pool to full, I want to change it to suck off the bottom of the pool instead of the s

[Piper723]

I know when mom & dad put this pool in 30 + years ago they told mom if they have a solar cover on, they should change something to not have the side skimmers be the intake & switch it over to suck off the bottom.

I know in the side skimmers when I take the float & basket out there is a flap to switch over, I was thinking that was to use it as the vacuum, but maybe that's what use to close it.

do the bottom skimmers work all the time? maybe they do, because the liner is faded around those bottom skimmers.

Mom's pool is large, 50,000 gallon + and she has a sand filter.

Any thoughts on how to switch this over is appreciated

thanks
Diane

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

Do you have a main drain? It sounds like you do.

Normally, you would have a ball valve near the pump to switch from the skimmer to the main drain. Do you have a pic?

Who is currently taking care of your pool?

 

[Richard320]

Does that flap look like this?

If so, play with it. When you are drawing from the main drain the skimmer will have hardly any action in it, yet there will still be water flowing out the returns. It's unlikely you'll even be able to feel much suction at the drain when it is working, so don;t be alarmed. You can always dive down with a bottle of food coloring and drip some near the drain and see if it gets sucked in.

If the flap is just a small plastic plate that pivots around a screw, that's to close off the main drain when you set a vacuum plate in to vacuum. You'll need a diverter to manipulate the flow between skimmer and drain.