clockwise or counter clockwise circulation?

[pypeke]

Orange = skimmer (old with one hole) 100% open
yellow = main drain 100% open
purple = old Polaris return. now used as regular return.
red = 2 end returns
green= current water flow direction

Hi, all! A few questions for you. When the Polaris was used, it had a separate pump, but now that return is plumbed in with the others. When the Polaris was being used, the water flowed well into the skimmer. Now that we are using all 3 as returns, there is a lot of surface debris that either floats past the skimmer weir door or it never gets near the skimmer door. Quite a lot of debris just floats between the old Polaris return and the return on the left. It goes nowhere.

1. Should I close the old Polaris return? I thought 3 returns would be better than 2. Maybe not?

2. The debris goes into the steps and quite a bit of it stays on the steps and never floats to the skimmer door. Should we try moving the water flow counter clockwise? It seems like it will still have the same problem of collecting on the steps.

3. Eyeballs are pointed to the left with a little bit of waves. Since I have a main drain, do I still need to point one return down? Maybe the old Polaris return?

4. I saw a plastic thing I could buy that goes on the skimmer door and sticks out about 15". The premise is that because it sticks out, it is supposed to collect the debris farther from the skimmer. Does anyone know if this will work since a lot of debris floats right past the skimmer. The water level is halfway on the skimmer frame.

5. Any suggestions on anything else to get the debris going into the skimmer?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Arizonarob]

In your situation I would run counterclockwise. If clockwise, all the debris would end up collecting in the steps area.

 

[pypeke]

That is what I thought. I wondered if the debris would still go into the steps though. Will try it out this weekend. I have always heard to use a clockwise flow. thanks

 

[pypeke]

Counter-clockwise flow is keeping the steps fairly clean of bugs. Thanks for the suggestion, Arizonarob!

 

[Arizonarob]

Cool, now your pool is officially the
“Down unda pool”.

 

[pypeke]

I wish I was down under right now. Oklahoma is never this hot this early. I never turned the AC on in May before.

 

[tstex]

I wish I was down under right now. Oklahoma is never this hot this early. I never turned the AC on in May before.

It's already frying here in S/SE Texas too. I believe we went from some pretty decent cool fronts on a continual basis to an oven in less than a week...no transition temp's and it's hard to adjust - going to be a blistering summer I believe. I'm ready for fall and winter again...I love the spa at 100 while the ambient is 40 degrees or lower

 

[ajw22]

Can you easily turn off your old Polaris return and see how it changes your pool circulation? Nothing like a real life test instead of endless speculation.

Moving eyeballs can be another test. Give it a try.

I think debris around steps is often a problem. People going in and out of the pool get water in that area to circulate better.

I think that plastic collector is a gimmick. I'd save my money and use it on a good leaf rake like http://tftestkits.net/Deluxe-Leaf-Rake-with-fine-mesh-net-p82.html

 

[pypeke]

tstex, oh, yes, Texas in the summer. I remember trying to sleep at my grandmother's house on the floor with no AC and no fans to circulate air. July in San Angelo, TX was not a fun family vacation. I don't think our cars had AC either.

ajw22, I moved the eyeballs and now water flow is going counter clockwise. It is working well. I thought about closing off the Polaris return, but haven't tried it yet. Thanks for the advice.