Flow Restriction Skimmer Line

[restrictedpumping]

Suction was fine. I vacuumed up some debris and lost prime at pump, water flow was almost non-existent. I figured something clogged the suction line. Had pool company attend. They found one restriction at a 90 degree bend in the plumbing. A piece of plastic from a disintegrated skimmer basket caught at the 90, after which a bunch of maple keys and some leaves built up. That was cleared, but restriction remained.

They blew condensed air from both the pump and skimmer basket end. Failed to dislodge whatever the restriction was. Used a plumbing fish tape and found the restriction about 10-12 feet from the skimmer, but were not able to dislodge it. Not sure if its another piece of plastic hung up with debris behind it or if it is something else.

The recomendation was to call a plumber and have them use an auger on it.

Is that a valid option here? Im not sure if the auger will damage the piping? I guess I dont really have another option at this point.

The restriction is only 10 feet or so from the skimmer, but its hard the get anything into the skimmer line. It goes straight down 6 inches and takes a hard right turn at the bottom of that 6 inches. I dont think I could get a hose down in there and turned to get it moving towards the restriction.

 

[Texas Splash]

Is that a valid option here?

It is. It's tough for us to fish through plumbing after the skimmer becasue as you noted, they typicaly make a couple sharp turns or two then we're kind of stuck. But a plumber has a variety of tool options that should get it for you. If hand fishing, garden hose, or bladder water pressure from both directions doesn't do it, you're kind of forced to ask for help on this one I'm afraid.

Welcome to TFP!

 

[restrictedpumping]

I tried inserting a drain hose down the line at the pump end and using water pressure from a sump pump to dislodge whatever is in there. There was significant flow at the skimmer end as water was shooting up out of the skimmer, but that didnt move whatever is in there. The plumber did show up, but were very wary of using their industrial snake on the flexible piping of the pool, so didnt attempt. Plumber mentioned liability as they had tried before and ended up in a situation where homeowner was lsing water underground somewhere. So, Im back to square one.

Would a drain buster bladder do anything more than the water pressure from the sump pump? It's either that or a hand auger inserted through the skimmer end since it's too far for a hand auger to go in from the pump end.

I could order a 50 foot water proof bore scope from Amazon and send that through to see what the issue is first maybe.

 

[Texas Splash]

Yikes. You're in one of those positions where you can't rule out any method. I would start with what you might consider to be the least-aggressive method and work your way up. Interesting though that you saw what appeared to be free-flowing water during your own attempt (backwards to the skimmer) but still seem to have a clog.

 

[restrictedpumping]

Yes, I know it seems strange and I thought the same thing. All I know is that the basket in the pump is only filling about 1/2 way and there is air in there as a result. Ive been running it on recirc so as not to have a green out. There's enough water to have flow, but air at the return jets.

I think my next option is a 50 foot borescope from Amazon to see what's going on. I dont know if this could be another issue. If I can see a blockage, then it might give a better idea how to dislodge it.

 

[Texas Splash]

I'm going to ask a silly question, but so far the discussion has been centered around a clog, and rightfully so since something was found at one time. But have you opened the filter recently? We know when a filter gets blocked, it will impede water flow. When my cart gets dirty, the water level in my pump pot drops significantly.