Based on the advice of some others on this forum and the other forum I installed a skimmer sock yesterday. My old skimmer basket was cracked so I bought a new one and stuck the sock on it. I went out there today to check on it (we're still trying to clear our water up after a year of negligence by the previous owner) and discovered the skimmer sock was completely clogged with crud, and the skimmer basket had busted it's seams around the bottom and sides! I'm assuming the sock once gooped up was able to put enough pressure on the basket to bust it. Has anyone else had this experience? I really would rather not destroy twelve dollar skimmer baskets on a regular basis.
Skimmer sock destroyed skimmer??
- Thread starter lebaige
- Start date
The more crud you have in the water the more you need to check it. In the spring when I have heavy pollen I may change my sock every 2 to 4 hours. I haven't (knock on wood) had a basket to break but had the sock plugged up. Could you please give us a little more info on your pool / pump set up.
Thanks
Steve
Thanks
Steve
I use skimmer socks as well and am constantly amazed at how much "ick" they capture. What is that brown, fluffy stuff anyway? The first few days I changed them daily and now they don't seem to get clogged as much. Of course we've had a cold spell so we haven't been in the pool as much maybe we're not dirtying it up.
I started using them after I cleaned my cartridge filter for the first time a couple of weeks ago. YUCK. I so wish I had gone with sand or DE or something I can backwash. I'm hoping the socks help keep them from getting so mucked up.
I like them because they catch most if not all of the needles from the cedar tree that hangs right beside the pool. Those things kept clogging up my pump basket and I had to clean it every couple of days.
I have never had one come close to breaking the skimmer basket.
I started using them after I cleaned my cartridge filter for the first time a couple of weeks ago. YUCK. I so wish I had gone with sand or DE or something I can backwash. I'm hoping the socks help keep them from getting so mucked up.
I like them because they catch most if not all of the needles from the cedar tree that hangs right beside the pool. Those things kept clogging up my pump basket and I had to clean it every couple of days.
I have never had one come close to breaking the skimmer basket.
cracked the skimmer basket? My skimmer socks couldnt hold enough junk to crack my skimmer baskets. Apparently there are different qualities of skimmer baskets.
I have a 24' AG. The pump is a Doughboy Power Pak II 1.5HP model. I changed the sock out again today and it was pretty grimy but not as bad as it was before. I'm assuming it got so clogged the pump built up a vacuum strong enough to split the basket.
On a side note I had no idea these socks wore out so quickly. an they be cleaned and reused? If not it seems like a fairly expensive device o keep installed on a regular basis.
On a side note I had no idea these socks wore out so quickly. an they be cleaned and reused? If not it seems like a fairly expensive device o keep installed on a regular basis.
most folks that use them have at least a couple... take off the dirty one, put on a clean one, and then just wash the dirt out (I think someone even tosses them into the washer)
I have 5. I just take off old ones, put on new ones. When the old ones dry, I wash them out.
DavidD
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lebaige said:
I'd be willing to bet the basket was at the end of its life anyway
If your pool is really dirty, I'd check the socks at LEAST a couple of times a day since the do catch a lot of crud.
Dave
I just started running these skimmer sock/filter things a week or so back. I bought two packs of 4 each. I really can't see re-using them. I tried for the first few days. They are usually covered with a yellow/brown mush mixed in with the assorted bugs and such. I have been changing them whenever I go out to check on the pool. I think I am going to try the old ladies knee high stocking setup next
Perhaps I bought the wrong brand since they are not really that solidly made and more then one use it seems like they would be completely degraded.
Does anyone have a link to re-usable ones?
Perhaps I bought the wrong brand since they are not really that solidly made and more then one use it seems like they would be completely degraded.
Does anyone have a link to re-usable ones?
I'd tend to agree with you had I not just bought the basket the day before (the old one that came with the pool when we bought the place was busted ...).
In any case, I'm still in the process of clearing up the water. It had been sitting stagnant for quite some time with no care at all. The algae is dead but the water is still very cloudy with the leftovers, so I'm hoping this was simply a one time occurance.
Mine are from bioguard. I just take the skimmer basket out and hose off the junk on the skim-mor sock. Drop the skimmer back in place. I dont take the sock off to rinse it off. Mine have lasted 3 weeks now with no visible wear at all.
I change the sock about once a week and rinse the old one and let it dry. I get about a month's service from each one before it starts to fall apart. At under $6 for a 5 pack that's not a major expense for a product that really works. I don't use them to clear a pool but as a maintenance item on a clean pool. If your pool is really dirty use your filter to clear it and then put the socks in or your will be clogging up the socks very quickly. Your filter is better able to handle large amounts of crud since it has a much larger filtering area than a skimmer sock!
waterbear said:
I think that is the difference. The bioguard skim-mor socks are nearly $12 for 5 of them. But again I havent seen any noticable wear after 3 weeks of use and multiple cleanings on the first 2 I have used.
I have used various brands of skimmer socks and they all last me about the same. I haven't tried the bioguard ones but I doubt they are any better than the others. I have used the AquaChem, which are also from a Chemtura owned company like Bioguard (Chemtura owns Bioguard, Guardex, Sun, Hydrotech, Omni, Pooltime, and AquaChem in the US) and doubt they are really any different. They actually lasted the shortest! I have a very loarge skimmer basket on my pool ( Hayward skimmer) it it stretches the sock out so I think that is why mine don't last that long. The stitching along the edge comes undone.
waterbear said:
Good point. The key may be to rinse it off while still on the skimmer basket. I just take out the skimmer basket and turn it upside down and rinse it off with a hose. I havent taken the sock off since I put it on. That may help the stitching last longer.
I used knee hi stockings from the grocery store last summer. Worked like a charm, very cheap, just threw them away afterwards. 
- Apr 8, 2007
- 1,616
- Pool Size
- 17450
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I just had an incident today that could lead me to see why this kind of thing could happen. I had the cover off and was cleaning the pool (after being gone all weekend and a series of storms had rolled in) The wind was blowing all kinds of that fluffy tree stuff into the pool and the skimmer sock quickly became coated with that stuff - when I removed the skimmer and pulled the sock off, some parts fo the sock had pulled through the openings - that thing was CLOGGED and it only took 10 mins of having the cover off with that Crud landing in there (I had just put the clean sock in there when I took the cover off) so I would say that caviat on using the skimmer socks is that they need watching when conditions are right to cause clogging.
I found another way to mess up using skimmer socks.
About a week ago, I put my first sock on (new pool owner). Being an expert in all things I try, I didn't bother really thinking about it or reading the instructions (it's a sock for petes sake). I put the skimmer sock on, flipped on the pump, watched it for a bit, was looking good, and left the filter running for the night.
Went out the next morning excited to see how much Crud it had caught, flipped off the pump pulled up the skimmer basket and the skimmer sock was GONE!
That's the point I realized that the skimmer sock goes on the INSIDE of the skimmer basket, not the OUTSIDE. Luckily, the basket just before the pump caught it and it still got enough water through to keep running, or that would have been a pretty expensive skimmer sock
About a week ago, I put my first sock on (new pool owner). Being an expert in all things I try, I didn't bother really thinking about it or reading the instructions (it's a sock for petes sake). I put the skimmer sock on, flipped on the pump, watched it for a bit, was looking good, and left the filter running for the night.
Went out the next morning excited to see how much Crud it had caught, flipped off the pump pulled up the skimmer basket and the skimmer sock was GONE!
That's the point I realized that the skimmer sock goes on the INSIDE of the skimmer basket, not the OUTSIDE. Luckily, the basket just before the pump caught it and it still got enough water through to keep running, or that would have been a pretty expensive skimmer sock
I've been using my first skimmer sock for almost two weeks now, every day I leave it attached squeeze it, wipe whatever it captured, rinse it and put the skimmer back in place. I have a spare, but haven't needed to switch it, yet. Good advice Rob, install it on the inside of the basket.