Skimmer door wont go back up, have tried everything, should I just replace it?

[Skenn81]

I have put it on forwards, backwards, tighly, loosely, turned it around every way I can. Doesn't matter. The door goes down and then it somehow gets caught on itself and wont go back up, even when the pump is off. I have to go out there and push it with my hand, I hear something under the two bolts pop or click and it goes up. Push the door back down, it goes smooth, and then wont go back up again. Tired of dealing with it and want to try something else.

There are no springs or clips on this kind of door, it attaches with two bolts that go through a bottom hinge and a couple of screw on nuts that keep it in place. The bolts are part of the pool, hinge on the skimmer fits right over them.









I see dozens of doors on Amazon, which size fits this? Is it supposed to be exact? Also do they come with the hinge? The one in there right now was part of this door and obviously something isnt working.





Or maybe I have it completely hooked up wrong, which is sometimes the case.

Here it is in action

See how it wont go up? That is what the suction from the skimmer will do on a daily basis. It will go down with no issue. If you watch and listen a bit you will see me push it up and then it clicks and spring right up. Push it down again with no issue, gets caught again, and it clicks back up once I push it.

Anyway, I dont like it and want to try something else.

 

[1poolman1]

I have put it on forwards, backwards, tighly, loosely, turned it around every way I can. Doesn't matter. The door goes down and then it somehow gets caught on itself and wont go back up, even when the pump is off. I have to go out there and push it with my hand, I hear something under the two bolts pop or click and it goes up. Push the door back down, it goes smooth, and then wont go back up again. Tired of dealing with it and want to try something else.

There are no springs or clips on this kind of door, it attaches with two bolts that go through a bottom hinge and a couple of screw on nuts that keep it in place. The bolts are part of the pool, hinge on the skimmer fits right over them.

View attachment 474944


View attachment 474945

View attachment 474946


I see dozens of doors on Amazon, which size fits this? Is it supposed to be exact? Also do they come with the hinge? The one in there right now was part of this door and obviously something isnt working.

View attachment 474947

View attachment 474948

Or maybe I have it completely hooked up wrong, which is sometimes the case.

Here it is in action

See how it wont go up? That is what the suction from the skimmer will do on a daily basis. It will go down with no issue. If you watch and listen a bit you will see me push it up and then it clicks and spring right up. Push it down again with no issue, gets caught again, and it clicks back up once I push it.

Anyway, I dont like it and want to try something else.

You could remove a small amount from the sides of the door with a file or hacksaw or get a spring-loaded door and do the same thing. It is possible that the throat of your skimmer is no longer square (earth movement) and that is causing the issue. Not sure if it is just the picture, but that door does appear to be a little out of square itself.

 

[ajw22]

Your door is fine. Figure out what is locking the door down. A new door will encounter the same problem.

 

[Skenn81]

Your door is fine. Figure out what is locking the door down. A new door will encounter the same problem.

The door itself is locking the door. I can take it out of there and put it on a flat table and move it up and down, the way the lip of the door hangs over the hinge is having it get caught on itself. The bottom of the door gets stuck by the hinge plastic and to get it back up you have to push it like the video, it gets caught and you push it hard enough to click over itself and then it goes up. It goes into the end on one side and the other goes under and it all gets screwed down to hold it in place. The slight space between the hinge and the door is where it gets caught on itself after being pushed down.

You could remove a small amount from the sides of the door with a file or hacksaw or get a spring-loaded door and do the same thing. It is possible that the throat of your skimmer is no longer square (earth movement) and that is causing the issue. Not sure if it is just the picture, but that door does appear to be a little out of square itself.

A spring loaded door? Would that work in the skimmer that I have? What would an example be.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

Presumably, this area is where it hangs up? Replacing the door with another may correct it, assuming that the manufacturing tolerances were high enough to not cause this issue. If it were me, I would note the area where the door is hanging on the hinge, and using a small hobby knife (X-Acto or other), trim those areas, to remove enough material so that it is not hanging up any longer. May need to trim both the hinge and the door.

--Jeff

 

[Skenn81]

View attachment 474988

Presumably, this area is where it hangs up? Replacing the door with another may correct it, assuming that the manufacturing tolerances were high enough to not cause this issue. If it were me, I would note the area where the door is hanging on the hinge, and using a small hobby knife (X-Acto or other), trim those areas, to remove enough material so that it is not hanging up any longer. May need to trim both the hinge and the door.

--Jeff

Good eye, its either that spot or the same on the other side. I will go out there later and start cutting, it's already not working correctly so taking a knife to it can't make anything worse. Didn't think of just carving it up so this will be worth a shot.

While we are waiting fo rthat, what kind of door is this considered? Most of them look like they attach to the side walls of the skimmer? They dont all bolt down like this do they?

 

[1poolman1]

The door itself is locking the door. I can take it out of there and put it on a flat table and move it up and down, the way the lip of the door hangs over the hinge is having it get caught on itself. The bottom of the door gets stuck by the hinge plastic and to get it back up you have to push it like the video, it gets caught and you push it hard enough to click over itself and then it goes up. It goes into the end on one side and the other goes under and it all gets screwed down to hold it in place. The slight space between the hinge and the door is where it gets caught on itself after being pushed down.


A spring loaded door? Would that work in the skimmer that I have? What would an example be.

For your Pac-Fab skimmer:

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Devil-B8530-Skimmer-Replacement/dp/B004VTHBOE/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1GLR47L8U2VM2&keywords=7+1%2F4%22+weir+door&qid=1677608720&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=7+1%2F4+weir+door%2Clawngarden%2C150&sr=1-3

 

[Skenn81]

How did you tell so easily it was a Pac Fab skimmer? I looked it up, it's a Pentair brand?

 

[1poolman1]

How did you tell so easily it was a Pac Fab skimmer? I looked it up, it's a Pentair brand?

30+ years of dealing with pools. Pac-Fab was bought a long time ago by Pentair.

 

[Skenn81]

Presumably, this area is where it hangs up? Replacing the door with another may correct it, assuming that the manufacturing tolerances were high enough to not cause this issue. If it were me, I would note the area where the door is hanging on the hinge, and using a small hobby knife (X-Acto or other), trim those areas, to remove enough material so that it is not hanging up any longer. May need to trim both the hinge and the door.

--Jeff

This wondefully simple method appears to have worked. Couldn't get my scalpel to cut through it and my Dremel is busted so I brute forced it by using my drill and rubbing the spinning bit back and forth over the whole area to shave the whole thing down. Had to do a little extra on the side you circled.


Initial tests seem positive, it's out there clacking away now with the ripples in the water and it didn't get suck no matter what I did.

Real test is tomorrow after the pump will be pulling at it all day, so will come back in 24 hours to see if we have a success.

 

[Skenn81]

Had to go shave more off today to get it unstuck again and now it appears to be working fine. Had to remove a chunk of the door near the hinge so it couldn't fold in under itself and get stuck.

Looking forward to a full day of no drilling tomorrow if I finally have it set.

So is this considered a standard weir door or is it something proprietary to Pentair?

 

[1poolman1]

Had to go shave more off today to get it unstuck again and now it appears to be working fine. Had to remove a chunk of the door near the hinge so it couldn't fold in under itself and get stuck.

Looking forward to a full day of no drilling tomorrow if I finally have it set.

So is this considered a standard weir door or is it something proprietary to Pentair?

What you have is OEM to that model skimmer. Spring-loaded are generic to fit various skimmer openings.