Skimmer lines during freeze

[Jarker]

I'm in south east Texas and will be traveling for the holiday, but temperatures are supposed to be dropping to below freezing. Typically when I travel for just a few days, I turn the off the valve to the skimmer lines so I don't have to worry about water levels or something making the flaps stick.
My pool has freeze protection so it will keep the water circulating. My question is, is it safe if I shut off the skimmer during the freeze?

 

[ajw22]

My pool has freeze protection so it will keep the water circulating. My question is, is it safe if I shut off the skimmer during the freeze?

NO.

Leave your skimmers running. You are not going to get much, if any, evaporation this time of year to lower your water level.

 

[Jarker]

it's not the evaporation that worries me. it's more so the flaps getting stuck when it's turning on and off during the freeze. Over the past couple of weeks with it getting to temperatures where the freeze protection kicks in, I've had a couple of times where the pump wasn't priming due to a flap being stuck.

 

[ajw22]

Tape or shim the skimmer weir doors so they stay open.

 

[Mdragger88]

Or just remove them temporarily.