main drain recently closed off, pool cleaner won't work since.

[tweetypcm]

We had a leak in our main drain, so it was closed off. Now our pool cleaner Zodiac MX6 won't work, no suction, sounds like the pump is water starved. We had our pool redone last summer, had it pressure tested when it was being done, no issues. Our pool started losing water fast, figured out it was the main drain and they plugged it, water holding now. When the skimmer is on, seems like there is more pressure, you can see the float quickly moving around the pool, but now the cleaner won't work, the pressure reading drops to zero and sounds water starved. We don't have valves that can be open or closed or redirected. I have no clue on how to fix this problem.

 

[AftonJeeper]

How many skimmers do you have? Is there a booster pump you turn on for the cleaner?

When you turn the cleaner on have you looked in the skimmer basket to see if water is swirling around and letting air into the line? You might try filling the pool up higher than 1/2 way up the skimmer because it sounds like the pump can't get enough water.


Edit to add: If you can't get the cleaner running right again it may be time to think about upgrading to a robot cleaner.

 

[Jimrahbe]

t,

Welcome to TFP... a great place to find the answers to all your "Astrological" questions...

Is your cleaner attached to a standalone vacuum port, or are you plugging the cleaner into the skimmer?

A picture of your equipment pad would be helpful...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[tweetypcm]

We have one skimmer and that’s where we attach the vacuum to. The vacuum is a zodiac mx6. Not even a year old. SLAM Process

 

[tweetypcm]

This is the set up we have

 

[mas985]

The MD provide flow to the pump when the cleaner was attached. With only the cleaner on the skimmer, there is too much suction head loss and the pump is likely drawing air. But when there is high suction like that the cleaner should have a bypass valve that pops open which it looks like it does have one. Maybe it isn't working properly?

 

[Jimrahbe]

t,

Assuming that your Zodiac was working before and now does not, I would have to assume your cleaner was sucking water through the hose as well as some water from the main drain. With the main drain shut off, your pump now can't suck enough water through the hose alone. (see below)

I assume that you flooded the hose so that it was full of water before plugging the hose into the skimmer..??

Also.. I looked at the manual for the M6 and it appears that the device that I see between the skimmer and the hose is an "Automatic Weir" that is supposed to allow for some water to come from the pool and some from the cleaner.. It appears to be adjustable... Have you tried to adjust the flow? Could the setting have changed since the last time you used it??

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[tweetypcm]

We do have the hose filled before starting the vacuum and we have adjusted the weir to allow as much water as possible. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks

 

[Jimrahbe]

t,

How many holes are in the bottom of your skimmer? It appears like there is just one..

There are all kinds of skimmers, but some of them that only have one hole, have a floating ball like valve underneath that switches between the skimmer input and the main drain input... If you have this type of skimmer you could just be out of luck...

I hope one of our Experts can chime in, as I'm not sure where to go from here...

Below is what I did at a rent house pool before I stated using robots...

When I would put the vacuum hose in the skimmer, the pump just could not suck enough water through the hose to work. Just like you, I have one pipe coming out of the ground. So what I did was add a valve in front of the pump. Then, instead of putting the hose in the skimmer, I put the hose into the open valve port. This way I could adjust how much water was coming from the skimmer and how much through the hose. When I would first turn on the pump, I would start with 80% from the skimmer and 20% from the hose.. I found that once the vacuum was running, I could slowly adjust the valve so that I had about 70% vacuum and only 30% skimmer... The only requirement is that your equipment pad needs to be pretty close to the pool.

As I said, it worked well until I figured out the robots are a lot better than suction side cleaners...

Here is a pictured of the single pipe from the pool, the pump, and the added valve..

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[kadavis]

You have the old American Vari-flo skimmer. It has a single hole in the bottom, hard to explain but it is like a tee. The main drain line is connected in the front and needs to be blocked off so you get enough suction through to the pump. The skimmer used to have a diverter like this, Skimmer Diverter, Pent /American Products Admiral, Vari-Flo - PST Pool Supplies. You would insert and turn so the flat side turns off the front port. You say the main drain was blocked but where did they close it off

 

[tweetypcm]

They put a plug at the drain cover

 

[tweetypcm]

How do you install the diverted?

 

[kadavis]

If they plugged the Drain line in the bottom of pool, the line is still open in the skimmer so it would still leak. When you remove cleaner line and pump is off can you see down the skimmer opening, there should be an opening that is on the pool side. If you turn on pump can you tell by putting a few fingers into the bottom where the suction is coming from. If they plugged the line at the bottom you wouldn't need the diverter

 

[mas985]

I may be wrong but I think what the OP is saying is the MD line went directly to the pump. You can see the line capped in the picture.