So, I'm currently SLAMming my new pool and after brushing the sides I decided to give the vacuum a try. Now, before I go any further, I have a robot cleaner that I normally use but from what I have been reading it seems that the vacuum that actually goes through my pump and out to waste would be better for getting rid of the algae. If I'm wrong then somebody please let me know because I don't think I'll be using the suction vacuum again.
We have a vinyl AG pool with a 1 HP (single speed as far as I know) pump. My wife is in the pool with the vacuum head attachment on the pole while I purge the air out of the vacuum line. So far, so good. After I'm sure the air is purged, I place the attachment into the skimmer (after removing the basket) and switch the filter to waste (after turning the pump off of course). Everything was going fine for the first 30 seconds or so until the vacuum head got stuck to and started sucking up the vinyl from the bottom. My wife is yelling, I'm panicking.
So, I quickly turn off the pump and she surveys the damage. The bottom is now wrinkled in that area but otherwise seems to be fine. We decided to try again. I guess we're just glutton for punishment. We go through the same routine and I startup the pump. I have my hand on the hose going into the skimmer to quickly disconnect it should something go wrong again. About the 30 seconds in again, my wife starts yelling, "My leg! My leg! It's got a hold of my skin!" Apparently the hose came off of the vacuum head and attached itself to her like a leach. Oh my, I'm cracking up just writing this.
So, my question to you all, have you had any experience like this? It seems that the suction is just much too powerful to use that vacuum head safely. I imagine that if I had a variable speed pump I could lower it down but as it stands right now, I think I'll just brush the bottom and then turn the robot cleaner loose on it. By the way, the robot cleaner doesn't use the suction of the pool, instead it is powered and and just sucks the debris off the bottom, goes through an internal filter and spits the water back out. Works kind of like a jet-ski.
Come to think of it, I have a camera on that side of the house. I need to download the video of this and maybe post it for you all to enjoy.
We have a vinyl AG pool with a 1 HP (single speed as far as I know) pump. My wife is in the pool with the vacuum head attachment on the pole while I purge the air out of the vacuum line. So far, so good. After I'm sure the air is purged, I place the attachment into the skimmer (after removing the basket) and switch the filter to waste (after turning the pump off of course). Everything was going fine for the first 30 seconds or so until the vacuum head got stuck to and started sucking up the vinyl from the bottom. My wife is yelling, I'm panicking.
So, I quickly turn off the pump and she surveys the damage. The bottom is now wrinkled in that area but otherwise seems to be fine. We decided to try again. I guess we're just glutton for punishment. We go through the same routine and I startup the pump. I have my hand on the hose going into the skimmer to quickly disconnect it should something go wrong again. About the 30 seconds in again, my wife starts yelling, "My leg! My leg! It's got a hold of my skin!" Apparently the hose came off of the vacuum head and attached itself to her like a leach. Oh my, I'm cracking up just writing this.So, my question to you all, have you had any experience like this? It seems that the suction is just much too powerful to use that vacuum head safely. I imagine that if I had a variable speed pump I could lower it down but as it stands right now, I think I'll just brush the bottom and then turn the robot cleaner loose on it. By the way, the robot cleaner doesn't use the suction of the pool, instead it is powered and and just sucks the debris off the bottom, goes through an internal filter and spits the water back out. Works kind of like a jet-ski.
Come to think of it, I have a camera on that side of the house. I need to download the video of this and maybe post it for you all to enjoy.
