Drain AGP below eyeball

[HeidiP]

Hi there, I don't have a cover pump. I am at a loss every year trying to remember how to drain the pool below the eyeball. I'm pretty sure my pump loses suction once the water drops below the skimmer basket so draining through the pump/filter doesn't work. Is there a trick to allow me to do this?

I have a shop vac. SO... Was thinking about rigging my backwash hose up to my shop vac outlet - but I"m not 100% on this working. And I have a small yard that will become a mudwrestling pit if I get this wrong... The grass never grows properly - another story for another day...

SO - What's the trick again? Thanks all. I love you so much. Favorite forum ever.

 

[cowboycasey]

if you have a vaccum hose you can put it completely in the pool under water and pull one end out and it will empty to wherever you pull the hose out at.. You can also plug this into a skimmer and it will pull from the bottom of the pool using the pump..

Amazon.com : U.S. Pool Supply 1-1/2" x 36 Foot Professional Heavy Duty Spiral Wound Swimming Pool Vacuum Hose with Swivel Cuff : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : U.S. Pool Supply 1-1/2" x 36 Foot Professional Heavy Duty Spiral Wound Swimming Pool Vacuum Hose with Swivel Cuff : Garden & Outdoor

smile.amazon.com

 

[Newdude]

And I have a small yard that will become a mudwrestling pit if I get this wrong

You could pay for the pool in the off-season if you did it right.

I have a shop vac. SO... Was thinking about rigging my backwash hose up to my shop vac outlet

It will work but only 10 gals (?) at a time and need emptying every other minute. Using the vacuum usually pulls enough from the bottom to keep the seal at the skimmer like Casey said above. Or you can get a cheap submersible pump ($125) that a garden hose attaches to and drain to the yard. Or you can just use a garden hose and siphon it out with gravity to a low spot nearby. This way worked for 1000s of years but it’s slow.

 

[toolerb50]

Alternatively, you could get an Aquadoor for your skimmer and a plug for the return jet and skip dropping the water level altogether but then we'd all be missing out on the mudwrestling pics.

 

[Pauls234]

The other thing you can do is set up a siphon with a garden hose. One end of the hose in the pool, other end connected to the faucet. Turn water on so it is filling the pool for a minute, then off and disconnect at the faucet and you should have your siphon going. You can connect a bunch of hoses to drain to wherever you want.

I always plan to do as toolerb suggests but then get nervous about a return or skimmer cracking in the freeze, even though I know many do it without issues.

 

[Joe kipp]

So to drain my pool down, set the valve to waste and turn the pump on till it's right at the bottom of the skimmer, turn off the pump. I put the vacuum in the pool like I normally do, filling the hose with water, I disconnect the suction line from the bottom of the skimmer and use the fitting to connect to my vacuum line and continue running the water to waste until it's below the return eyeball. My waste/backwash goes into a 2" PVC line to the drainage swale at the back of my yard so I don't flood the yard.

 

[cj133]

I drain mine using the vacuum and vacuum the pool while doing it. But you'll need to hook the vacuum directly to the pump to go below the skimmer.

The easier way is to use the vacuum to siphon as cowboycasey suggested.

 

[Water Cat]

We did this today because there is a leak at the eyeball. Backwash and rinse as usual then set the filter to waste and allow the pump to empty the pool. When the water gets too low for for this attach your vacuum hose to the skimmer and let the weight of the vac head hold the other end of the hose down. If the pump starts losing it's prime put the garden hose in the skimmer and let it trickle (only turn the faucet about 1/4 turn or so).

Ordinarily we would just backwash and rinse then turn off the valve for the eyeball and put a dam on the skimmer (we have the Eliminator cover).

 

[HeidiP]

if you have a vaccum hose you can put it completely in the pool under water and pull one end out and it will empty to wherever you pull the hose out at.. You can also plug this into a skimmer and it will pull from the bottom of the pool using the pump..

Amazon.com : U.S. Pool Supply 1-1/2" x 36 Foot Professional Heavy Duty Spiral Wound Swimming Pool Vacuum Hose with Swivel Cuff : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : U.S. Pool Supply 1-1/2" x 36 Foot Professional Heavy Duty Spiral Wound Swimming Pool Vacuum Hose with Swivel Cuff : Garden & Outdoor

smile.amazon.com

Thanks - did the old vacuum to waste and was hoping suction would maintain... did for a while then did not. So... going to try this. If not i will plug the eyeball with silly putty - just remembered i did that last year. Bleh!!!

But hoping to get it allll the way down. I'm at 1/2 eyeball level now, when suction stopped.