How to open a main drain

[Sharelick]

So having opened our pool for the first time after buying the house it’s taken 2 months to get the deep end clear enough to see the main drains. But not sure how to do this.

So there are two covers, both on the floor, one fully in the deep end, the other 4-5 feet toward the shallow. The shallow drain had the following plug system in it...

So that looks like some sort of safety measure in case the deeper drain gets clogged.
Then both drains have a plug in the hole that’s on the bottom. Do I just need to open the plug in the deep drain? Do I open both? Or do we need more info?
There are also lateral holes on the sides of the drain. The side one in the deep end is already open, the one on the shallow end was connected to the plug in the picture above by that plastic tube.
Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Sl,

Chemical levels are what keeps your pool clear, so I doubt anything you do with the main drain is going to help much..

That said, I have never seen a set up like yours.. I assume it is some type of safety system so that if someone sits on the main drain, they will not get held down by the suction, but have no idea if that is true or not..

Let's see a couple of pics of your equipment pad... Do you know if your main drain is connected into your skimmer or run back to the equipment pad..

Show us your last set of pool data..

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA


Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Sharelick]

Thanks Jim.

I’m also rather sure it’s a safety feature. And I know the pool works without the main drain. But I also have a leak somewhere and it would be nice to hook up the drain to the pump.
Here’s the pool pad...

The main drain should be one of the two black poly lines in the foreground which is not connected to anything.
FC 10
CC 0
PH 7.6
TA 130
CH 100
CYA 80
Salt 3200
BOR 30
Temp 78

 

[Jimrahbe]

SL,

Those look like pretty good numbers to me...

I take it you have been redoing your equipment pad ??? I assume the two pipes going into your pump are from two skimmers??

Do you think that each of the black pipes goes to one of the two bottom drains you have??

I never suggest using the pool pump to drain a pool.. I would use a sump pump.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Sharelick]

hi Jim,
Yes the pipes currently going to the pump are from the two skimmers. I relocated the equipment pad and got all new equipment a couple months ago so I could open the pool.
I believe only one of those pipes goes to the main drain. I think the other is a dead or spare line that may have been for a hose to go to a slide that is no longer here.
I’m not looking to drain the pool through the drain. I’m looking to connect it to the pump for additional circulation.

 

[Jimrahbe]

SL,

Not sure how old your pool is, but most old pools did not have dual main drains as all the new ones do today. Also most old pools had their main drain connected into the bottom of a skimmer.

If the main drain line has been abandoned, then I would expect there to be a plug under the main drain cover.

Not really my area of expertise... Let's see if we can get some better feedback from our other members. Calling @jimmythegreek ...

I live in Texas, so have no idea how to even close a pool...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Sharelick]

So while the pool was built in the 80s, I assume the liner was replaced maybe 15 years ago give or take. So they may have added the second deep end drain at that time. But I have no way of knowing for sure. I can only say that it hasn’t been done in the past 9 years.

I dont know if the main drain was abandoned, I think it may have just been plugged for the winter. But I don’t know how. Possibly by plugging it up in a skimmer box. But when I had the new equipment installed two months ago. They couldn’t identify the main drain line. That’s why it’s not currently hooked up to the pump. Hope that helps.

 

[Sharelick]

I took a few more pics that I thought might help. The first is a wide shot and then a closeup of the deep end drain and the third is closer to the shallow

I’m wondering what would happen if I open the plug on the bottom just to see if there’s a pipe in there or if it’s just dirt.
I wonder also what would happen if I open the second plug at the bottom of the skimmer. There’s a pic of one of those in post or two ago on this thread.

 

[Sharelick]

Nope, my skimmer pic was is in another thread. So here is that pic...
Should I open the square plug?

 

[Jimrahbe]

SL,

Normally, when the 2nd hole in the skimmer is plugged, it means the main drain is plumbed back to the pad..

That said, in your case it could just mean it is abandoned.. I'd take the plug out of the skimmer and see if it is connected to a pipe or just nothing.. If the 2nd opening has a pipe under it, to me, it would mean that the pipe most likely goes to the main drain.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Sharelick]

A leak detection guy came out and blew air to show that there were two separate pipes going to the equipment pad that were the two main drains. Still need to hook them up, but that should be easy.