Can you help me with valve position

[propjetprop]

Hello,

I noticed that one of my two skimmers is not skimming.. well, at least there is no debris in the basket of one of the skimmers while the other one is always full of debris. I am not sure how these valves need to be positioned to control the skimmers and the main drain.

Can anyone please look at these pictures of my valves and let me know where to position them so that both skimmers are working together and the main drain is still working.

This is how the PB left my valves. Also take a look at the return valve in front of the SWG.. is that in the correct position?

Is the handle parallel to the pipe on or off?

Thanks

 

[Jimrahbe]

pjp,

The valve by the SWCG is just fine.. it is in a wide open position..

Assuming your main drain is controlled by the valve in the middle of your red circles. I would (for now) shut it off by pointing the handle down in your pic..

Assuming the pipes attached to the valve in the lower red circle are your skimmers, you first need to determine which skimmer is farther away from the equipment pad. Turn the valve so that the handle faces up in your picture.. This will full open both skimmers. Go to the Far skimmer, remove the skimmer basket and feel what the suction is like at the pipe at the bottom... Then go to the Near Skimmer and do the same thing... The Near Skimmer will most likely have more suction. Now turn the valve so that you close off the Near Skimmer a little at a time so that the suction of each skimmer is about equal..

In the big picture it will not really matter all that much, so you can, if you want, just leave both skimmers wide open. The amount of debris in the skimmers is dependent of which way the wind blows and whether your Weir door on the skimmer is working.

As far as the main drain goes, you can leave it off if you wish or open it about 10% whatever works for you.. Either way, I doubt you will notice any difference.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[djdonte]

The part of the valve handle that says off needs to line up with the arrows I added to make both legs wide open. Turning the valve either way from there chokes off one leg or the other. You can remove those stainless screws on the top of the valve and pull the assembly out to give you a better idea of what's going on in there. You best bet is to play with the valves, leaving one all the way open or closed at a time to get a better idea of whats going where. After you figure it out a sharpie or label maker is your friend.

 

[propjetprop]

This is great! Thank you all so much for the intel !

 

[BowserB]

pjp,
Assuming your main drain is controlled by the valve in the middle of your red circles. I would (for now) shut it off by pointing the handle down in your pic..
As far as the main drain goes, you can leave it off if you wish or open it about 10% whatever works for you.. Either way, I doubt you will notice any difference.
Jim R.

Jim, can you tell me the reason for closing or severely limiting the flow out of the main drain? I'm not challenging, just inquiring, because it sounds like a good idea. I find that when I run my Intelliflo pump at a really low speed, like 1300 rpm, the two skimmers are barely drawing through the socks I have in the baskets to catch all the SW Texas spring plant stuff in the air. In fact, I even watched a skinny Southern Wax Myrtle leaf drift right past the skimmer, and I was wondering if closing the main drains would help them to have a little better suction at low speeds. From 1 to 6am, I run the pump at 2000 rpm (Griddy.com electric provider has market rates 24 hrs a day and they get really cheap in the early morning hours).
Thanks.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Bill,

In my opinion, main drains are almost worthless... They help a little if trying to heat a pool, but for most people having them off is the best way to run the pool. If not off then open at 10% or less.. The less water that is being sucked from the main drain, the more water that can be sucked from the skimmers.. That said, skimmers do not have to look like a flushing toilet bowl to work well.. I believe that patience is the key.. A skimmer will not reach out and grab stuff.. Water and the debris have to float into the skimmer and this action is caused by the Weir door.

The weir door makes it appear that the water in the skimmer is lower than the water in the pool.. When the weir door is up and the pump is on, the water in the skimmer will drop causing the weir door to open , which allows the pool water to flow "downhill" into the skimmer. Of course this all happens at the same time, but if you want to see it, just hold the weir door up for a second or so... Or you can just hold the weir door down and see how when the skimmer water is level with the pool, the skimming action just about stops.

The reason that patience is important is that you should not expect to see each leaf be sucked into the skimmer, but rather what happens over time.. If you have say 10 things floating in your pool, how many do you have after an hour??

I run my pool at 1200 RPM, and it continually skims. At that speed my skimmers keep the surface pretty clear. But, as I sit here tonight we are having a 30 or 40 mile per hour wind storm.. Unless the wind is blowing toward one of the skimmers they are not going to be do much tonight.

Lastly, RPM is not an indication of the amount of water flowing through the system... I have a very simple pool with no heater or other "stuff" to get in the way, so 1200 RPM for me moves enough water to close the flow switch on my SWCG.. But there are several members here that have to run 1500 RPM to get the same flow switch to close, because they have a heater and more plumbing in the return flow.. At 1200 RPM my filter pressure is only about 1 or 2 lbs. The higher the filter pressure, the harder it is to make water flow through it.


Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[cfherrman]

Main drains only help with draining, which a sump pump could do.