Broken Skimmer Weir Stop - any ideas?

[chris123]

Hi all...first post, and relatively new pool owner (less than a year).

There is a plastic tab that is part of the skimmer throat stopping the weir from flapping past 90 degrees. It snapped off and waves entering the skimmer bounce back and push the weir back out past the frame, where it gets stuck and impedes water flow into the skimmer basket. I don't know what brand of skimmer I have, but I do know it was a part of the throat itself, and cannot be replaced.

I super glued it, gorilla glued it, and plastic epoxied it. I also tried those glues to glue a spare piece of plastic to the throat to take the place of the stop. Pending the epoxy, neither of the first two adhesives worked, and I don't expect the epoxy to hold against the force of the waves knocking the door back into the stop.

The techs at the pool store have no answers short of replacing the entire skimmer unit, which cannot possibly be the only option.

Using a screw would require a pilot hole as not to crack the plastic but there is no room to sink a screw upwards and sinking one into the throat edge would require draining the pool enough to not have the drill be underwater.

I'm out of ideas at this point, if anyone can help?

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP!

Many epoxies aren't very good at gluing plastics and some don't like to be wet all the time. There are epoxies specifically designed for pools that would be the best choice.

Maybe drilling a small hole just using the drill bit in your fingers might give a better place for the epoxy to grab on to.

 

[Wrinkled fingers]

Same thing happened to me. I had a little tab of plastic left so i drilled a 3/16 hole through it and added a little piece (1" x 1"?) of a plastic bondo scraper to it using a stainless bolt and nut. I know it sounds funny but it stops the weir from flopping out and works great. Been in place for four years now, plastic and screw look fine.

 

[Meadow]

Ours was broken when we inherited the pool. Fortunately there was a little tab of plastic left. I glued a piece of flat plastic into it using the PVC pipe cement. Been holding in place since just noisy when waves hit

 

[chris123]

Looks like the answer for me was Loctite Plastic Epoxy. Since my post the adhesive has held up to the weir door continually slapping against it.

 

[pabeader]

Thanks for the followup. I'm sure it will come in handy for others down the road.

 

[petergat]

buy a weir door stop on Amazon using stainless steel self tapping screws . It takes some effort but will work.