Clogged skimmer plumbing

[Msingletary300]

Hello all!

I’m hoping for some advice. I recently bought a house with a pool in Florida (house and pool built in 95’). I noticed the pool skimmer was not working after buying the house and checking the equipment out. I called a pool company out and they tried to flush the lines with air and they tried to snake the skimmer piping. They were able to pull out what looked like raft material but they were not able to completely clear the line. They felt they were going to damage the lines if they did any more. They recommended calling a plumbing company that would have better tools. I’d rather try to exhaust other avenues myself before calling someone else out. Any ideas, tools, or techniques that I can use to get something like raft material out of the lines?

Pool is a 12500 SWG pool with 1/2 hp pump and a hayward cartridge filter. Three returns from the pool include skimmer, main drain, and vacuum. New finish on the pool is a pebble tech finish.

 

[1poolman1]

I prefer a Drain King pushing water from the pump back to the pool skimmer. I use the rubber one, but many prefer the canvas. Successful most of the time, especially with good water pressure at the garden hose.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome!

They were able to pull out what looked like raft material

Maybe it was like some pool toy inflatables? Generally we recommend a snake, plumbers bladder, or even a regular garden hose. If they couldn't get everything out, I'm not sure what else to use. How long do you estimate the line to be?

 

[Msingletary300]

I prefer a Drain King pushing water from the pump back to the pool skimmer. I use the rubber one, but many prefer the canvas. Successful most of the time, especially with good water pressure at the garden hose.
View attachment 498119

I saw this in a previous forum and will give it a try too. Thank you for the reply!

 

[Msingletary300]

Welcome!



Maybe it was like some pool toy inflatables? Generally we recommend a snake, plumbers bladder, or even a regular garden hose. If they couldn't get everything out, I'm not sure what else to use. How long do you estimate the line to be?

My guess is about 20 feet from the skimmer to the return valve before the pump. I’m not sure how many 90 degree turns it takes before then though (maybe 4).

 

[Texas Splash]

My guess is about 20 feet

That's not too bad. Easy for me to say right. If a Drain King pressure bladder doesn't work, you should be able to get a snake that long. Running a scope through there would sure be nice.

 

[Msingletary300]

That's not too bad. Easy for me to say right. If a Drain King pressure bladder doesn't work, you should be able to get a snake that long. Running a scope through there would sure be nice.

Thanks for the welcome btw!

a scope sure would be nice wouldn’t it! I saw a few scopes like this one below on Amazon. It even has a hook attachment that might be handy to pull things like an inflatable out if it were stuck. It would be a gamble to see if it would even work though.