could my skimmer have eaten the skimmer sock?

[PoolCleanerMom]

Maybe I'm just paranoid AND forgetful - I remember cleaning out my skimmer sock recently and thought I put it back on the skimmer basket, but maybe I didn't? Anyway, this morning I see no skimmer sock on the basket and (perhaps because I have fresh memories of a giant soap-scum-and-hair clog that hubby cleared from the kids' bathroom sink) now I have this fear of a wad of skimmer sock somewhere between the skimmer and pump basket collecting all sorts of plant detritus behind it until the pump explodes from overexertion.

So - supposing the skimmer *did* ingest the sock - what would be some obvious signs (other than the sock making its way into the filter basket)? Is there any way to flush it out? I assume the "backflush" setting of the filter runs water to waste, not back to the pool.

Help!

 

[JohnT]

Check in your pump strainer basket. If it somehow slipped around the skimmer basket, it probably be there.

 

[PoolCleanerMom]

I checked/emptied the pump basket this morning and no sock there. But I'm still worried that it could have gotten stuck somewhere in the pipe on the way to the basket, like a section where the pipe makes a right angle turn or something. Anything you experts know that could reassure me that my phobia is an unlikely one?

 

[Bama Rambler]

If your flow out the return(s) is the same and your filter pressure is the same you most certainly forgot to put it back in the skimmer. Even if it did eat it there's a strong possibility that it would have gone straight to the pump basket.

For peace of mind you can use a drain king to run water backward through the skimmer line to try and flush it out.

 

[svenpup]

Do you put it on the inside of the basket? This came up in a post a while ago. Someone was putting their skimmer sock on the outside of the basket and was very lucky it didn't get sucked in.

Cautionary note to readers: Skimmer socks go inside the basket.

If you did forget to put it back on, where is it? Shouldn't it be around somewhere?

 

[PoolCleanerMom]

Do you put it on the inside of the basket? This came up in a post a while ago. Someone was putting their skimmer sock on the outside of the basket and was very lucky it didn't get sucked in.

Cautionary note to readers: Skimmer socks go inside the basket.

If you did forget to put it back on, where is it? Shouldn't it be around somewhere?

Yeah, I put it inside the basket. And yes it *should* be around somewhere if it wasn't put back on, but, well, um, let's just say that our pool shed is not exactly a well-organized and tidy place

 

[anonapersona]

Do you have raccoons? I ask because from time to time, I see that the skimmer sock has been pulled though the little hole in the top of the skimmer lid. I suppose the raccoon that lives under the deck thought there was something edible in there. He also sometimes has gotten the lid off.

 

[PoolCleanerMom]

Do you have raccoons? I ask because from time to time, I see that the skimmer sock has been pulled though the little hole in the top of the skimmer lid. I suppose the raccoon that lives under the deck thought there was something edible in there. He also sometimes has gotten the lid off.

Yes, we do! They've been trying to dig up grubs in our lawn. Hmm, wonder if one of them ran off with our filter sock? For once, I'm actually *hoping* that the raccoon was responsible for something disappearing!
And it *does* seem like a more plausible scenario than the filter sock coming undone from inside the skimmer and getting sucked down. It sort of pops up when the pump is off, maybe that's when a raccoon noticed it and fished it out?

 

[anonapersona]

Yup, that floating skimmer basket with the sock on it bobs around and could look like a frog to the raccoon. I finally dropped a large rock iinto the basket to keep it down.

 

[PoolCleanerMom]

I found the missing sock . was brushing the pool tonight and saw something hazy getting stirred up by the brush (sigh, neglected the pool for a couple days and now I need to shock it), fished it out and sure enough it was the missing filter sock, rust stains from Ye Olde Skimmer Basket and all. Will need to replace it though - that last round of Bleach Blanket Babylon really hastened the demise of the fabric.

 

[anonapersona]

So, no way it went through the system, the filter basket and filter would have caught it. Must'a been the raccoons.

Yes, the socks are consumption items, but so much better than opening the cart filter to clean. I found an online source that costs $3 for a 5 pack of socks http://www.poolproducts4less.com/search.aspx?find=sock

 

[PoolCleanerMom]

So, no way it went through the system, the filter basket and filter would have caught it. Must'a been the raccoons.

Yeah, I can just imagine the raccoon wanted to wash off the 'frog' in the pool and it floated away and sank :lol:

Yes, the socks are consumption items, but so much better than opening the cart filter to clean. I found an online source that costs $3 for a 5 pack of socks http://www.poolproducts4less.com/search.aspx?find=sock

Thanks - that's a great price!

 

[Nappigal]

I, unfortunately, put mine on the outside and now I'm having an issue. Never used them before and the skimmer basket I use has a bar across it so it made sense to me, at the time, to put it on the outside. I went to go grab from the 2nd skimmer basket and before I could retrieve it, the sock got sucked back into the system. Now what?