I was wondering if anyone could help me out here. We had our pool put in last summer, and had a couple of weeks of swim time without a problem. Recently our skimmer has been acting up. It seems like the float valve is closing when the pump comes on, giving us no suction to the skimmer. When i hook the robot/vacuum up to the line it works so I know there is suction there. I know it's something simple. Thanks in advance.
Hayward Skimmer problem
- Thread starter Soalpool
- Start date
Soalpool, sounds like there may just be some debris keeping it from opening - you can work it open and closed a few times or remove and clean the area (I think that you're talking about the wier in the skimmer mouth)
Welcome to TFP!!
Welcome to TFP!!
I have a hayward with a float valve. If the valve closes, the water level in the skimmer might be too low, forcing the float down. At this point, there is suction from the main drain. Does that sound as if it might be happening? If the weir flap is damaged at all, it might not be allowing enough water through the weir to meet the suction demand of the pump.
Interesting. On the bottom part of the float valve is a flap that is being held in by the phillips type screw on the bottom. There's no visible damage that I can see. The flap can freely move left and right, which is the way I remember it when it was new (less than a year ago). There is definitely suction there (ie the robot vac), but when the float is in place under the basket, it acts as though it's closed. There is no debris that I can see stopping anything from functioning. It has to be something with the float. I can say that I've noticed a few times that when you turn the pump on, there is so much suction that it will pull all of the water in the skimmer housing down and close the float. I'm guessing that is what the flap on the float valve thing is for-do adjust the suction....but really I'm not sure. All I can say is that when its in place with the skimmer basket on top, there's no suction there. What do you guys think? Thanks again.
edit...I'm not sure about the weir flap (thats the inlet for the skimmer correct?) but I'll take a look at it.
edit...I'm not sure about the weir flap (thats the inlet for the skimmer correct?) but I'll take a look at it.
That thing is to protect your pump so it doesn't run dry. When the skimmer is too low, the float goes down and the pump draws solely from the main drain. The weir flap is the pivoting door into the skimmer. If you hold it up in a working pool, you can force the float valve to go down, checking its operation. I've done that before and that's why I thought you might want to check that flap. You can get a replacement if need be for the flap (weir door/gate?) and for the skimmer float valve.
Sounds like your water level is low or the weir flap. If the weir is stuck it is blocking the mouth of the skimmer. If everything was fine then your skimmer wouldnt empty like that on start up. Make sure water level is mid tile.
Soalpool,
I can't tell without a picture but it sounds like you are describing a restrictor valve that is there to equalize the amount of water drawn from two skimmers (or a skimmer and a main drain) that are connected in series.
If it's what I think it is, the "flapper" you are describing should be in a fixed postion and not flapping back and forth. That fixed position of the flapper determines how much water is pulled thru that skimmer. Adjusted correctly, it equalizes the flow between two intakes.....typically two skimmers but, if you only have one skimmer, it could be used to affect the main drain as well.
Again, if that's it, it can simply be removed.......but you'll have excess water being pulled in by that skimmer in which it was originally placed
I can't tell without a picture but it sounds like you are describing a restrictor valve that is there to equalize the amount of water drawn from two skimmers (or a skimmer and a main drain) that are connected in series.
If it's what I think it is, the "flapper" you are describing should be in a fixed postion and not flapping back and forth. That fixed position of the flapper determines how much water is pulled thru that skimmer. Adjusted correctly, it equalizes the flow between two intakes.....typically two skimmers but, if you only have one skimmer, it could be used to affect the main drain as well.
Again, if that's it, it can simply be removed.......but you'll have excess water being pulled in by that skimmer in which it was originally placed
Hey thanks everyone for your replies. It turns out that the water level was low. I hadn't even thought of it or bothered to look, mostly because we have an auto-fill, and because we've had rain lately. The float was stuck in the up position, and there was a bit of corrosion where the float arm attaches.I just worked it loose and viola, good to go. Thanks again.