I have two skimmers, a pair of main drains in the deep end, and another pair of main drains on the wall in the shallow end. The pair of main drains in the shallow end were evidently a mistake because no matter what I do they never suck water in. I have two valves for water coming in. One valve controls BOTH skimmers. The other valve controls the main drains in the deep end. Does this sound right? I showed this to my builder and he didn't have an answer about the main drains in the shallow end, but said both skimmers should be on one valve, just like it is. Looking for some advice from those who know better.
Question about plumbing in my new pool.
- Thread starter jltmaxx
- Start date
Can you post some pictures of your setup (plumbing and pool)? I've never heard of main drains in the shallow end, you could always ask your builder what they're supposed to do, if not suck.
Ok, the first picture shows my valves, the valve on the right is attached to my spa main drains, the valve on the left is attached to the pair of main drains in the deep end & the valve in the middle is attached to the skimmers. The second picture shows the two main drains in the deep end. They are attached to the valve on the left in the first picture. The third picture shows the main drains in the shallow end, they DO NOT suck water in, no matter how I set the valves, they are just there, doing nothing. If it sounds confusing, let me know & I will try to clarify. Thanks in advance.........Jason.
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If its plumbed right, the main drains actually come up into the skimmer. If you take out the basket in your skimmer, you should two open pipes, one goes to two drains and the other has suction from your pump. I think I got that right. Anybody want to chime in?? Also, you might check to see if your equalizer in your skimmer is wide open, it might be closed and not sucking from your drain.
That would be what I would call plumbed wrong. You never want the main drain coming up into the skimmer in a residential pool, though it is done often enough to save money. Commercial pools have setups that work something like that for the equalizer line, but that isn't what you want in a residential pool.salp said:
The only times I have seen drains on the wall of the pool like that they were either directly below a skimmer or were designed to feed a waterfall, or other major water feature, using a separate pump.
I do have a water feature and I do have to inlets (drain covers) that feed my feature that are on the side. Jason, thanks for correcting me, although, most of the residential pools I see have the main drain plumbed that way! 
The OP states that they do not suck water, no matter what. Could they be returns? I suppose you could try opening all your valves and squirting some food coloring in front of them, and seeing if it moves.
Is there an unused/capped pipe at the equipment pad? It's possibly for an extra pump for a water feature to be added later.
Scott
Scott
That equipment pic is a little too close. Can you back off a bit so we see the whole equipment pad? That would help a lot!
The three valves on the left control water feature, pool return, and spa return. In that order from left to right. Is this normal or did this Rear clown of a pool builder just screw me completely?
It seems normal to me. You also have three suction lines on the main pump. Do you know which is which of those? Then next is the booster pump discharge, booster pump suction and blower discharge.
Since your booster pump has a separate suction I'd bet that's what those shallow end mains are for.
Since your booster pump has a separate suction I'd bet that's what those shallow end mains are for.
The three lines on the main pump are: main drain, skimmers, and spa main drains. In that order from left to right. The booster pump does not suck water in from the main drains in the shallow end. I thought about that earlier, but no luck.
Well, I'm officially puzzled 
I guess there's no piping diagram huh???
Whenever you figure out what's going on with them please let us know.
I guess there's no piping diagram huh???
Whenever you figure out what's going on with them please let us know.
Frankly, I think any half-alive builder should be able to explain what everything does in a pool that they just built. They need a smack. 
The plumbing appears fine. Was there a time when the water feature was to be on it's own pump and then plans changed? It's possible, it that was the case, that that was not passed on to the plumbing plan during construction.
Since I don't see a spare, capped line, I suggest removing the side suction outlet covers and checking/plugging the line ports in the drain pot and then putting the covers back on. No one will know the difference except you. Should the builder compensate you for his error? If the drains were run to the pad and just buried, I would want him to bring them above ground and able to be capped with a threaded fitting.
Scott
Since I don't see a spare, capped line, I suggest removing the side suction outlet covers and checking/plugging the line ports in the drain pot and then putting the covers back on. No one will know the difference except you. Should the builder compensate you for his error? If the drains were run to the pad and just buried, I would want him to bring them above ground and able to be capped with a threaded fitting.
Scott
Scott, I was thinking along the same lines, r.e.: pull one of the drain covers off and see what's in there. Who knows? Maybe one of the rocket scientists didn't pull the plugs before installing the covers
Anyway, it only takes a couple minutes to remove a cover and see what's going on inside.
please keep us posted on this - I'm just a quiver with curiosity :-D
Anyway, it only takes a couple minutes to remove a cover and see what's going on inside.
please keep us posted on this - I'm just a quiver with curiosity :-D