No Suction from Pool Skimmer - Newb Trying Not to Give Up

Omg!!! I’m seeing all kinds of acorns and stuff coming up the skimmer now. That’s a good sign right? I’m sooooo excited so please say yes 😝
looks great. We now know for sure the left pipe is the skimmer. You may want to mark that for future.
 
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Omg!!! I’m seeing all kinds of acorns and stuff coming up the skimmer now. That’s a good sign right? I’m sooooo excited so please say yes 😝

clean those leaves and acorns out so they do not fall back in the skimmer hole. Not sure how long you will need to pump water but keep doing it for a while.
 
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Just a thought….if you’ve got access to a wet/dry vac it may prove helpful to suction the skimmer pipe with the bladder and hose running.
 
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Another idea is to turn the hose down low (enough to keep the bladder inflated - and use a toilet plunger on the skimmer hole. Basically, trying to create a hydraulic wave to loosen up the blockage. I think once it breaks loose you will see a lot of debris come at once.
 
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Looking good so far! I cut my trees back as much as I could this summer and tore out all the overgrown bushes. Nothing I can do about the neighbor's tree that hangs directly over my pool and I get very similar stuff to what you have. Get a new skimmer basket. That crack isn't bad but it's amazing how much can get through there. Invest in some hair nets from Amazon. They're stupidly cheap, catch very tiny bits of stuff and you can just toss them. This has to be my favorite TFP tip.
 
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Just a thought….if you’ve got access to a wet/dry vac it may prove helpful to suction the skimmer pipe with the bladder and hose running.
Good idea.
I used a transfer pump for my neighbor's pool when they had a clog. Between the bladder shoving water in and the pump pulling it out, we had the line cleared in seconds. Turned out to be one of their kid's socks.
 
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I HAVE SUCTION!!!! I’m so happy - it brought a tear to my eye. Thank y’all soooo much - I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the help. I wish I could do something to help y’all out but all I have is questions and no answers 😳

I’m so sorry for the delay in responding but I pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve or something in my neck/shoulder area yesterday when I was messing with hose and it’s like I can’t turn my head and it hurts so bad. Getting old is brutal.

Anyway, I hate to keep asking for help but do y’all have any suggestions on what I should do to prevent this from happening again? I feel like I can’t vacuum up all the acorns now or I’m gonna clog it up again.

Again - thank y’all so much. I was so excited when I saw how good the pool looked just now I started doing a happy dance. And then hurt my neck again lol. But it was worth it. I was so close to giving up but y’all saved me. A billion times thank you!!! 🙏
 
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You might also look into an inline strainer for your vac.

U.S. Pool Supply Professional in-line Pool Leaf Canister with Plastic Mesh Basket - Skims Leaves, Debris - Fits Suction & Automatic Pool Cleaners https://a.co/d/3BdpSVj
 
I wish I could do something to help y’all out but all I have is questions and no answers
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The important thing is to keep your baskets in the skimmers, but an additional one so you can exchange them Use socks in them to help catch the fine particles but that also requires checking them more often.
I use a small fish net (like for an aquarium) to net out the debris floating in the skimmer if I feel it will go down the skimmer when while I exchange the basket.

I think in an earlier video it showed that your pump basket was split. Take that to a pool store and match it to a new one and replace it. Always ensure your baskets don't have any major splits or damage to them.

So happy it all worked out and also that you feel better.
 
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