My skimmer sucks (no pun intended)

[thenikeman]

Currently, my skimmer does not seem to be bringing in much at all, in regards to leaves, bugs, etc. Throughout the whole day, I may only accumulate 4-5 items in my basket, but there are always a bunch of small things still going around in the pool (sweat bees, small leaves for example). I don't have much around me in terms of trees, but it is always a pain to how much stuff is still floating around the pool. My return is located about 2-3 feet left of my skimmer, so I point my return opposite of the skimmer to where it points just below the surface of the water. I seem to get the "toilet bowl" effect around the edge of the pool, but it seems to die off a few feet from the skimmer, and everything just passes right on by...sometimes I'll stand right in front of the skimmer and push some of the debris into it because otherwise it will just keep on doing laps.

What can I look at to possibly remedy this problem? I have tried various jet positions but can't find a good spot for it. Thanks for your help in advance!

 

[TizMe]

I have seen items on the market that sit at the side of the pool and catch stray debris if it floats by the skimmer basket. If I am not mistaken AnnaK from this forum has something similar she uses. I think I have seen it in pictures of her pool, but I could be wrong.

 

[launboy]

You could try a Skim-it. Basically a long net thing that sticks out into the pool and helps catch stuff so it is sucked into the skimmer.

Here's a link:http://www.waterwarehouse.com/poolsupplies/SkimIt.html

HTH,
Adam

 

[thenikeman]

Thanks for the replies, AnnaK uses PoolSkim.

I will have to research both of these products.

Any other help would be appreciative, thanks!

 

[PoolOwnerNumber9]

Thenikeman, your skimmer should have a floating door, called a weir, that increases the speed of the top layer of water going into your skimmer. If that is missing or damaged your skimmer will not do much.

 

[thenikeman]

Thenikeman, your skimmer should have a floating door, called a weir, that increases the speed of the top layer of water going into your skimmer. If that is missing or damaged your skimmer will not do much.

I will have to check that out tomorrow. Pool is only a couple of months old, but something may be out of whack..thanks for the the heads up.

 

[wmshay6]

My weir has a channel in the back that holds a rectangular piece of styrofoam to provide a bit of flotation so that the top of the weir floats just below the water surface. My skimmer was not working well this spring because the foam had deteriorated to a point that it no longer provided flotation to the weir. Since yours is new, you shouldn't have this problem, but it can't hurt to give a quick visual check.

Fixed mine by cutting a scrap piece of foam to fit in the channel.

 

[JohnT]

Thenikeman, your skimmer should have a floating door, called a weir, that increases the speed of the top layer of water going into your skimmer. If that is missing or damaged your skimmer will not do much.

You also can have a similar effect if the water level in the pool is too high.

 

[thenikeman]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations! All appears to be fine with the skimmer / weir / water level...so I opted in for the Skim-It. It got really good reviews and was able to pick it up for $18 shipped. It should do the job since it is 28" long, and most my debris misses by 1.5 feet. I will update this thread when I get it installed in a couple days