Ok, noobie here and I have a quick and what seems like a stupid question. I noticed that there is a bunch of gunk in my strainer basket, so I took the lid off the housing and pulled the basket and cleaned it out and replaced it. Is there any other way to do this so water does not come gushing out and makes a muddy mess?
cleaning the strainer basket
- Thread starter Jeff74
- Start date
Not really. It's a good idea to have shut off valves installed at various places in the plumbing so you can do so without loosing too much water....
I have a valve before the pump and after the pump before the return.
I have a valve before the pump and after the pump before the return.
I find if I close my incoming valves a bit before I turn it off, I get the rush of water back but not a bunch overflooding onto my feet. It also helps to turn it off, release the strainer ring a bit but don't take it all the way open. This lets any air in the system out slowly and the water just rises up and over a bit. Not a perfect solution, but seems to work for me.
If you don't have valves in the suction and return lines you can plug the return port in the pool and the skimmer port in the bottom of the skimmer and you won't lose too much water. Obviously, valves in the lines would be a much better solution, but plugging will make do till you can get some installed.
Cheap and economical. 
Sure it's okay...if it works why not? I seem to recall hubby doing that before we had the valves installed.