Potential skimmer/piping issue

[racharoow]

Hubby was cleaning the pool today and as he was cleaning the skimmer basket out, he somehow managed to drop the thermometer into the skimmer sans basket. Has this happened to anyone? Our piping is 3" so we know there is no immediate threat of it clogging the pipe, but any thoughts on how to retrieve it? Do we need to call a plumber at this point? Goes to show we should have just thrown the thermometer out when the string broke!!

Thanks for the help!

 

[zea3]

Check the strainer basket on the pump. Hopefully it ended up in there. Check if the glass has broken and any mercury has leaked out.

 

[JamesW]

I think that most pool thermometers contain alcohol (red or blue liquid) instead of mercury (silver liquid).

Are you sure that the piping is 3"? That's unusually large piping for a 16 x 34 residential pool.

You might be able to use water pressure to push it back out.

 

[linen]

I don't think you can buy a pool thermometer with mercury anymore, but it could be an old one. I was able to get mine out of my supply line by putting hose in backwards and flushing it out (my pipes are only 1.5").

 

[racharoow]

We were able to get it out...after trying a few things it was actually a plunger that pulled it out for us. It was not broken and liquid in there was blue. Thanks for the help!

And you guys are right...plumbing is 2", not 3"...not sure what I was thinking!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Glad you got it out and that it wasn't broken. An old plunger is good for a lot of things besides the intended use. :-D