I am starting my first season in a new house with my first pool. Since I moved in I have installed a variable speed pump, removed the pucks from the old chlorinator, and installed a liquidator. Lots to learn! I am having issues with pollen on the water surface. The skimmer doesn't seem to do a very good job of removing it. When the installer set up the new pump with my Aqualink Onetouch system, he set it to run at a high speed (2450 rpm) for two hours for the pool vac, and then for six more hours at a lower speed (1500 rpm) to filter. The solar is enabled during those six hours. The vac stays in the pool all the time.
I am thinking that the skimmer is not working well because too much of the suction is coming through the pool vac and not enough through the skimmer. The suction valve is manual and is set maybe 3/4 toward the cleaner suction side (and away from the pool suction side). I can see pieces of pollen float by the skimmer unless they are within about 4 inches. As a test I pulled the vacuum hose out at the wall and closed the flap that blocks the port. With all the suction coming through the skimmer I can see much more flow, and pollen about a foot away gets pulled in.
I am thinking that maybe I should put a valve actuator on the suction valve. I could set it up do nearly all the flow goes through the vacuum for the first two hours on high speed, and then switch all the suction to the pool side the rest of the time. I see my Aqualink has a Cleaner mode, and I suspect it is for something like what I want to do. Does all this sound reasonable? I think my Aqualink is the RS8 model, and it has the iAqualink attached. Is it straight forward to connect a new valve actuator and program the controller to know it us a cleaner valve? Do you think this will help the skimmer work better? I am thinking it might also allow me to reduce the pump speed in cleaner mode and get the same flow through the vac, saving on the electric bill.
I am thinking that the skimmer is not working well because too much of the suction is coming through the pool vac and not enough through the skimmer. The suction valve is manual and is set maybe 3/4 toward the cleaner suction side (and away from the pool suction side). I can see pieces of pollen float by the skimmer unless they are within about 4 inches. As a test I pulled the vacuum hose out at the wall and closed the flap that blocks the port. With all the suction coming through the skimmer I can see much more flow, and pollen about a foot away gets pulled in.
I am thinking that maybe I should put a valve actuator on the suction valve. I could set it up do nearly all the flow goes through the vacuum for the first two hours on high speed, and then switch all the suction to the pool side the rest of the time. I see my Aqualink has a Cleaner mode, and I suspect it is for something like what I want to do. Does all this sound reasonable? I think my Aqualink is the RS8 model, and it has the iAqualink attached. Is it straight forward to connect a new valve actuator and program the controller to know it us a cleaner valve? Do you think this will help the skimmer work better? I am thinking it might also allow me to reduce the pump speed in cleaner mode and get the same flow through the vac, saving on the electric bill.