no main drain. Is there a special type of skimmer that can do that? I have tried the Hayward basket with a tower in the middle but it did not help
how to keep water flowing even after skimmer fills with leaves?
- Thread starter archer636
- Start date
archer,
Before I read your entire post, I was going to recommend the basket with the tower in the middle. I have a rent house that uses the tower basket, and it works well for me.. The renters almost never empty the skimmer..
I suspect the difference is because the rent house has a variable speed pump running at a pretty slow RPM. Something to think about.
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
Before I read your entire post, I was going to recommend the basket with the tower in the middle. I have a rent house that uses the tower basket, and it works well for me.. The renters almost never empty the skimmer..
I suspect the difference is because the rent house has a variable speed pump running at a pretty slow RPM. Something to think about.
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
I don't know if this idea will help - but if you have a return fitting that uses 1-1/2" threads (where the return fitting eyeball threads into pool wall) you could install a "PoolSkim" which then adds a second skimmer to your pool. The Poolskim has a mesh filter bag that you would have to empty every so often. Adding this "second skimmer" might help reduce the amount of crud going into you main skimmer so it doesn't clog (as often).
I have one on my pool, and it works very well. http://www.poolskimusa.com/parts.htm
seems interesting. Only thing is, I use a certain size eyeball to regulate flow to my polaris- can you still adjust flow if you plug this into the return instead of the eyeball?
That was my first thought when I saw this - during "leaf season" I can empty my basket twice a day...however, sometimes that is not always possible - work, travel, etc.
I think the more important question is - what sort of equipment damage could occur, if there are no easy fixes and the basket cannot be emptied on a daily basis?
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borjis
LifeTime Supporter
Someone here posted a workaround for a major leaf issue clogging the skimmer and they were going away on
a 2 week vacation.
I'm not sure where that post is but they basically secured a noodle or other floating device right in front
of the skimmer to block surface debris from entering.
It was a brilliant idea and worked for them.
a 2 week vacation.
I'm not sure where that post is but they basically secured a noodle or other floating device right in front
of the skimmer to block surface debris from entering.
It was a brilliant idea and worked for them.
No.
This skimmer has no adjustment for flow. The actual water flow out of the return fitting creates a venturi in the skimmer bowl which then causes the debris to flow into the screen/bag. If you reduced the flow too much, the skimmer wouldn't work.
It sounds like you have an above ground pool (no main drain and one return line) - but your signature line says it is in-ground (and it's big!). How did it get built without a main drain?
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,069
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
exactly.
- - - Updated - - -
my main drain doesn't work (pool moved years ago...). I was quoted $3000 to re-build the main drain within the bottom concrete. Not worth it!
Brilliant!!! Measuring return eye as soon as the 4 feet of snow has melted
Why would this not adaptable to different size return nozzles though?
Cheers all
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I tried the pool skim- it seems to only skim a few feet around it, as opposed to the whole pool. Also it reduces my polaris speed. Maybe my pump is just not strong enough to run both devices.
This is a very common issue that we have to deal with. Sometimes it halts suction and drops pressure (with no tower), sometimes it'll suck air (usually with the tower). In my experience, the main drain would help quite a bit, but as you stated it is not an option.
What Texas Splash posted is interesting, but the first and third items will eventually clog due to the way the water will want to flow. The second item does not seem like it will really benefit you in this case. In my personal opinion, I do not believe a noodle would work--funny enough, noodles and other obstructing devices were the #1 reason that any of our customers saw algae issues last summer. Toys, noodles, etc would block either skimmer or sometimes even both, and it just never worked out well. In their case, the main drain would still pull a bit, but the skimmers sucked a LOT of air. We have one pool that has only one operational skimmer; funny enough, for a few weeks straight, the pump was bouncing between air and water because of a noodle blockage--it would hold prime for 10 seconds and then lose it. Of course we'd remove it, but it'd find it's way back. That pool has a main drain though.. there wasn't much risk of major damage, just a bit of a risk for the pump to not be run efficiently.
In your case, from what I have seen, thermal damage can occur. When the pump runs without water, it can generate significant heat, and the water can get hot enough to burn you. I've seen melted pump baskets from overheated pumps. That usually happens with towers--now if your skimmer is just a regular basket that gets packed with leaves, you would have another set of issues. If it forms a vacuum to where little/no water can penetrate, I believe that can eventually lead to damage (and possibly overheating).
By the way, I've heard some good things about the product you ordered, but I'm not sure that it will help your case. If your pool has a certain pattern that the jets force debris to rotate, you can place the product before the skimmer; however, that will only catch so much debris before the rest goes straight to the skimmer.
While I apologize if this post was not the answer you were looking for, please do your best to keep an eye on the skimmers until someone can provide a sufficient answer. Running the pump dry will indeed eventually lead to problems.
-Eric
What Texas Splash posted is interesting, but the first and third items will eventually clog due to the way the water will want to flow. The second item does not seem like it will really benefit you in this case. In my personal opinion, I do not believe a noodle would work--funny enough, noodles and other obstructing devices were the #1 reason that any of our customers saw algae issues last summer. Toys, noodles, etc would block either skimmer or sometimes even both, and it just never worked out well. In their case, the main drain would still pull a bit, but the skimmers sucked a LOT of air. We have one pool that has only one operational skimmer; funny enough, for a few weeks straight, the pump was bouncing between air and water because of a noodle blockage--it would hold prime for 10 seconds and then lose it. Of course we'd remove it, but it'd find it's way back. That pool has a main drain though.. there wasn't much risk of major damage, just a bit of a risk for the pump to not be run efficiently.
In your case, from what I have seen, thermal damage can occur. When the pump runs without water, it can generate significant heat, and the water can get hot enough to burn you. I've seen melted pump baskets from overheated pumps. That usually happens with towers--now if your skimmer is just a regular basket that gets packed with leaves, you would have another set of issues. If it forms a vacuum to where little/no water can penetrate, I believe that can eventually lead to damage (and possibly overheating).
By the way, I've heard some good things about the product you ordered, but I'm not sure that it will help your case. If your pool has a certain pattern that the jets force debris to rotate, you can place the product before the skimmer; however, that will only catch so much debris before the rest goes straight to the skimmer.
While I apologize if this post was not the answer you were looking for, please do your best to keep an eye on the skimmers until someone can provide a sufficient answer. Running the pump dry will indeed eventually lead to problems.
-Eric
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