Why is an Intex skimmer underwater?

[anderson110]

I was pondering my Intex pump/filter system today, and it seems like, ideally, a skimmer would actually "skim" stuff off the surface of the water - I know I get tons of stuff on the surface of my pool (windy area, close to trees, lots of bugs), and not much if anything gets taken off the surface of the water because it won't get drawn down into the pump inlet.

Is my water level too high? Or does an Intex "skimmer" just not do much if any actual skimming of stuff off the surface of the pool?

 

[linen]

Which intex skimmer do you have?

If you have the underwater one that is just a round screen, then you are right it is useless for skimming. If you have the one that a pipe goes from the suction port (which is underwater) to the skimmer that has an arm attached to the top rail...those work okay. The best is the agp skimmer mod, where you cut the liner and place a "real" agp skimmer on the wall.

 

[anderson110]

Which intex skimmer do you have?

If you have the underwater one that is just a round screen, then you are right it is useless for skimming. If you have the one that a pipe goes from the suction port (which is underwater) to the skimmer that has an arm attached to the top rail...those work okay. The best is the agp skimmer mod, where you cut the liner and place a "real" agp skimmer on the wall.

Yeah, it's the former. I figured it was just a "you get what you pay for" kind of thing for my $300 pool. I will do some searching for the mod you suggest.

 

[linen]

Take a look at this thread and the link supertune has in it: http://www.troublefreepool.com/installing-thru-wall-skimmer-in-intex-confused-t49225.html

 

[frogabog]

The intex skimmer works great. It needs to be under wwter, with the blue ring floating. pushed As far to.the side wall as possible, and tilted so the ring is lower on the inbound side.

Chances are, the filter is getting plugged and it stops skimming well. Clean filter, it will work again.
I got a lot of skimming to do, this bad boy has handled it well for over five years, maybe more.

Lower the skimmer, it can work well quote a ways under water.

 

[CUTiger78]

Can anybody explain the Intex underwater "skimmer" to us non-Intex lurkers? It looks as though the OP has the same expectation of a skimmer as I do - it sucks in surface debris as it recycles water back to the pump & filter. A skimmer can't "skim" if it's underwater; it just sucks (no pun intended).

Thanks!

 

[linen]

On some of the smaller intex's, intex only includes a screen fitting that sits (typically) under the surface on the suction side. They call it a strainer grid, and it looks like this:[attachment=0:2uoi8kxc]10253.jpg[/attachment:2uoi8kxc]

It is mounted much like a return fitting only lower in the water.

The intex skimmer works great. It needs to be under wwter, with the blue ring floating. pushed As far to.the side wall as possible, and tilted so the ring is lower on the inbound side.

I am not positive, but I think the OP has this suction side screen and no skimmer, not the bucket type you are referring to.

 

[donnie5336]

Not sure which the OP is referring to either, but my Ultra Frame Intex came with the "floating" type skimmer, and if you don't have the "floater" part in, the skimmer would just sit underwater. It worked fairly well for me, but I have upgraded pumps to the 2650 pump/SWG combo unit and I would not get enough flow through that skimmer, so this past Sunday I did the "through-wall-skimmer" mod and it is incredible! Not a thing on the surface and tremendous water flow. I would highly recommend it. Other than draining the water level down some and refilling after finished, the acutal modification and install only took about 20 minutes total. Very easy.

 

[frogabog]

I am not positive, but I think the OP has this suction side screen and no skimmer, not the bucket type you are referring to.

OK, makes sense now. I was doing that one stupid phone style from the back yard and missed that whole concept. It's not a skimmer.

The skimmer is really cheap, I think we paid ten bux or less for it many many years ago for our first bubble ring pool. I would have absolutely done this skimmer on a stand like I saw once here if I had to use it on a bubble ring again since any time the ring goes flat, the skimmer gets gorked.

 

[anderson110]

OK, makes sense now. I was doing that one stupid phone style from the back yard and missed that whole concept. It's not a skimmer.

I guess that's the long and short of it.

I thought the definition of a skimmer was "what you attach to the inlet side of your pump" but a skimmer has to skim the surface to be a skimmer, otherwise it isn't one.

Thanks! I may have more dumb questions for you folks as I sort out all the pool lingo...

 

[techguy]

My feeling is that the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask. I frequently ask questions I think I know the answer to just to confirm I have the correct answer.

 

[donnie5336]

My feeling is that the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask. I frequently ask questions I think I know the answer to just to confirm I have the correct answer.

+1 to that! And to the OP, I see in your signature you have the 2650GPH Intex sand filter. You will get much better water flow with a larger through-wall type skimmer. Mine came with the strainer cover you are talking about, which has decent water flow, but I had frequent problems with my pump sucking air. When I'd attach the "floating" skimmer, even worse. But with my new one it stays full and pumping great!

 

[BadLabMom]

The intex skimmer works great. It needs to be under wwter, with the blue ring floating. pushed As far to.the side wall as possible, and tilted so the ring is lower on the inbound side.

Chances are, the filter is getting plugged and it stops skimming well. Clean filter, it will work again.
I got a lot of skimming to do, this bad boy has handled it well for over five years, maybe more.

Lower the skimmer, it can work well quote a ways under water.

I was super frustrated with the skimmer. It basically didn't skim anything. Then I read this post and tilted the skimmer to about a 45 degree slant and low and behold it started catching bugs and stuff. Glad I read this before I just ditched the whole thing.

 

[Jackie G]

I was super frustrated with the skimmer. It basically didn't skim anything. Then I read this post and tilted the skimmer to about a 45 degree slant and low and behold it started catching bugs and stuff. Glad I read this before I just ditched the whole thing.

When you say tilt it inbound what do you mean please? Do you mean tilt it so that it is lower on the side nearest the wall?

We have the intex over the rail one and it works great for about 10 mins then seems to stop working...I'm wondering if the tilting will help...i always thought it was due to the pump not being strong enough but then that doesn't explain why it works well to begin with...

 

[sammckin]

When you say tilt it inbound what do you mean please? Do you mean tilt it so that it is lower on the side nearest the wall?

We have the intex over the rail one and it works great for about 10 mins then seems to stop working...I'm wondering if the tilting will help...i always thought it was due to the pump not being strong enough but then that doesn't explain why it works well to begin with...

I plug the 2nd intake, the skimmer works great.

 

[briangstein]

I plug the 2nd intake, the skimmer works great.

When you plugged the second hole, didn't your pressure drop, and therefore your return flow was cut-back immensely? I have the 16x32 foot pool. I plugged my second intake and got great suction from the skimmer but at the expense of very little flow on the return side. Since I run a Salt Water system, I figure I need a strong return to ensure there's enough chlorine going into the pool. I have since removed the plug and now get strong return water flow and virtually no skimmer suction. Seems like a bad compromise either way you. Did you not find this issue?

 

[Wobblerlorri]

I second the through-wall skimmer. My pool was only $325, but that $35 through-wall skimmer was the best investment I ever made in it (outside the real pump and sand filter). Beats that over the wall Intex skimmer all to heck and back again. All you have to do is get past the fear of cutting the liner!

 

[kellyfair]

So, you can see my pool and equipment in my signature. All works great. But before I installed the through-wall skimmer I had the over the wall Intex skimmer, and it actually worked surprisingly well. My issue was that it would get bumped and moved, so the through wall skimmer eliminated that problem. I use two suctions - one via hose and one is the skimmer.

 

[sammckin]

When you plugged the second hole, didn't your pressure drop, and therefore your return flow was cut-back immensely? I have the 16x32 foot pool. I plugged my second intake and got great suction from the skimmer but at the expense of very little flow on the return side. Since I run a Salt Water system, I figure I need a strong return to ensure there's enough chlorine going into the pool. I have since removed the plug and now get strong return water flow and virtually no skimmer suction. Seems like a bad compromise either way you. Did you not find this issue?

I hadn't noticed any difference in the return. I upgraded my pump and filter this weekend and now I don't have to plug the other whole and the skimmer is working great. I have a lazy river now with the return.