First time pool owner with some questions on her setup and swamp

[brandymac]

Hi, everyone! I bought a home in RI with a 16x34 IG vinyl in January. I am an excited first time pool owner but still feel very intimidated by doing some things alone. I'm not as worried about the chemistry part, as I am of hooking everything up properly ahead of time.

Yesterday I pulled the holey safety cover off and got all of the return valve plugs out from the sides of the pool. When looking into the skimmer, there are 2 plugs--one that looks identical to the other ones I pulled off (white wingnut, black rubber plug) and the other like this:

I assumed it was the one that looked like the others, so I unscrewed the wingnut, but the plug wouldn't budge.
Is the white plug pictured above the plug that stays in there permanently, and the one I was trying to remove the correct one? I'm having spinach for breakfast to prep for the removal.

Now for the part that scares me! Not knowing what these pipes do:

The 2 pipes that I have red arrows next to I hooked up into the ones sitting directly in front of them (they go into the pump. I hope that was right).
I don't know what the 3 taller ones in the front of the picture do, or the unconnected one on the right coming from filter. I know this is basic stuff--but can someone please guide me?

My skimmer basket is missing and my pump basket empty, so my next hurdle is to locate my filter / pump plugs and basket.

My swamp, day one:


Thank you all for your guidance and I look forward to this adventure!:queen:

 

[Defgufman]

Are the pipes that connect stored somewhere? Some picks of those could help.

 

[bdex]

It looks like the two that go in to the pump are your skimmer(s)/floor drain. The other three likely connect to some sort of manifold made out of pvc that goes into the vacant pipe in the middle. The pipe against the ground in the right is likely for your backwash setting on your multi port valve. That would have that thin flexible vinyl hose (at bottom of picture barely visible) connected to it to direct your backwash water. Use the attached metal clamp to attach it to the barbed fitting on the end of that valve.

How does the multi port valve connect to the sand filter?? I cannot see that in the pic that is posted in my phone.

As far as that plug goes. How many skimmers do you have? And I assume that there is a bottom drain?? That plug that is tight is just a threaded plug. You use a screwdriver laid flat in the groove to loosen/tighten. Like this.

may need a pretty short screwdriver to get leverage.


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[Richard320]

If you only have one skimmer, my guess is that one of those two red arrow lines goes to the skimmer and the other to the main drain. And that means that plug stays in the skimmer because it's not tied to the drain.

The three tall ones are probably the returns. Those couplings need an O-ring when you reattach them to the missing plumbing.
The one on the ground is your waste line. That flimsy blue hose with the clamp on it attaches there.

Need to see the missing plumbing to identify the rest.

Almost forgot: Welcome

 

[brandymac]

Thank you so much! I do have only one skimmer.

I found some missing plumbing and reattached:

I found the baskets and the filter/pump plugs and reinstalled, along with pulling wingnut-type plug out from skimmer.

Can someone please help me with which valves should be closed and which should be open when priming the pump and filtering?

Any idea what the other two pipes that aren't connected to anything do? (not including waste line).
Thank you again for taking your time to help me out!

 

[n240sxguy]

Open all the valves except the waste line and the two that are capped. Not really sure what they were for. Maybe a pressure side cleaner and/or a heater at one point.


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[Isaac-1]

My guess would be the 2 lines are for a heater of so me type

 

[n240sxguy]

My guess would be the 2 lines are for a heater of so me type

That would explain the valve between them. A heater bypass.


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[brandymac]

Thanks, everyone - you guys rock!

I ran into more issues and am feeling lost: I got pump primed and running. It's been running about 24 hours now. My skimmer does not have any suction. debris just sitting at the top, not going into basket.
I checked pump basket and it had worms in it. I have some air bubbles going into the pool from the returns. Some returns are pushing out water harder than others.

Could i have possibly pulled out the wrong plug from skimmer when opening pool? Any suggestions on how to move forward?
I added some muriatic acid to pool yesterday and this morning, but I don't know if my circulation is working well enough for things to mix.

FC 0
CYA 0
PH 8.5+
TA 110

THANK YOU!

 

[zea3]

Go ahead and get the pH down to 7.5 first then add CYA and Chlorine. Use PoolMath to determine how much to add. Add your CYA by placing it in a sock and hanging it in front of a return with good flow. Give the sock a few good squeezes every once in a while to help it dissolve. The more you squeeze it the more quickly it dissolves. Add enough CYA to reach 20ppm for your SLAM. After the slam is complete you can adjust the CYA to 30ppm.

You can try removing the other plug in the skimmer and see if that helps. If you don't have room to lay down a screwdriver to unscrew the plug try using a 2" wide paint scrapper with some electrical or masking tape wrapped around the blade edge. This will thicken the blade and pad it so you will be less likely to poke a hole in anything if it slips. Replace the other plug. Be sure the pump is off while you are working on removing the plug.

 

[pabeader]

Just my 2 cents. In my skimmer, there are two holes. One is plugged one is not. When I removed the plug, I started loosing water from the pool. Not sure where it was going, but ever since then, that side of the pool is lower than the other. Might have washed some of the dirt out from under it and down the hill...