Skimmer Diverter

[BlueWave8]

Starting up my pool this week, I found that there is a flow diverter with a float and an adjustable sliding valve at the bottom of my skimmer.

My skimmer has one hole (and pipe) going from it to the pad, I have one main drain and four returns. All plumbing is 2" and the skimmer and main drain join together before the suction side of the pump and they each have an adjustable two way Jandy Never-lube valve that is installed backwards (by backwards I mean that the end of the valve that says "IN" is on the output, not the input).

A couple questions...

1) Should I be concerned that the valves are installed backwards? It looks like it would only make a difference if the valves were closed, and they are always 100% open unless I am vacuuming. I think I can take out all the screws and reinsert the valve body in the correct direction but I don't know if its worth the effort. Is this an issue?

2) Is it appropriate to have the skimmer and main drain both 100% open for normal operation?

3) What exactly is the purpose of the flow diverter in my skimmer and do I need it there? What are the pros and cons of leaving or removing it?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[JasonLion]

1) Don't worry, they can be installed any way you want.
2) Yes.
3) If there is only one pipe to the skimmer it isn't useful to have the diverter installed. It just slightly obstruct flow if you leave it in.

 

[BlueWave8]

Thanks for the response Jason.

I wasn't sure about the Never-Lubes because their valves aren't symmetrical like a ball-valve is, so I didn't know if it would damage the seal to use it in reverse, so thanks for clearing that up.

I will remove the diverter when I get home this evening. I just installed the EcoStar pump yesterday and I believe that the diverter may be causing the pump to occasionally go into Auto Prime mode (this just happened once when I was messing with the diverter).