Clogged Skimmer Line

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C

chris87

0
Jun 16, 2015
102
Voorhees, NJ
I recently had new tile and coping installed on my pool. After the work was done, I noticed that the deep-end skimmer had almost no suction. Because of that, nothing has accumulated in the basket. I think that they got debris (pieces of the old concrete coping) into the line. I removed some of the pieces by hand, but I suspect that they are further in the pipe.

My pool company came out this afternoon. The tech said that it looks perfectly fine to him. He said that he can feel suction if he puts his fingers into the line (at the bottom of the skimmer). I tried explaining that the suction is nowhere near where it had been, and I don't see the vortex that is usually there. He told me to turn the valve to favor the deep-end, since the shallow-end is working fine. I'm not sure what to do, but I am so aggravated. Over the weekend, the filter pressure dropped to 5 PSI, and now my pool vacuum won't move. It is normally always at 20. I don't know if this is related to the skimmer clog, or if it's a different one entirely. I made a post about that issue over the weekend, and one of the members suggested using a hose. I didn't have any success, so I'm wondering if I should order a drain king.

I'm not sure if I should try to fix this myself, or if I should call a different pool company. I've never had a clog, so I don't have much experience. Is it hard to dislodge the debris? Do you think that it's far into the pool lines?
 
Put a garden hose on the pump side of the skimmer pipe. Turn it on, can you push it partway in? Try and create so sort of "seal" with some rags, or other packing at the pump end, and see if some of the debris come out the skimmer end.
 
This is probably a dumb question, but how do I route the drain king to the correct location? From the pump side, the only open pipe I have is in the pump. I believe that I would hit the spa drain, skimmers, or pool drain depending on where it goes. Does it need to go in far, or just so that it's in the pipes? My pool is located about 25-30 feet from the equipment. Thanks!
 
Chris,

I had assumed that you had valves to shut off at the equipment pad so that you could isolate the water only going backwards and into the skimmer...

Do you not have valves at the entrance to your pump? How about a picture of your equipment pad...

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
I'm sorry. I feel so stupid. I do have valves in front of the pump. I've attached a picture below. The one in the front is for the skimmers. The back left is the pool drain, and the back right (directly in front of the pump) is the spa drain. In the picture, both the pool drain and skimmers are closed. I must have taken the picture when I was cleaning out the skimmer basket.

IMG_0162.jpg
 
Chris,

I'd make sure all the valves are in the normal Pool mode position and then if you are still having a skimmer issue, I would take out the 8 screws on the "skimmer" valve and that will allow you to stick the drain king right into the port for the non-working skimmer.

Thanks,


Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Chris,

I'd make sure all the valves are in the normal Pool mode position and then if you are still having a skimmer issue, I would take out the 8 screws on the "skimmer" valve and that will allow you to stick the drain king right into the port for the non-working skimmer.

Thanks,


Jim R.
Click to expand...

I feel stupid asking, but will water pour out when I remove the valve? I've never taken them apart before. Thanks.
 
Chris

It might, if the pool is above the level of your pump.. Not normal, but does happen in some cases.

To prevent your filter from draining down, you can turn the valve that is in front of the pump so that the flat part of the handle with the word "off" is pointed directly at the pump. This will prevent any water from coming back through the pump..

You can just loosen the 8 screws and lift up the valve just a little.. expect some water to come out, but if it becomes a gusher (runs more than 30 seconds), you can just push the valve back down.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

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Jimrahbe said:
Chris

It might, if the pool is above the level of your pump.. Not normal, but does happen in some cases.

To prevent your filter from draining down, you can turn the valve that is in front of the pump so that the flat part of the handle with the word "off" is pointed directly at the pump. This will prevent any water from coming back through the pump..

You can just loosen the 8 screws and lift up the valve just a little.. expect some water to come out, but if it becomes a gusher (runs more than 30 seconds), you can just push the valve back down.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...

I have the drain king coming tomorrow. I ordered it online. Unfortunately, my pool is above the level of my pump. When I clean the pump basket, if I don't have the skimmer and pool drain closed, water pours out. I assume that if I try to lift the skimmer valve, I will have a gusher. I tested today by removing the pump basket. With the pool drain closed, but the skimmers open, water pours out of the pump indefinitely.

I wish that I could just drain the skimmers, but I don't think there is a way to isolate them from the pool. Could I use the drain king on the pool side, if necessary, instead of the pump side? What about using a crank auger? Would that be a bad idea? I was thinking that I may be able to push the obstruction back toward the pump.

Thank you again for all of your help.
 
Chris,

My thought is that it would work better trying to flush the water, and whatever is in there, back towards the skimmer. But you can try both ways.. The problem is that no matter what you do, water is going to try to drain down to the pump level..

If this were my pool, I would open both skimmers and then take the pump lid off.. Water will drain like crazy until the water goes below the mouth of the skimmer... The I'd put the drain king in the pump and set the valves up so that only the "bad" skimmer is selected. In "theory" this should flush whatever is in the line back up into the bottom of the skimmer. It may only flush in up into the bottom of the pipe coming up into the skimmer, so once the water drains out, you might want to shine a light down the skimmer pipe and see what there is to see...

Sorry, but at his point I don't see much of an alternative. Once you don't have water flowing from the pool, you can alternate putting the drain king in both ends and see if that will dislodge anything.

Thanks,

Jim R.

- - - Updated - - -

Not sure where the water would drain, so it would be important to monitor to make sure it did not form a lake and engulf your pump.. :D
 
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