basket before pump basket?

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wanderlostboy

0
Aug 29, 2015
4
Chandler, Az
Hello! I am new with pools and stopped my pool service a few months ago after learning a lot from this forum. Unfortunately, the water circulation stopped a couple of weeks ago, and my home warranty sent a person who found a crack on an encasement for a basket suction side just before the filter pump/basket. I don't know what it's called so I posted a photo. It's basically similar to the basket prior to the pump but obviously, there's another one before the actual pump basket, like a covered skimmer. It's cracked and is pulling in air through the filter an therefore water can't flow through the pump. I don't see it a lot when I look at plumbing schematics. The company said it would cost over a thousand to replace it - and it's not covered by home warrant as part of it is underground! His alternative was to get rid of it and get the pipe straight to the pump basket...for a hundred dollars. Is this secondary basket common, and if I take it out, would it be a big issue in terms of preventing debris from getting to the pump? Thanks so much
IMG_1594.jpg

By the way, the basket encasement has a cover which I took out.
 
I have personally never seen a skimmer basket such as this before the pump on the suction side. Are there any other pool features that might need this contraption such as an in-floor cleaning system? Filling out your pool signature with all the details you can about your pool would certainly help. I'm inclined to say you could just remove it and run pipe to the pump, but there may be a need for it based on other equipment we don't know about.
 
Looks vintage, I have not seen one before but that is not saying much. Are you sure it is not some sort of proportional feeder controlled by the valve to the right, perhaps it is a first gen attempt at a tablet feeder? If it were I would think you could just close it off via the valve and feed from the other side. I don't think removing it and connecting it straight through would be a problem and $100 sounds reasonable. You could do it your self for about $20 but if you are not comfortable with a bit of excavating and cutting/gluing PVC $100 sounds fair to me, don't be surprised if it only takes them 10min to do the job though. You will get a little of debris in the pump basket but that is what it is there for, to ensure no particle too large can get to the impeller and cause damage. Make sure the pump basket is in good shape no cracks or holes besides the ones that supposed to be there and you should be fine.
 
It's a debris canister. They're not uncommon on inground pool installations, but they're usually set into the deck near the pool. As long as you have a basket in the pump strainer pot and/or have a basket in the skimmer(s) it won't hurt anything to remove it from the plumbing.
 
@banditig. I have a pool vacuum attached to the pool wall, and that goes to that basket.
Thanks to everyone for the replies. I did forget to place my pool details. I have a pool (10k gal)/spa combination and a suction vacuum which does not go through the skimmer (suction vacuum and spa drain does not go through skimmer). I have attached a photo of the rest of my plumbing/valves. Do people with suction pool cleaner that bypass the skimmer need that basket in addition to the basket in the pump?

IMG_1600.jpg
 
I think you should pay them to just plumb it out, that is very reasonable IMO. It will be a mess if they don't put a temporary plug in first. If you you have to vacuum a lot of debris, you risk running the pump dry, but you should hear it.
 
@borjis: the suction cleaner does not have its own basket. I now see that this could be one of the reason I have this canister, but the pump does have its basket too, but I'm not sure if this would be enough to keep bigger debris from going through.
@MarianParoo: the regular pump basket is to the left of the canister I am having trouble with, attached to the pump (two of them on the upper left corner - one for pool/spa, and one for the water feature. Yup, it is complicated and took me a while to figure it out - thanks to TFP! - the suction side drains pool - either from suction cleaner, main drain, or skimmer or combo; or from the spa. Which reminds me, does the main drain for pool or spa have its own filtering function? - like the grids on the basket? The pressure side goes to spa, returns, or the popups. There is also a blower for pool or spa, the function of which I have no idea since I can use the spa using the pump.
 

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My A&A in-floor cleaning system includes a leaf canister just ahead of the pump that looks a lot like that. You don't per chance have an in-floor system, do you?
 
JUST THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX HERE :
You said there is a crack on the encasement. Is that the white case that the blue basket is in? Is there anyway to repair the crack? I assume it is PVC or maybe you can make a rubber plug / patch and wrap a clamp around it. How big of crack is it?
 
Based on the picture it looks like a sizable chunk is broke off the top edge. Not repairable. If you don't have an in-floor cleaning system, I would just plumb around it and call it a day.
 
Read your home warranty carefully to verify what is covered and what exclusions apply. I had an electrician come out and tell me I wasn't covered when in fact I was. Trust but verify were very wise words that Reagan said.
 
chiefwej said:
My A&A in-floor cleaning system includes a leaf canister just ahead of the pump that looks a lot like that. You don't per chance have an in-floor system, do you?
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I believe the OP does have an in-floor system just like you and I have Chief. Look at the lower right of the last pic, right below the union - that's the diverter valve assembly. So the broken canister and basket are for the LeafVac of the A&A in-floor system.
Click to expand...

Question for the OP - do you know that you have what appears to be an in-floor cleaning system? Is it in working order? You should see a number of round plastic circles (about 2" or so in diameter) in various locations on the pool floor - have you ever seen them pop-up about an inch? The LeafVac can be replaced with a newer version (LeafVac | A and A Manufacturing | Pool Cleaning Products). If you go to the link, there are additional pages explaining the in-floor system it looks like you have.

Since you mentioned you are using a suction side cleaner, you could always just bypass it and purchase an inline leaf canister to go on the suction side cleaner hose if leafs and debris are an issue. At least that will keep them from totally clogging the pump strainer basket. At a future point, if you decided to use the in-floor cleaning system, you could decide then whether to install a new LeafVac or not. For now, the simplest solution it to bypass it and get your system up and running again. If you are handy with PVC piping, you could accomplish this yourself for considerably less than the $100 quoted by the repairman.
 
proavia said:
Question for the OP - do you know that you have what appears to be an in-floor cleaning system? Is it in working order? You should see a number of round plastic circles (about 2" or so in diameter) in various locations on the pool floor - have you ever seen them pop-up about an inch? The LeafVac can be replaced with a newer version (LeafVac | A and A Manufacturing | Pool Cleaning Products). If you go to the link, there are additional pages explaining the in-floor system it looks like you have.

Since you mentioned you are using a suction side cleaner, you could always just bypass it and purchase an inline leaf canister to go on the suction side cleaner hose if leafs and debris are an issue. At least that will keep them from totally clogging the pump strainer basket. At a future point, if you decided to use the in-floor cleaning system, you could decide then whether to install a new LeafVac or not. For now, the simplest solution it to bypass it and get your system up and running again. If you are handy with PVC piping, you could accomplish this yourself for considerably less than the $100 quoted by the repairman.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have popup cleaners. I tried to repair it with JB weld but only worked a couple of times, and each time, I had to prime the lines before it water gets going again.

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WASP said:
Read your home warranty carefully to verify what is covered and what exclusions apply. I had an electrician come out and tell me I wasn't covered when in fact I was. Trust but verify were very wise words that Reagan said.
Click to expand...
I talked to the warranty company and they verified the information. They obviously have the final say, and home warranty companies being home warranty companies, they'll try to reject everything of course.
 
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