in floor pop up cleaner heads

[russ1116]

hey guys, new to forum.
Just bought a house which has an old pool (1989). Which is probably the very start of the inground cleaning systems technology lol.
I built a house in 1996 in the past with the same system(it was built right) and it worked great.
Now this old pool has me confused. I thought the main purpose of the floor blow heads was to direct debris/dirt to the floor suction. Now this ancient pool has a floor suction however it is not plumbed to the pump. The floor suction is plumbed to the skimmer and it stops there. Then the main suction goes from the skimmer to the pump, so just one line to the pump (i've always seen two, 1 floor & 1 skimmer).
Bought the house and it had no basket in it, So did research and found the right basket. Still I see no way that the skimmer directs any suction to the floor ? So the pop up heads do about nothing but blow dirt around and to each other as there is no floor suction?
Its the most dumbest setup i've ever seen ... I mean if they spent the money on the floor system, why didnt they run 2 suction lines to the pump??
So question is what can i do to make this system functional, And what is the reasoning involving this constructed set up?

 

[JayBauman]

Do you know the type of system you have? I have the paramount PCC2000, and it works a lot like you are describing. The nozzles spray debris into the floor drain, which runs to a skimmer-looking-type of device. However, this skimmer doesn't actually skim the pool....it's just the cleaning basket for the system. My cleaning basket has a fine mesh screen, and the whole thing is enclosed in a negative-pressure canister. In order to open the canister, I have to turn off the pump and twist the lid. This allows a vacuum to pull in floor drain and easy cleaning access on my deck. The water from this skimmer goes to the filter.

Does the basket in your system allow a good seal?

 

[PoolChoice]

I don't like main drains plumbed to the skimmer, as the skimmer needs a skimmer vacuum plate. Baker Hydro's were real popular, and you can find quite a few Haywards. The vac plate shuts off the skimmer, causing suction between the main drain and the pump line. The plate usually has an opening that you can slightly open the skimmer and still get good main drain flow. The Baker is a little different in skimmer control as you rotate the plate, I have not played with a Baker for a few years, so i am not absolute on how it works, but it does need the skimmer plate. The skimmer plate is different than a skim vac.

 

[Divin Dave]

I believe PoolChoice may be referring to the thing that looks like a spaceship.
(PoolChoice, please confirm?)
here is a link to it
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/52931-Diverter-Space-ship

This thing will help get more suction from the main drain.

 

[PoolChoice]

Different brands have different ways of putting the suction to the main drain. The first picture has a to control, all suction to the main drain or some to the skimmer.
If you are missing the first picture, you will see screw holes in the bottom of the skimmer to hold it down, then this is the unit.
The second picture is a Swim Quip (I think) check valve, If the water runs low or weir door catches, or is made to catch, the floating check shuts off the skimmer and all suction to the main drain.