water moves into the skimmer too slow??

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garymala

0
Sep 12, 2013
8
Tampa, Florida, USA
hi everyone! im a beginner. i just moved to usa and live in my new home for a year.
my pool is about 27500 gallons with a hayward sand filter. but i dont know how the valves work, so i keep it as original, one open and one closed.
today I looked into the skimmer and saw the water moves into skimmer very slow or even not moving.
i always clean skimmer basket and the bump basket.
the pool now still cloudy after 4days i tried to clean my green pool. still have algae. im not vacuum yet because the pool cloudy.
please help
 
Welcome to TFP! :wave:

We need a bit more information to diagnose this...
Have you checked your filter to see if it needs cleaning/backwashing? Is your pool in-ground or above-ground? If in-ground, is there a main drain? Are the two valves you describe the only valves or are there more?

A couple of things to help us help you...
  1. Please add the state and nearest city in which you live to your profile. Don’t need specific town, nearest major city is fine. Your climate is important to the advice you receive. By doing this, it will appear in all your posts without you having to enter it each time.[/*:m:rsamga6m]
  2. Suggest adding information about your pool and related equipment in your signature. By doing this, it will automatically appear in all your posts so you do not have to re-enter it each time. If you have a SWG, please include those letters in your signature so it stands out as the advice for SWG vs. non-SWG is often different. [/*:m:rsamga6m]
Here's how to do both of the above: Adding location to your profile and pool info to your signature.
 
hello! :-D
I have added information that I know in the signature. and my location too.
the other information I will find out and add later
i backwash my filter every 8 hours.
Here are some pictures of it.
my pool before, green and too much algae :x
null_zpsa7d3eb15.jpg

and now, cloudy, not vacuum yet because i cant see the bottom.
null_zps86bf2521.jpg

my filter and pump, it is all equipment i have, no heater.
null_zps8c983ad8.jpg

null_zps2f61842c.jpg

with 3 valves, 2 in the red circle, and 1 connect with the chlorine feeder.
- my filter pressure gauge at 20 and something out of drain cap.
null_zpsf6821d6a.jpg

- and my newest water test results.
free chlorine, total chlorine, combined chlorine = 0.0
pH = 7.4
hardness = 190 ppm
alkanility = 37ppm
cyanuric acid =10 ppm
- i know i have to balance some of these.
but what i care the most is the water flow is too slow in the skimmer.
i did something wrong? please help me :hammer:
 
FYI, it would be easier to see the pix if you posted the "Direct Link" to the pictures in an IMG tag like this:
Code: 
[IMG]www.photos.com/folder/picture.jpg[/IMG]
I did it in the post above so you can see what I did.
 
Likely one of the valves by the pump is for the floor and one of the valves is for the skimmer. In your picture one is open and the other is closed.

The other valves is on the return side and honestly I am not sure why it is even needed ... maybe for closing?

Did you move any of the valves? Or maybe your impeller in the pump has gotten clogged from all the vacuuming.
 
thank you Jason about pictures.
uhm the pressure gauge go to 0 when i shut off the pump.
it always 20 even when i backwashed.
i get the results at ace hardware and pool ( my location water testing store )
i dont understand about the valves so i keep it original, like when i moved to this home.
can you tell me which is the skimmer valve and which is the grain valve?
do i need to move the valves when i backwash or filter?
and how to know if it gotten clog?
 
No I can not tell you which is skimmer and which is floor drain ... you have to turn to figure that out yourself.
Should not matter where the suction valves are when you backwash.
Well, you can try to stick your fingers in the hole under the pump basket and feel for a problem, but ideally, you would pull the pump apart (4-6 bolts) and inspect it.
 
garymala said:
it always 20 even when i backwashed.
Click to expand...
This concerns me a bit. It should drop a few PSI after a backwash. Might be a defective gauge or the filter is not backwashing properly.

In addition to the other advice you have been given, I would also consider deep-cleaning the sand filter. To deep clean the filter, first make sure the pump is off and will not come on during this procedure. Then open up the filter top cover and gently work a running water hose down into the sand, being careful not to break or disturb the laterals down under the sand. Allow the water to flush out the dirt and debris - let it all overflow out the top of the filter. Continue this process by gently moving the hose to another section of the filter until the whole filter has been flushed. Make sure the filter is full of water before putting the top back on. After re-attaching the top, go ahead and run the pump, check for leaks, and see if your PSI drops. If it does, then your filter may not be backwashing properly through the normal backwash process. If the PSI is unchanged after this deep cleaning, replace the gauge.
 

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That green coming out of the filter is also a little disconcerting. Have you ever added any metals to the pool?

I think the sand cleaning that Bo described would be a good idea to find out what is going on in there.
 
Just in case you didn't know, when the valve handle is parallel with the pipe the valve is open. In other words, from the pic of the two valves on the suction lines going into the pump, the valve closest to the pump is closed, the one furthest from the pump is open. Given your description of your symptoms I would wager that the valve thats in the closed position goes to your skimmer. Open it and see if that fixes your skimmer flow problem.

As to the green stuff coming from the drain cap... It looks to me like it may not actually be coming from the drain cap, but rather has built up over time from water leaking from above and running down. It looks like there's at least a couple of wet traces coming from above which converge at the drain cap. Not quite sure, but it looks like there's a pretty good leak in the return line spraying onto the side of the sand filter body. Whether or not this is the source of the water running down to the drain cap or if thats coming from further up (perhaps from under the multiport valve) is hard to tell from the pics. Then again, you may have a leak above the drain cap as well as one at the drain cap. It looks like there's leaks all over to be honest.
 
The algae in your pool is in there because you have no chlorine.

The filter or sand will not filter out live algae.

You need chlorine in your pool ASAP.

I am surprised this thread got sidetracked and has overlooked the root cause of OP's problem.

garymala, you need chlorine if you want to get your pool clear. Changing sand has nothing to do with it.

garymala, Read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School, the read "SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain" in the How To section.

You need to SLAM the pool.

You need chlorine to kill algae.
 
hello!!
good news is the water flow into skimmer faster ( i Dont know how, but thanks )
this is my newest result:
seem good now, pH=7.6. hardness=190, alkalinity=100
=> cyanuric acid=10ppm??
but the chlorine still low after 10hours i used 2 pack of shock treatment (which the guy at pool store tell me) the water from little green back to cloudy blue, still have algae on the bottom. what should i do now? more shock? or add liquid chlorine?
i already added 3 chlorine tabs 3" in the floater and 1 in the skimmer basket 2 days ago.
I have read very carefully all things about chlorine in pool school.
but still not understand that i should use the chlorine tabs or liquid chlorine?
if i choose to use the liquid chlorine, do i need to fill the chlorine tabs into the floater too?
and how about the chlorine feeder, is it only useful if im on vacation?


and one more important thing, I have read and tried to understand "SLAM- shock level and maintaince"
but my poor english doesnt help!!
my CYA now is 10ppm.
 

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