Super Confused About Valves - Returns, Skimmers, and Main Drain

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malimited

Active member
Apr 9, 2024
41
North NJ
Still a newbie here, only had pool open for a few weeks last year and now I'm attempting to open it up myself. What I'd like to do is use the vacuum to clear out all the debris using the waste function on the filter. I'm super confused here. Where should each of the 3 valves be located so that I can create more suction on one of the skimmers?

Note: Not sure if it matters, but I have 4 returns. The label that says 'Bench Return' has 3 and the label that says 'Deep Return' has 4.
 

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The returns are sending water back to the pool. They won't make a difference. The other set of valves are your suction valves and control balance between the main drain (bottom of the pool) and the skimmers.

The diverter valves should have a tab opposite the handle side that says off.

In the photo, the valve directly in front of the pump is pulling 100% suction from the bottom drain. If you turn it 180°, so that off is facing main drain, you will be pulling 100% from the skimmers.

The skimmers valve is currently pulling 50% from each skimmer. The position of the handle is in the middle. If you turn it 90°, so the handle is facing down, you'll have full suction from the shallow end skimmer.

There's really no reason to have 100% suction from your main drain. Keep the handle facing skimmers take care of floating debris.
 
Currently your photo shows the following
The 3 way valve directly in front of pump suction is CLOSED to the skimmer and OPEN to only the main drain.
The 3 way valve between the skimmers is OPEN to both skimmers but it doesn’t matter as the 3 way valve in front of the pump is CLOSED.

To create suction from 1 skimmer do the following
Turn off pump
Rotate the 3-way valve in front of the pump 180 degrees such that the main drain is CLOSED and the skimmers will be OPEN
Rotate the 3-way valve 90 degrees such that 1 skimmer is OPEN and the other is CLOSED
Insert your vacuum hose into the skimmer that is OPEN
Turn on pump.
 
HermanTX said:
Currently your photo shows the following
The 3 way valve directly in front of pump suction is CLOSED to the skimmer and OPEN to only the main drain.
The 3 way valve between the skimmers is OPEN to both skimmers but it doesn’t matter as the 3 way valve in front of the pump is CLOSED.

To create suction from 1 skimmer do the following
Turn off pump
Rotate the 3-way valve in front of the pump 180 degrees such that the main drain is CLOSED and the skimmers will be OPEN
Rotate the 3-way valve 90 degrees such that 1 skimmer is OPEN and the other is CLOSED
Insert your vacuum hose into the skimmer that is OPEN
Turn on pump.
Click to expand...
Questions:

The 3 way valve directly in front of pump suction is CLOSED to the skimmer and OPEN to only the main drain. - What happens if I move the 'Main Drain' valve 90 degrees to the left?
The 3 way valve between the skimmers is OPEN to both skimmers but it doesn’t matter as the 3 way valve in front of the pump is CLOSED. - I dont understand what this means?
 
Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
The returns are sending water back to the pool. They won't make a difference. The other set of valves are your suction valves and control balance between the main drain (bottom of the pool) and the skimmers.

The diverter valves should have a tab opposite the handle side that says off.

In the photo, the valve directly in front of the pump is pulling 100% suction from the bottom drain. If you turn it 180°, so that off is facing main drain, you will be pulling 100% from the skimmers.

The skimmers valve is currently pulling 50% from each skimmer. The position of the handle is in the middle. If you turn it 90°, so the handle is facing down, you'll have full suction from the shallow end skimmer.

There's really no reason to have 100% suction from your main drain. Keep the handle facing skimmers take care of floating debris.
Click to expand...
Questions:

In the photo, the valve directly in front of the pump is pulling 100% suction from the bottom drain. If you turn it 180°, so that off is facing main drain, you will be pulling 100% from the skimmers. - Why would I do that? Is it normal to pull 100% from skimmers are not from main drain? whats the purpose / difference between pulling from skimmers vs main drain?

The skimmers valve is currently pulling 50% from each skimmer. The position of the handle is in the middle. If you turn it 90°, so the handle is facing down, you'll have full suction from the shallow end skimmer. - So basically, if I want to use the vacuum, on the deep end of the skimmer, then that handle should be facing 12 o'clock? and if I want to use the vacuum on the shallow end skimmer, that handle should be facing 6 o'clock? Also, what about the main drain, where should that be pointing to?

There's really no reason to have 100% suction from your main drain. - Why? Keep the handle facing skimmers take care of floating debris.
 
You want to vacuum, and you want more suction from the skimmers. This is why I'm recommending to give your skimmers full suction. Then you can decide which one you want to use and adjust the skimmers valve accordingly.

In the current configuration, you have no suction from the skimmers. You're pulling 100% from the bottom drain, which means you are not skimming any floating debris off the water surface.

In normal operation, you should be pulling about 90% from the skimmers and 10% from the bottom drain. This will give you the best skimming action while still pulling a bit of water from the bottom drain.
 
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Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
You want to vacuum, and you want more suction from the skimmers. This is why I'm recommending to give your skimmers full suction. Then you can decide which one you want to use and adjust the skimmers valve accordingly.

In the current configuration, you have no suction from the skimmers. You're pulling 100% from the bottom drain, which means you are not skimming any floating debris off the water surface.

In normal operation, you should be pulling about 90% from the skimmers and 10% from the bottom drain. This will give you the best skimming action while still pulling a bit of water from the bottom drain.
Click to expand...
Thank you, this makes sense now. So on normal operation, the Skimmer valve should remain as is, which is in the 3 o'clock position and then the Main Drain valve should be positioned at 9 o'clock. Correct?
 
9 would provide full suction to skimmers. 12:00 would be around 50/50. Try around 10:00. This will keep a little bit of water flowing through the bottom drain. You may experiment a bit and try different settings. No two pools are alike.
 
malimited said:
Thank you, this makes sense now. So on normal operation, the Skimmer valve should remain as is, which is in the 3 o'clock position and then the Main Drain valve should be positioned at 9 o'clock. Correct?
Click to expand...
If you are trying to have 100% suction from 1 skimmer to vacuum then do the following.
Turn the valve in front of the pump 180 degrees such that handle is at 9 o clock
Then turn the skimmer valve handle to either 12 o clock or 6 o clock depending on which skimmer you want to use to vacuum.

How you vacuum and how you run for normal pool operations will require 2 different valve settings. You wanted to know how to vacuum which is the current focus.
 

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malimited said:
Im really dense, so I want to make sure I understand completely...really appreciate it. I marked up a picture, is this correct?
Click to expand...
The 3-way valve is designed only to be in 3 positions, unless someone modifies it.
Your skimmer 3-way valve can only be in either 12, 3 or 6 position (the valve handle). Remove the 9 position from your mark up photo

The 3-way valve in front of the pump can only be in either 3, 9 or 12 position (the valve handle). Remove the 6 position from your mark up photo.
 
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