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Definitely looks like cracks. My battery died right before I could get the picture 🤦🏻‍♂️ It looks like it elbows toward the equipment pad just below the skimmer basket housing, maybe 6” below it?

So I stuck my camera down the skimmer pipe. I can feel it getting bombarded with turbulent water, and there are cracks all over the inside of the elbow there.

Yep, plenty of water, it’s actually higher than the skimmer door and there is no water getting sucked in when I checked earlier. Of course let me double check when I get back.

Yep, the valve handle points to the open pipe, and the little arrow points to the closed direction. The skimmer line is unburied by maybe a foot right now, I could keep tracing it down I suppose. There are a couple of couplers in-line like they repaired it a few times. I wrapped the whole pipe...

That above ground choke valve has a clear top. I can see a few small bubbles but nothing like what it is actually pulling in under the lid. At the elbow on the skimmer side, you can hear very loud noise like air bubbles in the water coming in fast. Even if the three way valve was leaky (and...

That could be the case. I did throw Saran Wrap on the open stub from the waterfall and the valve itself - no change. But it’s also hard to get a seal on those, so maybe still bad. I’ll check it out, thanks.

The pressure side chatters - the pipes are moving 1/2” in either direction as they vibrate. It’s quite bad. It seems like it’s sucking in a bunch of air, relaxing, then sucking in a bunch more air. At low speeds, there is still air coming in. The air bubble under the lid is huge.

So…totally got the operation of the three way valve backwards. The skimmer side is the one without the choke valve. The main drain side is the one with the choke valve above ground and where the waterfall is plumbed via the underground choke valve. The skimmer side is chattering real bad when...

Yes, that other choke valve is right above the tee on the skimmer line. Makes sense - instead of gluing it on, can I Saran Wrap one on?

Oh and I should say - ultimately we will isolate the lines, it’s just a question of when.

The manual valve option is enticing but it only buys me 6 months until the winter, but I suppose I can keep that waterfall side all drained at that point. My main concern is that if I plumb the main pump to just the skimmer, it will chatter and vibrate like it is now when I move the three way...

It’s a bit concerning that from what I assume is the main drain, the pump is pulling in a lot of air. But I guess that’s a problem for another day.

Yep, check valve underground. Teed to the skimmer line.

Looking at the length of scope it took to get there (2 feet), I don’t think it’s possible to be the above ground check valve. About to find out for sure, though.

I finally got the chance to mess with this, and it’s DWV pipe.

So before I started digging I wanted to see what the endoscope could find. That certainly looks like a choke valve just a few feet into the pipe, which would make sense.

Thanks for the help. I’ll add it to the never ending list 😂

When I put the 3-way valve all the way to one side, the main pump sucked in a bunch of air, and the waterfall pump water disappeared. Basically, it was the problem I’ve been having but on steroids. It was definitely not pulling any water through the skimmer. However, when I move the valve all...

The TA of the fill water here is high, so you are correct, in the summer it’s a beat down of managing TA and dumping MA in. It seems to be happy around TA=80-90 and pH = 7.8-8.2.

Whenever I’ve tested this before to troubleshoot why that one return is dead, neither side would pull vacuum on that port. The skimmer has a single pipe opening. I think it’s about 15 years old if I had to guess.

I believe that is the main drain and the skimmer line coming to the main pump. Maybe they already routed it like you mention - I’ll check when I get home. If so, I should just be able to turn the valve all the way to the skimmer side, right?

There is definitely something on the plates internally, it’s just hard to get a good picture.

Is that not showing up already? I can see it on my posts….

One thing to note is that the water level inside the SWCG only seems to be full when the VS motor is at full speed.

I do try to keep it there but right now I’m sitting at 0.66, which has probably been there for a couple of weeks as I’ve been out of town. Seems like I could wash it out if it’s just debris?

I have been running my new VS pump at the suggested speeds for the last few weeks, and I noticed that the newish SWCG seems to be quickly building up junk on the plates. Should I be concerned?

I figured as much, but not much I can do about it. When I cut the old pipe out tomorrow, I’ll throw my endoscope in it to see where it goes. There is a small possibility it is plumbed to a return that doesn’t seem to be working…but I doubt it.