Leaves etc..... need a new approach

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J

JimTMich

0
Jun 28, 2012
48
Kalamazoo, MI
Pool Size
22000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
I would like to try something new to manage leaves.

I've been in this house with my first pool for 3 years now. The in ground vinyl pool is beautifully landscaped surrounded by three River Birtches and a Japanese Maple.

I keep a solar cover on the pool at night.

Unfortunately, in the spring the Birtches drop seed pods for several weeks and then start dropping leaves whenever there is a hint of dryness.

The filtration system is a 1hp with a sand filter. 2 skimmers a main drain in the deep end and 5 returns. Wind usually blows leaves to the shallow end where there is a skimmer.

I find the skimmer doesn't have enough pull to get much so I run the Baracuda to pick leaves off the bottom of the pool, which makes it so I cannot run the skimmers.

When the kids or I take the solar cover off there are allot of leaves on top and they end up in the pool....

I run the pump from 2pm to 10pm. The Baracuda never gets all the leaves, but is allot better than vacuuming daily.

What do you think of a PoolSkim in the shallow end and The PoolCleaner or a robot to replace the Baracuda? I don't need something to clean walls, I don't mind brushing those, just looking to manage the leaves a whole lot better.
 
Is there a valve near the pump to change flow between skimmers and main drain? We move the valve to mostly skimmer when more stuff is dropping in the pool. Also, if you can change the pump timer to run a few hours in morning and a few in the evening it will help to get more in the skimmers and off the bottom.

Also, please update your signature as described here, What we need to know to answer your questions
 
Yes, I set the returns to push leaves clockwise to the skimmers. I try to keep the water level a little on the low side to increase the velocity of water entering the skimmer. My waterway skimmers do not have flaps, so they loose their load if I break up the run period. Yes I do have valving and when I was trying to maximize the skimmers effectiveness I would force most water through 1 skimmer. This would make it semi effective, but then I cannot run the baracuda to pick up the floor.

I feel like I'm showing up to a gunfight with a nail file.

Thanks for the tip on the signature update.
 
+1 on the weir flaps. One of my skimmers was doing very little skimming last week. I was messing around with it for a couple of days and getting nowhere. Then I noticed that the flap was stuck down for some reason. I flipped it back up and the skimming velocity increased tremendously. This will also allow you to fill completely which will improve water flow capacity into the skimmers.

LOL at your nail file to a gun fight! You've got backup! Pool looks great!
 
Jim I feel you, I have two massive birch trees in my yard (one hangs almost directly over the pool) that I just despise due to this. I have since resorted to removing the large branches with the goal of eventually removing the trees completely. I manually vacuum the pool at least twice a week
 
Since we are on the subject of dealing with trees and leaves around the pool. We have a LOT of trees (like 100) around our pool that drop a LOT of stuff in our pool almost year round. The way we deal with that is by running our VSpump pretty much 24x7x365 at 1100 rpm. 1100 rpm generates enough water flow to create good skimmer action and enough flow to keep the SWCG happy. This keeps most of the debris in the skimmers and off the bottom. Our pump only draws 150 watts at 1100 rpm.
 
pooldv said:
Since we are on the subject of dealing with trees and leaves around the pool. We have a LOT of trees (like 100) around our pool that drop a LOT of stuff in our pool almost year round. The way we deal with that is by running our VSpump pretty much 24x7x365 at 1100 rpm. 1100 rpm generates enough water flow to create good skimmer action and enough flow to keep the SWCG happy. This keeps most of the debris in the skimmers and off the bottom. Our pump only draws 150 watts at 1100 rpm.
Click to expand...

That's impressive, 150 watts for good skimmer action.
I have to keep a solar cover on at night as it's usually in the 50's...
 

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Hi Jim. I have a beautiful old, and large Japanese maple right by the pool and all manner of nearby leaves too. (I also live just a bit north of you in GR)

What do you think of a PoolSkim in the shallow end and The PoolCleaner or a robot to replace the Baracuda?
Click to expand...

^That is exactly what I do -- PoolSkim and a dolphin M4, which I run pretty much every day ;) The combo really makes a difference.

The other difference, for which you'll think I'm nuts, is I don't use a solar cover at all, pretty much for the exact reason you state, plus a awkward footprint with a grecian up against a terrace.

I do use Liquid Cover, and I do heat the water pretty much constantly, but its still less than heating the house in the winter (though not by much in late Sept and October ;) ) It actually seems I use less gas just leaving the heater on and up than when I experimented in previous seasons with shutting it off and heating it up for weekend. Hubby the math guy reasoned that this would be the case...less energy required for constant incremental heating/maintaining than big moves up, etc.

While I understand why you might not want to ditch the cover, I'm pretty sure the pool skim and a good bot like the M4 would make your life a lot easier ;)
 
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