What is this?

[evabobeva]

I’m still learning about my pool, and I can’t figure out what position this valve handle should be in. It says “closed” on the black part, but there are no other labels anywhere. Should I have it closed? Open? What position is open? When I bought the house it was in what I guess could be called the 5 o’clock position if the center pipe leading to the pump is considered 12 o’clock (I hope that makes sense). What are the pipes coming out of either side? I know the center pipe is the one that goes to the pump.

I recently cleaned my filters, and thought maybe I was also supposed to backwash them, but I’m not finding any info on a system that looks like mine, so I have no idea how to backwash it. Where can I find this info?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Eva,

Your signature says you have a cartridge filter. Cartridge filters cannot be backwashed. You have to open the filter and clean the cartridges.

Since the valve is connected to your pump, then most likely, one of the pipes goes to your skimmer and the other to your main drain. But there are other possibilities.. It could go to 2 skimmers. (Do you have two skimmers?) It could go to a skimmer and a vacuum port in the side wall of your pool. (Do you have a vac port?)

The valve in your pic is set so that both pipes are fully open.

We are here and you are there with the pool.. Which one of us is in a better position to figure out what the valve does?

Tell us more about your pool...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[evabobeva]

Eva,

Your signature says you have a cartridge filter. Cartridge filters cannot be backwashed. You have to open the filter and clean the cartridges.

Since the valve is connected to your pump, then most likely, one of the pipes goes to your skimmer and the other to your main drain. But there are other possibilities.. It could go to 2 skimmers. (Do you have two skimmers?) It could go to a skimmer and a vacuum port in the side wall of your pool. (Do you have a vac port?)

The valve in your pic is set so that both pipes are fully open.

We are here and you are there with the pool.. Which one of us is in a better position to figure out what the valve does?

Tell us more about your pool...

Thanks,

Jim R.

Jim,

I have one skimmer and one vac port on the side of the wall. Do I want the valve in the position in the photo, where both are fully open? How do I know which side goes to the skimmer and which side goes to the vac port?

I do routinely clean my cartridges by opening the filter tank, I just thought that I also needed to backwash. Good to know I don’t, thanks.

Additionally, I’ve been having problems with my creepy krawlie. My toddler threw some pea gravel into the deep end of the pool, and now the creepy doesn’t seem to be working. Not sure if he’s just toast (was here with the house when I bought it in 2019) or if potentially I have an issue caused by pea gravel getting sucked up. I’ve checked the impeller, there is nothing there. There is no clog within the vacuum, and there is suction coming from the side port, and suction is also going through the vacuum, but it just won’t move around. I’m thinking it might be time for an upgrade, with an inline leaf filter added.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Eva,

Your pic does not show the pump so I am 'assuming' these are the only two inputs to the pump. Is that true?

If it is true, then turn the valve so the word "off" is pointed up in your pic. Then go over to the skimmer and see if it is still working or if it is shut off.

This should tell you if the top pipe (in your pic) is for the skimmer or the vac.

Then, just to make sure, turn the word "off" so that it points to the bottom of your pic. This will shut off the bottom pipe.

So, in theory, one pipe should be from your Skimmer and one from the Vac port.

There is no way to tell which pipe is which except to experiment with the valve and see what works and what does not work.

The best way to run the pool is to only turn on the vac when you want to use it. But.. this would require you to turn the valve every time you wanted the vac to run. Most people are too lazy to do this, so they just leave the valve set where it is in your pic.

I am not much of a fan of suction side cleaners as I use a robot cleaner, which does not require the pump to be running.

Thanks,

Jim R.