Adjusting return eyeball

[stever1888]

I am new to pools, just purchased a house with a 16x32 inground pool, vinyl liner. It has two returns with eyeballs, that look similar to the model pictured at this page: http://www.a1poolparts.com/-strse-1141/ ... Detail.bok

I'd like to adjust the aim of the returns to try and fix some dead spots in water circulation. The problem is, I can't get either return eyeball to move at all, nor can I unscrew the large collar-looking piece that surrounds the eyeball, at least by hand. I'd like to know what physically needs to be done to adjust the aim. Do I need to get a wrench in the pool and force it loose? Does the collar move separately from the long threaded portion that must attach to the plumbing? Do I need to drain the pool below the returns before messing with it (which means it will not be adjusted until closing time, I suppose)? I don't want to mess up the liner, or create a gap, where it meets the return.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you. (And, this being my first post after a couple months of lurking prior to the recent house purchase, thanks to everyone for the great site. So far, so good with BBB, knock on wood.)

- Steve

 

[Bama Rambler]

The collar will unscrew from the eyeball fitting and the fitting will unscrew from the wall fitting without leaking. You may need pliers to get the collar to move, but once you do that the eye will rotate in the fitting.

 

[WestSidePool]

The return is made of 3 parts.
These by no means are the correct term, but it's how i'm describing it.

The Eyeball, collar, inner threaded tube.

Each piece is removable. I find the eyeballs stick when the collar is too tight.
Once loosened, you should be able to move the eyeball freely.

If you have a rubber strap or something similar to put around and turn the collar, you should be able to loosen it.
If you use pliers that are metal, i suggest putting something in between the metal tool and collar (cloth, rubber) or you could risk damaging the nice look of the plastic.

 

[Speedo]

Unless it's really tight I've been able to use some of the no-slip gripping stuff used for kitchen drawers. Or one of those jar grips (pretty much the same thing)

Even underwater it seems to do the trick. Using cloth might work well enough too.

 

[Richard320]

If you use pliers that are metal, i suggest putting something in between the metal tool and collar (cloth, rubber) or you could risk damaging the nice look of the plastic.

Tape the plier jaws with good masking tape or duct tape. Then even if it does gouge a little, it's a clean gouge, with no grease (or whatever that the pliers always seem to have) embedded in the plastic.

 

[stever1888]

Thanks for all the tips. Last night I was able to make some progress using a kitchen jar gripper. For the return that i was most focused on aiming, the collar would not unscrew -- the whole piece came out. So I had to just screw it back in, but not all the way, to re-aim. I'll have to replace that piece eventually. By aiming the return towards the surface, I think I have changed the pool circulation enough to improve skimmer performance.

- Steve