Leaf Trapper Issue?

[FloopFloopian]

Hi there,

I just inherited a pool on a new house that full blown in-floor cleaning. There is a skimmer, pop ups, and a few jets on the side which are part of the in-floor system (versus standard return jets), and a Leaf Trapper. I have limited knowledge on this thing but all the parts are there. With the system running (skimmer and main drain are full open) there is but a small trickle of water being pulled into this leaf trapper, there's also limited debris in the net. Should water be rushing into this thing? Could there be a clog? I will note that the previous owner did not know what the leaf trapper was and that nobody has ever been able to tell him (including their pool guy) so I have to imagine it never got maintained.

My signature is out of date now, but the pump is a whisperflo.

Thanks

 

[proavia]

Post a few pics of your equipment pad, the leaf trapper, the in-floor water valve and the pool. Once we see your setup, we can probably help you. It could be a few things, but seeing your setup will help us out.

 

[FloopFloopian]

Here are some pictures. I've dived into the leaf trapper itself, everything is there. The clear lid -> Net ->Nozzle. Water is shooting out the return from the nozzle. Water does get above the lid when the system is off, maybe an inch or so. When system is on the water level is into the net, maybe less than halfway. The leaf intake pipe (pictured) has that level of trickle all the time. There definitely isn't a complete vacuum being formed. There is a groove on the lip that the clear lid sits on, looks like an oring could go there but it'd have to be thin. It makes a slight thud sound when taking it off, so there is some type of vacuum being created. Just not really sure how it's supposed to look when working properly, I'd assume it should be full of water up to the lid? I pushed a leaf into the drain, never saw it in the net and it never came back out into the pool.

Thanks for the help.

 

[proavia]

About what year would you guess the pool was built - pre or post 2008?

I believe there is supposed to be an o-ring under the lid. Here's a schematic to the 2007 and prior units:

Caretaker / Polaris Leaftrapper 2007 & Prior Parts - INYOPools.com

Caretaker / Polaris Leaftrapper 2007 & Prior - INYOpools.com has the largest selection of swimming pool and spa replacement parts with over 70,000 parts in stock. Order today and save!

www.inyopools.com

Maybe call Inyo Pools and ask them. They are good at providing info on most systems.

If you're interested in how the leaf trap is set up and supposed to work, see here:

http://images.inyopools.com/cloud/documents/leaftrapper-quick-reference-guide.pdf