I think I've been vacuuming wrong?

[pool mum]

Been reading the other threads about vacuuming, and that's not how I do it, but it works great. Can someone tell me what exactly I've been doing? Should I do it the "correct" way?

When going to vacuum, I turn the vacuum switch/valve on. Then using a manual vacuum, I prime the hose (which is attached to the vacuum cleaner part) by sticking it up to a return until it quits bubbling. The vacuum head is in the water at this point. Then I take the end of the hose and stick it up to a....hole, that happens to be under the skimmer. The hole has awesome suction and I go about vacuuming the pool. I attach the hose to the hole with what I now know is a skimmer plate (did not know what that thing was at first!). Apparently I'm supposed to use the skimmer to vacuum, and that is what the skimmer plate is really for?

Is the "hole" really just a return with no eyeball? Why does it have such great suction? This house was a foreclosure house and the pool was a wreck.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

The skimmer plate goes over the skimmer basket, for example if your vacuuming large debris like chunks or leaves. You can alternatively plug it into the hole inside the skimmer, or under the skimmer (those are less common and seem more with older pools.)

If it were a "return" you would feel flow, not suction.

 

[pool mum]

Great, then I've been doing it right. The pool is at least 10 years old. I was confused when I read that people vacuumed to their skimmer using the skimmer plate. Why not just use the hole, lol.

 

[jblizzle]

It almost sounds like you have an equalizer line below your skimmer. This would be plumbed to a second hole in the skimmer and the other hike would go to the pump. If you put a diverter or something over the basket in the skimmer, then the suction would be forced to the hole in the wall instead of the skimmer. Not really designed for what you described, but apparently works if I understand the setup correctly.

Only possible issue is you are not using the skimmer basket to catch the larger debris.

 

[pool mum]

Interesting. I'll have to look up what an equalizer line is. All I know is it works great for vacuuming. There are two holes in the skimmer. So far we've been vacuuming only little stuff. Will keep that it mind for leaves and big debris.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Sounds like you have a dedicated vacuum line and in that case you're doing it correctly. Just check your pump basket regularly and you'll be fine.