vacuuming

[farmingmama]

Hello everyone,
This was our first summer with our new inground pool and every time I vacuumed I just didn't feel like it was sucking enough and took forever. Now that I'm doing the final vacuuming before closing this week, the issue has come up again and because we left the pool for a month without swimming, it is taking FOREVER to clean the pool. How much suction should you actually have? I feel like I have to hover above every little leaf for 30 sec. or more before it actually gets sucked in and it's hard to even keep the vacuum head flat against the bottom. Shouldn't it be slightly "stuck" there all the time? If I need more suction, what should I be doing to get more? If you need a pic of our set-up, no problem just let me know.
Thanks

 

[Bama Rambler]

We need to know a little more about your setup.

How are you connecting the vacuum to the system?
Do you have a main drain?
If so is it plumbed to the pad or to the bottom of the skimmer?
Do you use a vacuum regulator in the vacuum hose?

 

[farmingmama]

Ok, I'm going to show my complete newbie stripes here by asking what you mean by the "pad"? Sorry!
We have two main drains.
I think they are plumbed to the pad (do you mean the place where the pump and filter is all set up?) There are three separate lines with valves coming to the pump in our shed. They are called Skimmer, Main, and Vacuum (this is for a creepy crawly the builder said). The builder said I should close the vacuum valve and that I might have to play with the main valve too to get enough suction but if I start to close the main valve it gets a lot of air and bubbling in the window where the catch basket is on the pump and I maybe get a bit more suction but not much. So I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.
There is no vacuum regulator in the vacuum hose that I know of. It just came with the pool and seems like a simple no frills hose.

Here's what I do to set up to vacuum:
-hook pole and vacuum head up the hose and put in pool
-push hose beneath water a bit at a time to make sure no air gets in line (water comes out end of hose before end it fully submerged)
-without raising above water, thread hose through to skimmer and plug hose into skimmer hole
-then I go to the shed and close the vacuum valve (builder said this one is just if you have a creepy crawly), and slightly close the main drain valve too
-then I go back out and start vacuuming

 

[Bama Rambler]

Yes the pad is where the pump & filter is.

Sounds like you're not closing the main drain valve off enough.

You should close the main drain valve to increase the suction at the vacuum until you get as much as it takes to get the results you want. You don't want the vacuum sticking to the bottom but it should have a really good suction.

 

[ping]

When I manually vacuum, I attach the vacuum hose to the vacuum and then I fill the hose with water from one of the water returns inside the pool. This way is much easier and faster than trying to fill each section of hose by keeping it under water. I then attach the hose to my vacuum port, which is for your kreepy krawly, and open the vacuum valve. You can do it through the skimmer also, but like Bama said you need to close the main drain valve some more.

 

[farmingmama]

Ok sounds good! Is it ok then to have the swishing and bubbling in the window where the pump basket is when I adjust the main drain valve closed? It seemed like the more I closed the main drain, the more the water bubbled and swished so I was afraid to close the main drain valve any more.
Also, I was always thinking it'd be way easier to just use the vacuum port for vacuuming instead of trying to fit the hose through the skimmer without getting air in it which is really hard to do with ours even if the water level is near the top of the skimmer. The door of the skimmer is really high and hard to get through. If I decide to use the vacuum port would I have to open the vacuum valve and play with the main drain to close it more but then have to have the skimmer valve closed also?
Thanks for the speedy replies!

 

[Bama Rambler]

If you use the vacuum port you would open it all the way and adjust the skimmer and main drain valves toward closed until you get good suction.

If you're seeing bubbles in the pump basket when closing off the main drain valve, it indicates an air leak. I'd suggest removing and resealing the pump drain plugs and cleaning and lubing the pump basket o-ring well. That should help the bubbles. A few bubbles when vacuuming isn't terrible but if you're getting a lot you need to find where the leak is.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

A few clarifying questions from a former newbie:

Are you using an adapter plate over the skimmer basket or just going straight to the hole under the basket in the skimmer? If you are bypassing the basket - leaves can clog your skimmer line - STOP. If you want to do this you need a leaf cannister that goes between the vac hose and the skimmer connection. This could also be used with the dedicated vac port.

You mentioned hooking the vac is hard? I use a skimmer plate and I typically fill the hose from a return as mentioned by a earlier post. When I get ready to hook the hose up I just use my hand to tightly stopper the end of the house - pick it up out of the water and carry it to the skimmer. I upend it and hook it to the skimmer plate - my water level has to be high enough that the plate doesn't stick out enough to cause a vortex but you can also put the plate on the hose end before you take it out of the water if your hand will seal it. You might have trouble due to the reinforcing lines on the bottom of the plate - you could use a stopper to help hold the water in until you upend it and then pull the stopper out and set the plate into the skimmer in one quick motion.

Also - when you get the cavitation (the bubbling in the pump basket) look at the skimmer - is it creating a vortex/whirlpool which could suck air down? If so the water level may be slightly too low for that much suction. If you have already hooked the vac hose up and the head is underwater before you shut most of the main drain suction off - and it still does this then water level is not the problem.

You can test for leaks using water or shaving cream - slowly pour water over the lines and valves and see if the air briefly goes away - if it does you can be sure you have a suction side leak. Shaving cream can help pinpoint the leak - spray down the areas you are worried about and watch to see if/where it gets sucked in. Alternately - Bama makes a good point - check the plugs etc before you spend a lot of time trying to track down the source - you could solve the issue without a lot of effort and there is no harm in trying that!

 

[farmingmama]

Ok, thanks everyone for the great advice. I'll keep it in mind when trying again hopefully in a few days after the rain clears out. Haven't been able to try it yet due to lots and lots of rain but I'm not complaining, it could have been worse. Hoping all of the TFP community is safe after the hurricane on the east coast.