a valve that I can switch between the skimmer or the vac and both are hooked to the bottom drain. I can turn the bottom drain off all the way, on solo, or anything in between.

I guess the floating cylinder just isnt used any more. Mine got stuck one time and would not lower and it blocked off 95% of the water. Guess thats why no one uses them

 

[smracing]

I replaced mine myself. Nothing difficult about it, but it was quite a bit of work.

 

[boutselis]

I replaced mine myself. Nothing difficult about it, but it was quite a bit of work.

work I'm prepared for. I'm just gonna start cutting it out. The reason I was worried is the pool renovation guys I talked to all either tried to talk me into leaving a 25+ year old skimmer in place or flat out said they didn't do it. The one guy who was gonna do it at a reasonable cost was also charging me $4500 to fix a different problem that doesn't even exist. They acted like it was super hard for even pros to do. Before I talked to them I figured it wouldn't be all that hard. but I guess I let them scare me