I need pool pump help... repair or replace? What brand?

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The way the original returns were is not bad but you can probably do just a little better with the temps. Try to get the pool water flowing around the pool in a circular motion. That way, the water is constantly moving parallel to, but in front of, the skimmers.

So, I would suggest one return goes in the upper left corner of the diagram pointed parallel to the long wall. Then the other perhaps in the upper right corner of the diagram pointed parallel to the short wall. It's hard to get it perfect but the idea is a slow flow parallel along the skimmer wall so most of the floating debris will get pulled in.
 
duraleigh said:
The way the original returns were is not bad but you can probably do just a little better with the temps. Try to get the pool water flowing around the pool in a circular motion. That way, the water is constantly moving parallel to, but in front of, the skimmers.

So, I would suggest one return goes in the upper left corner of the diagram pointed parallel to the long wall. Then the other perhaps in the upper right corner of the diagram pointed parallel to the short wall. It's hard to get it perfect but the idea is a slow flow parallel along the skimmer wall so most of the floating debris will get pulled in.
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Awesome, thank you.
 
scooperhsd said:
If it was me - I'd put the temp returns in at the same place as the current ones. If you wanted to move them - then I'd put them on opposite corners (this is the way My pool is setup). I get a nice circulation this way.
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Thanks. I couldn't really do that because of the cost of the extra PVC, the extra install time and the awkwardness of the placement of the PVC pipes on the side of the pool and across the top of the patio... ya know, trip hazards and such. The way I laid it out is the least obtrusive way I could come up with and so far, and it seems to have created the proper circulation.

I have a new problem that arose... not much you guys can help me with I don't think, but since the pool wasn't properly winterized, I believe the skimmer pipes are cracked under my patio (concrete patio).... so, now I'm going to have to pull down the retaining wall and find the skimmer pipes and run new pipes for that as well as capping the old ones... :/

I don't think it will be too terribly difficult, but we'll see.

Again, thanks for everyone's help.
 
Might want to pressure test all the lines to confirm which one is leaking before you tear everything apart.

Posted with Tapatalk ... sorry if I sound short ... hate typing on phone :)
 
jblizzle said:
Might want to pressure test all the lines to confirm which one is leaking before you tear everything apart.

Posted with Tapatalk ... sorry if I sound short ... hate typing on phone :)
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That would be ideal, but our pool guy said that pressure testing our lines would cost $350. I can't really afford to do that. Besides, I've almost completely confirmed that it's the skimmer pipes if only because we've capped the returns and any time I fill the pool up past the skimmer opening, it drains down to almost below it. It stops leaking when not much water is getting into the skimmers even though the water is above the returns... which leads me to believe it's the skimmers.

I guess, in theory, it could be the main drains, but it seems like it would be leaking water all the time until the pool was empty since they're on the bottom of the pool.

That only leaves the skimmers. I'm hoping to try and break up some of my patio today after church... hopefully I won't screw too much of it up.
 
I hate to see you break up concrete without being sure it's the skimmer lines. Have you done a thorough inspection of the skimmers themselves and more importantly the pipes where they go into the ground or just below?

Also does it leak down faster with the pump off than it does with it on?

You mentioned that the filter had problems, are you sure it wasn't leaking out the waste port and just looked like the skimmers because the bottom of them is where the pump lost prime?
 
Bama Rambler said:
I hate to see you break up concrete without being sure it's the skimmer lines. Have you done a thorough inspection of the skimmers themselves and more importantly the pipes where they go into the ground or just below?

Also does it leak down faster with the pump off than it does with it on?

You mentioned that the filter had problems, are you sure it wasn't leaking out the waste port and just looked like the skimmers because the bottom of them is where the pump lost prime?
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(Follow up question at the bottom)

When I say "break up concrete" I meant that we have a concrete patio, but on the side there is a retaining wall that is about 1.5 to 2 feet from the skimmers that I was actually planning on ripping down since most of it is just stacked and not mortared together. Also, along with the skimmers being close to that wall, the pipes from the pump/filter are running into that retaining wall.

BUT

I changed my mind anyway. I just sort of used a bit more process of elimination, and since the leak in the pool was coming out beneath the retaining wall right under where all the pipes went in, I just assumed one of the pipes was cracked right there. So, I broke up a cinder block or two that were on the top of the retaining wall since they were actually cemented down. Then, I just unstacked the retaining wall blocks.

Good news:
It's not the skimmers. Yay!

Bad news:
It's the main drain. Boo! The pipe running from my main drains has about a billion cracks in it. It's dripping water everywhere once the pool gets over a certain level (I'm assuming when the pool water level gets higher than or even with the level of that pipe... to make it not leak, the water would barely be cresting the edge of the skimmers. That might be okay, but question follow-up below.

Do I really need the main drains? I know they help filter the water, but could the skimmers do it themselves without relying on the main drains? If not, I think I'm just going to swim down there and cap the drains with some sort of PVC accessory after I take the screen off of it. If I DO need the main drains, I assume I could just run some temporary drains down to the bottom of the pool in the same way that I ran temporary returns into the pool. Does that sound feasible?

Thanks!
 
While I'm not a pool expert, I talked with an expert about this very thing hypothetically happening with my 35 year old in ground Ground pool (10,000) gallons. He assured me that if the main drain failed I could cap it off and the pool would be ok with the skimmer and a good pool vac of some kind. I'm thinking if you had two skimmers, you should be fine.
 

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Just as reassurance, you don't need the main drain at all.

The biggest issue is going to be finding something to seal it off that doesn't leak. That shouldn't be too big a problem. You could put an expandable winterizing plug in it if your have to.
 
Just so you guys know, you've been an amazing help in all of this, and regarding this last bit (about the main drains) you've really relieved a lot of stress. We bought this house as a foreclosure, and we were really getting the money pit feeling when we started dealing with the pool. However, you guys have been awesome at helping me keep my stress level down. Thanks a lot for that.
 
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