Hey all, I inherited an older pool with a house I bought a few years ago (in Australia). I'll post some pics here but don't judge me on the cleanliness of my pool 
I've just had the SWG and the robot cleaner die at the same time. Switched to a new cell for the SWG yesterday, and testing a suction cleaner today, hence the basis for this post.
The setup of this pool is far from excellent. In the pic below, you'll notice a return jet on the right hand side. That's the only one, and it's down the end with the skimmer and main drain, so circulation is not ideal.
I'm trying a suction cleaner as an alternative to a robot (for various reasons) but can't get the thing to move. I have what looks like a Filtrite vacuum plate. There are 2 pipes/ports inside the skimmer, as you can see in this pic:
But neither of them seem to be in use. It doesn't matter which orientation the skimmer plate is in, and without the plate, I can't feel any suction from either side when putting my hand in.
I don't seem to have any 3 way valves, and there's one pipe in, one pipe out to the pump/filter:
I'm not getting enough suction to my cleaner, which is part of my question, but I'm wondering what these 2 ports are in my skimmer, and whether I've somehow got something configured wrong which means that the main drain isn't in use. It's too cold to go and check now, but previously I've stood on the main drain with the pump in use and not felt any suction.
I've just had the SWG and the robot cleaner die at the same time. Switched to a new cell for the SWG yesterday, and testing a suction cleaner today, hence the basis for this post.The setup of this pool is far from excellent. In the pic below, you'll notice a return jet on the right hand side. That's the only one, and it's down the end with the skimmer and main drain, so circulation is not ideal.
I'm trying a suction cleaner as an alternative to a robot (for various reasons) but can't get the thing to move. I have what looks like a Filtrite vacuum plate. There are 2 pipes/ports inside the skimmer, as you can see in this pic:
But neither of them seem to be in use. It doesn't matter which orientation the skimmer plate is in, and without the plate, I can't feel any suction from either side when putting my hand in.
I don't seem to have any 3 way valves, and there's one pipe in, one pipe out to the pump/filter:
I'm not getting enough suction to my cleaner, which is part of my question, but I'm wondering what these 2 ports are in my skimmer, and whether I've somehow got something configured wrong which means that the main drain isn't in use. It's too cold to go and check now, but previously I've stood on the main drain with the pump in use and not felt any suction.
