Intex skimmer is horrible

[jmcdtucson]

I bought the Intex Deluxe Pool skimmer for my ultra frame and it works great, when it isn't slipping of the pool rail.
It says it is made for these but every time I put it on, it eventually slips off, leaving my pump sucking air.
Before I return it or ruin my pump is there any way to make this stupid contraption work on an Ultra Frame pool?

 

[xanadu]

I have one on my Ultra and it works great, no idea why yours is acting up.

 

[PAGirl]

I put mine on the metal part, not the liner part when I use it. (I rarely use it though.)

 

[raidencmc]

Mine works great as well. Does yours just hang on the side or does it have the wing nuts that you tighten up that look like the one in the picture? If you look here and click on replacement parts is your connected with number 8 and 9 or just 10?

 

[jmcdtucson]

Mine looks just like xanadu's.
The problem is it wants to slip up based on wave action. The plastic screws don't sufficiently grip the post so it always eventually slips up out of the water and the pump starts sucking air.

 

[raidencmc]

Maybe you don't have the wing nuts tight enough. Mine is the same as well and we have had five kids jumping up and down with water pouring out the sides. But it never moves at all.

 

[jmcdtucson]

I don't know. The more I tighten them, the more they want to pop off. I tightened the heck out of them and it just pops a few seconds later. Seems to be better when not tightened so much. But it is still too unreliable to trust my pump to it.

Thinking of doing this

 

[csk158]

Throw it away and do the thru wall skimmer. This was the best thing I have don for my pool.
Thanks Trouble Free Pool

 

[Rpfd41]

Had the Same Problem with the Intex Pool Skimmer would not Hold onto the Frame and always Slipping off.. Go with a Thru the wall Skimmer Best Investment and Mod I did.

 

[PridgNYC]

+1 on the Hayward through the wall skimmer. Easy mod to do and going on my second year with it, it is the best mod you can do.

 

[xanadu]

Be nice to see pictures of how you have yours set up. If you notice, mine is off to the side of the inlet a bit so the hose puts little pressure against it. Are you mounting it directly above the inlet fitting? If so, change the location a bit, that will help and keep the bend in the hose to keep excess pressure off.

 

[Melshy169]

ours was doing the same thing, and my husband put it in front of a pole and ran a bungee around the pole and skimmer. Seems to work pretty well, but I agree, it's not the best designed item I've bought.

 

[PAGirl]

I always took mine off when we entered the pool.

 

[hyperionguy]

I had a little bit of trouble with mine the first time I used it. Like someone said, make sure you have it setup where the hose isn't applying upward pressure on the basket.

Also, the clamp seems to be originally designed for the white metal frame pools whereas the Ultra Frame has oval bars rather than round. It helped me to make sure that the disks you are screwing against the side of the top rail are dead center on the side. Any deviation and it will easily slide around. Screw it down tight, too. Before I got the thru wall skimmer, my next step was going to be finding something to put between the plastic pads you screw against the rail and the rail itself to increase traction. Perhaps adhere a small disk of sandpaper to the top rail, rough side out and screw against that. Or maybe a grippy piece of rubber. I don't know, there are lots of things to think of.

...or just upgrade.

 

[jcp]

I have an Intex Easy Set pool, and I had issues securing the skimmer. I made a simple PVC stand to attach mine to, and it has been 100% trouble free since. The Intex skimmer performs great when it's secure.

 

[jmcdtucson]

I was a little frustrated and worried about my pump last night when I posted so it was nice to see all of the helpful hints.

It's now moved to the side a little bit (it was directly over the outlet). It seems to want to hold better where the frame supports attach to the top rail.
This evening I may try to use a piece of bicycle tube for better traction.

Here are pictures.

 

[raidencmc]

Another thing that I do is turn the hose where it is connected to the wall. This makes the loop in the hose push out or pull in. If that makes any sense. If you turn in different directions you'll see what I mean. That might take some pressure off of it.

 

[alishak]

I just got it too, and I love it. I have an ultra frame as well. I have the skimmer a few inches to the right of the strainer valve. And It seems to hold on just fine when on the liner and not on the metal by itself. It grips it, at least on my pool. And the hose I had to untwist to get into more of a u shape, because it was tilting the skimmer forward. Maybe try that? It seems so work great and my pool is directly under a huge tree, with a ton of leaves falling all day.

 

[xanadu]

Okay, here is the problem from what I see in the pictures. You still have it too close to the inlet, slide it down the rail even more so that its about a foot offset from the inlet. I can see that the hose is "pushing" up on the skimmer, and that is what the problem is. If you slide it down, the hose will not push up anymore, and cause it to pop off the rail.
You need to have the skimmer just hanging there, with the hose "gently" dangling to the inlet. No pressure on the skimmer at all.

 

[hyperionguy]

This evening I may try to use a piece of bicycle tube for better traction

I see your pic now. When I mentioned adding something extra for traction, that is before I knew you had a rectangular pool where there is vinyl between the screws and rail. It might still help but not like it would have for me where the screws were against the rail itself.

Agree with xanadu. Move it much further from the inlet. Still too close. Move it, plus play with twisting the hose to feel where it is putting torque against the basket and get it into the right position.