Whole leaves in wet end strainer basket

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Emarshbuck

LifeTime Supporter
Aug 3, 2013
175
Hilton Head, SC
I may be starting to "get" this, but after a 2-3 days of running the pump (2hrs X 2/day) I see not just little bits and pieces of debris in the strainer basket, but whole leaves. I know these did not come from my skimmer, and I didn't vacuum the pool. So the two bottom drains in the pool can also suck in complete oak tree leaves? They are brown and very soft. I didn't realize that the bottom drains had such pressure, though it seems they are every bit as strong as the skimmer itself.

A little education needed here...

thx

ed
 
How do I do that? By turning the control valve more to the skimmer pipe? It's a Never Lube Jandy Valve. I've always left it in the center position during normal pump cycles. I turn it to the left position when I vacuum. I've never turned it to the right. I've tried to find a manual for it online with no success.

Suggestions are very much appreciated!

thx

ed
 
Somewhere between normal and where you set it to vacuum would be my guess. Just experiment. Normal splits the flow evenly, vacuum shuts the drain off completely. All the way to the right will shut off the skimmer. That mode would be my pick while brushing - you could use all that suction to pull in everything you sweep towards it. You might not even need to vacuum then!
 
Ok now my neighbor who built pools for 20yrs (he says) was over last night and I was telling him what an education I have received on this forum, and mentioning the tip about using the bottom drains for some light debris removal of small things sitting on the pool bottom.

He was adamant that I risk ruining the bottom drains and that it would cost thousands of $$ to replace them. I asked him if they couldn't just be cleaned out if they were stopped up and he said no way could they be cleaned. When I looked at them this am I see two small stainless steel screws holding the caps on. Looks like they could be removed and snake out the pipes if need be.

This pool is 23 yrs old. And the house sat vacant for 3 yrs and rented for 5. I would think if anything would have ruined the bottom drains it would have already occurred.

Thoughts?

Thx
 
Emarshbuck said:
Ok now my neighbor who built pools for 20yrs (he says) was over last night and I was telling him what an education I have received on this forum, and mentioning the tip about using the bottom drains for some light debris removal of small things sitting on the pool bottom.

He was adamant that I risk ruining the bottom drains and that it would cost thousands of $$ to replace them. I asked him if they couldn't just be cleaned out if they were stopped up and he said no way could they be cleaned. When I looked at them this am I see two small stainless steel screws holding the caps on. Looks like they could be removed and snake out the pipes if need be.

This pool is 23 yrs old. And the house sat vacant for 3 yrs and rented for 5. I would think if anything would have ruined the bottom drains it would have already occurred.

Thoughts?

Thx
Click to expand...
Huge piles of leaves, sure, you run a risk. A few stray dead bugs? Get real. 50 or 60 gallons a minute are going to carry that debris right on through. How often does the vacuum hose clog? It has more bends than the underground plumbing, I'm sure. How often has the plumbing from the vacuum, hose connection to the pump clogged on you? And a snake works from either end. You could just disassemble the valve and go in from the top end if it did clog.
 
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