Poolskim Issue with Sand Filter

[OhioPool]

Hello everybody! I have an old pool and bought a Poolskim to help with skimming issues. I hooked up the Poolskim for the first time yesterday and it was working great. I went to check on the pool last night and discovered an issue.
My sand filter had some water near the base and the pressure gauge was reading about 5-6 psi higher than its normal resting spot of 13 psi. I turned the pump off. Took the Poolskim off and fired the pump back up and the filter gauge went back to its normal resting spot. I run my pump 24/7 and thus the Poolskim would always be going also.
Anyone have a Poolskim and run into this problem or think they may know what the issue is? My return jet is such that I just needed one 90 degree fitting from the wall mount so it's a pretty short run from the actual return jet and was creating a lot of suction in the Poolskim. I didn't use the straight pipe or any of the other fittings.
Am I creating back pressure with this product? Any way to alleviate and still use the product? I emailed the company and they said they hadn't heard of this issue before. I love the product and really want it to work but not at the expense of breaking something.

 

[duraleigh]

Since it is attached to the suction side, it is virtually impossible for poolskim to increase your pressure. There are some VERY remote circumstances which might cause a decrease in psi but never an increase.

 

[OhioPool]

Since it is attached to the suction side, it is virtually impossible for poolskim to increase your pressure. There are some VERY remote circumstances which might cause a decrease in psi but never an increase.

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your reply, but the Poolskim attaches to the return jet of the pool. Which I have only one of. It uses the return flow to create a Venturi suction. Perhaps I'm confused as I've been doing this for only three years, but to me it's not the suction side. It's the return side.

I took the Poolskim off and the psi went back to normal. Is it possible with the one return it's not allowing the return flow to reenter the pool fast enough and therefore is creating some sort of back pressure on the filter? I read a bunch of reviews before purchasing this and one review in particular mentioned he had only one return to the pool and it worked great for him. Also, the literature and feedback that comes with the Poolskim seems to point towards the fact you want to almost isolate most of the return flow to the jet you install the Poolskim.

Could it be I'm creating back pressure on the filter and would this elevate the psi? And if so any way to alleviate that situation? Any other ideas out there?

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BTW I highly recommend this product if you have trees and lots of dirt and debris that gets in your pool. Had the top of my pool spotless on top in a few hours. Just wish I could figure out this filter pressure issue.

 

[OhioPool]

Hooked up the Poolskim again. This time with the straight pipe added to maybe get it away from the wall return a little bit with the hope of maybe alleviating some pressure. Once again filter sitting at 13 psi in normal operation. Attached poolskim and fired up the pump and the filter shoots straight to 19 psi and the filter starts dripping from the drain plug at the base of the sand filter.

Not sure how my pool is plumbed exactly. It's an old pool like 1960's. The only in ground plumbing I'm aware of is the line coming from the main drain and the return line leading to the return jet.

 

[duraleigh]

Well, I am sorry I misunderstood how the poolskim functioned. My incorrect assumption was that it connected to the suction side.

It is perfectly understandable that your psi will increase when it connects to your pressure side. The psi on your filter is a measure of resistance and the resistance increases all along the pressure side anytime you add something that restricts flow in any way.

Therefore, poolskim restricts flow and psi increases just as you have observed. Again, sorry I misinterpreted how it hooked to your pool.

 

[OhioPool]

Thanks for the replies. Wasn't sure if the filter could gain pressure from the return side or if maybe I had some weird plumbing issue. Seems strange I'm the only person that has run into this issue with this product. My next attempt is going to be to create some sort of pvc fitting where I can get some normal flow return and hook up the Poolskim. Any other ideas as to what might be going on would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[duraleigh]

I guess I didn't make my post clear......you do not have a problem. The psi increase is perfectly normal.

 

[Trick]

Mine went up about 8-10psi when I added my poolskim. Probably more than average due to an aerator attachment I build that attached inline with the poolskim.

 

[Swampwoman]

Ohio, my sand filter runs at about 17 clean with the pool skim on, versus about 13. I leave it on and consider 17 my clean pressure for backwashing purposes. Going into year 3 with it and no problems.
It does a great job.

 

[Bob_Funk]

So I just got a poolskim, I have 1 water inlet into my pool & with the pool skim I also get the rise in pressure but that also means the water flow is reduced, the poolskim has a large blockage where the water enters from the return

Thus reducing the water flow.



Does anyone know if it will still work if I remove all of the plastic so the full amount of water will flow through?



I tried putting in a tee to direct some of the water to the poolskim & some back into the pool but the poolskim uses metric fitting & pipe & the cost was prohibitive.



Also restricting the flow from the only return is putting additional pressure on the joints of the 33yr old pvc from the pump to the pool, an additional 10 psi on the plumbing can't be good for it.