Do I have valves I can close to optimize skimmer vacuuming my pool?

[blackhawkpool_newb]

Hi everyone, my sister has a 28000 gallon pool that I'm maintaining, and the valve setup is shown in the attached photos (with pump, filter and booster pump).



I heard when setting up manual vacuuming via skimmer, we typically keep the skimmer suction line open and close the drain suction line to enhance skimmer suction.

But if you look at my setup, it appears there are no jandy valves from either the skimmer nor from the drain line; it's just one, single suction pipe leading to the pump. So this means I can't really shut off the main drain suction to enhance skimmer suction, right?

The only jandy valve appears to be at the return, positioned AFTER the sand filter. So is there any benefit to manipulate that jandy valve (postitioned after the filter) on what I assume is the water return to the pool? Or am I just looking at this wrong? Thank you so much!

 

[Texas Splash]

Or am I just looking at this wrong?

You're right. There's nothing in front of the pump to help you manipulate the flow of suction. If there is a main drain, then it must be plumbed into the bottom of the skimmer (2 holes). Look in the skimmer to see if there is a diverter valve at the bottom. A saucer type apparatus. That's one way some pool owners manipulate suction flow. I see she also has a booster pump for a Polaris. Does that not work at the moment?

By the way, welcome to TFP!

 

[garypritt]

Hi everyone, my sister has a 28000 gallon pool that I'm maintaining, and the valve setup is shown in the attached photos (with pump, filter and booster pump).

View attachment 580233

I heard when setting up manual vacuuming via skimmer, we typically keep the skimmer suction line open and close the drain suction line to enhance skimmer suction.

But if you look at my setup, it appears there are no jandy valves from either the skimmer nor from the drain line; it's just one, single suction pipe leading to the pump. So this means I can't really shut off the main drain suction to enhance skimmer suction, right?

The only jandy valve appears to be at the return, positioned AFTER the sand filter. So is there any benefit to manipulate that jandy valve (postitioned after the filter) on what I assume is the water return to the pool? Or am I just looking at this wrong? Thank you so much!

One thing I do when vacuuming is to place a baseball in the skimmer furthest away from the pump. It sucks down over the return pipe and increases the vacuum tremendously.

 

[blackhawkpool_newb]

You're right. There's nothing in front of the pump to help you manipulate the flow of suction. If there is a main drain, then it must be plumbed into the bottom of the skimmer (2 holes). Look in the skimmer to see if there is a diverter valve at the bottom. A saucer type apparatus. That's one way some pool owners manipulate suction flow. I see she also has a booster pump for a Polaris. Does that not work at the moment?

By the way, welcome to TFP!

Thank you! I have two holes in my skimmer as shown here:

So I’m assuming that I should plug up that hole farthest from the pump (ie, nearest pool rim) to increase the suction, right?

And yes, the booster pump as an understand is working fine. It’s the Polaris that runs frustratingly slow…

 

[Jimrahbe]

B,

Plugging the hole next to the water will not make any difference in how well your skimmer works...

Basically, without the floating diverter valve, you can't use the main drain pipe. Running with the diverter missing, just turns your main drain off..

I assume that Gary has two skimmers and he plugs the far skimmer, so that he has more suction at the near skimmer..

B.. I assume you only have the one skimmer..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[blackhawkpool_newb]

Yes, thanks for clearing that up. There is only one skimmer for the pool.

Btw,I just vacuumed using a vacuum plate on top of the skimmer basket with the attached hose and vacuum head, and though there was suction, it wasn’t very powerful. It hardly picked up the sediment (seemingly dead algae mixed with chlorine) , which was left on the pool floor.
And because I set the filter to waste, the pool water level went down so fast that the skimmer lost suction quickly.

Maybe I should leave the filter on “filter” when I vacuum again, to keep the water level stable? Hopefully the filter won’t have too much trouble handling the sediment.

 

[blackhawkpool_newb]

One thing I do when vacuuming is to place a baseball in the skimmer furthest away from the pump. It sucks down over the return pipe and increases the vacuum tremendously.

Thanks, Gary. There’s only one skimmer for the pool so I guess this isn’t an option?