Loosing pressure with Intex skimmer basket attached

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Fndr70

Well-known member
May 22, 2019
48
Pennsylvania
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite (T-9)
Hi all,

I have a 22'x52" round Intex pool. I have this filter:

Amazon.com : Intex 26647EG Krystal Clear Sand Filter Pump for Above Ground Pools, 14-inch : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : Intex 26647EG Krystal Clear Sand Filter Pump for Above Ground Pools, 14-inch : Garden & Outdoor
www.amazon.com

And also this floating skimmer basket:

Amazon.com : INTEX Deluxe Wall Mount Swimming Pool Surface Skimmer : Intex Krstal Pool Skimmer : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com : INTEX Deluxe Wall Mount Swimming Pool Surface Skimmer : Intex Krstal Pool Skimmer : Patio, Lawn & Garden
www.amazon.com

The problem I am having is when I attach the skimmer basket, 30 seconds or so after turning the filter on, my pressure drops to under 5psi and the filter won't prime. The water "pulses" into the filter instead of flowing in, and the skimmer basket attached to the filter does not fill up. Without the floating skimmer basket attached, the filter primes and I get a steady 10psi of pressure. I don't see any bubbles in the water around the skimmer basket to suggest a leak, and I also replaced the floating skimmer basket with a second one, and I have the same issue. This was happening to me also at the end of last year, but since I was having other issues with the filter, I assumed it was the filter and replaced the filter at the beginning of the year.

So in short - I have this same issue with two different filters and two different skimmer baskets. During the summer of last year, everything was working fine.

Any help in troubleshooting this would be appreciated. I really like the floating skimmer basket cuz it collects the leaves for me :)
 
The pump is probably just not powerful enough to pull water from over the top of the pool... You may try to raise the pump on a table or something, It may help :)
 
I thought about that as well, so I checked the requirements of the skimmer basket and it says it requires an 800 gph pump. Mine is 2800.
 
an 800 gph is 13 gallons per minute and your pump at 2800 gph is 46 gallons per minute.. try putting the skimmer further down in the water... Is it getting air in the pump? It may have a leak in the skimmer hose letting air into it..
 
Air is getting into it somehow.. one way or another.. Somehow the suction hose or the skimmer itself..

Take that same hose of the bottom of the skimmer and just have it in the water.. does it do the same thing?

Shove the skimmer completely under water, does it work?
 
cowboycasey said:
Air is getting into it somehow.. one way or another.. Somehow the suction hose or the skimmer itself..

Take that same hose of the bottom of the skimmer and just have it in the water.. does it do the same thing?

Shove the skimmer completely under water, does it work?
Click to expand...
So I unhooked everything and only screwed on the plastic adapter for the skimmer basket hose. With that on, I have the issue. So that tells me that it's not getting a good seal when I screw it onto the inlet. I really don't want to replace the inlet because that means I have to drain about 18 inches of water.

Any idea on how to get a better seal? I tried plumbers tape but that's impossible to get on.
 
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