Need help with valve positions

[Fillup]

PB explained it but not thoroughly. Can someone help me with how these should be optimally positioned. First time pool owner.
He labeled one pipe “cleaner” but I don’t have a cleaner in pool.

 

[Jimrahbe]

F,

Right in front of the pump is a Jandy valve.. It is currently set with the Main Drain wide open and the Skimmer side only about 60% open..

It is not how I would run a pool... I suggest that you point the handle of the valve at the word "Skimmer".. This will shut off your main drain, so that all your suction is going to the skimmer.. If you wish you can open the Main Drain 5 or 10%...

The valve below the word "Skimmer" is wide open, so that is good.

The valve below the word "Cleaner" should be closed if you have no suction side cleaner.

On the Return side, most of the water is being sent to the Pool returns with some water going to the Fountain and whatever a "Skimmer Return" is.. Do you have some special type of skimmer?? At this point I would leave these valves alone.

It appears you have UV and tab feeder... You should take a good read through our Pool School and see what we think of those systems...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Fillup]

F,

Right in front of the pump is a Jandy valve.. It is currently set with the Main Drain wide open and the Skimmer side only about 60% open..

It is not how I would run a pool... I suggest that you point the handle of the valve at the word "Skimmer".. This will shut off your main drain, so that all your suction is going to the skimmer.. If you wish you can open the Main Drain 5 or 10%...

The valve below the word "Skimmer" is wide open, so that is good.

The valve below the word "Cleaner" should be closed if you have no suction side cleaner.

On the Return side, most of the water is being sent to the Pool returns with some water going to the Fountain and whatever a "Skimmer Return" is.. Do you have some special type of skimmer?? At this point I would leave these valves alone.

It appears you have UV and tab feeder... You should take a good read through our Pool School and see what we think of those systems...

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thank you for the info Jim that helps.
As it’s set up now neither of the floor drains have suction. Is this correct based on the valves ? There is some kind of return under my skimmer.

 

[Jimrahbe]

F,

As it is set up in your pics, the Main Drain is almost fully open... If you are trying to "feel" suction at the Main Drain covers, you are just wasting your time.. It is almost impossible to feel any suction right at the main drain. Turning the valve so that the handle is pointed at the word "Skimmer" on the pipe, will close the Main Drain.

"Most" skimmers only suck in water and have no return water path. There are some venturi skimmers, but they are not used all that often.. I would not think that a pool builder who'd use ball valves and a single speed pump, would be using a fancy Venturi skimmer..

Show us some pics of your skimmer.. At least one with the skimmer basket removed so we can see down inside..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Fillup]

F,

As it is set up in your pics, the Main Drain is almost fully open... If you are trying to "feel" suction at the Main Drain covers, you are just wasting your time.. It is almost impossible to feel any suction right at the main drain. Turning the valve so that the handle is pointed at the word "Skimmer" on the pipe, will close the Main Drain.

"Most" skimmers only suck in water and have no return water path. There are some venturi skimmers, but they are not used all that often.. I would not think that a pool builder who'd use ball valves and a single speed pump, would be using a fancy Venturi skimmer..

Show us some pics of your skimmer.. At least one with the skimmer basket removed so we can see down inside..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Hahaha yeah it is a paramount Venturi skimmer

 

[Fillup]

Here is the skimmer

 

[Jimrahbe]

F,

I am surprised..

If this were my pool, I would turn the ball valve for the skimmer return on and off and see if you can see any difference in the way the water is skimmed... If it works better with the Venturi on, I would leave it that way.. If it works better with the Venturi off, that is how I would run it.

Thanks for the pics..

Jim R.

 

[Fillup]

F,

I am surprised..

If this were my pool, I would turn the ball valve for the skimmer return on and off and see if you can see any difference in the way the water is skimmed... If it works better with the Venturi on, I would leave it that way.. If it works better with the Venturi off, that is how I would run it.

Thanks for the pics..

Jim R.

Question I turned the handle to point at skimmer and seems the system didn’t like that. everything started to struggle and pump pressure dropped. Got worried so put it to this position.

 

[mknauss]

Handle parallel with the skimmer line.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Question I turned the handle to point at skimmer and seems the system didn’t like that. everything started to struggle and pump pressure dropped. Got worried so put it to this position.

F,

Not sure if we are both on the same page or not..

In theory, your pool should be able to run from just the Main Drain, or just the Skimmer, or a combination of both.

If you look at your last pic, the handle of the Intake valve is pointed right at the pump.. This means that the Main Drain and your Skimmer are both fully open..

If you pointed the handle 90 degrees to the left, (towards the Main drain label) that would shut off your Skimmer and fully open your Main Drain.

If you pointed the handle 90 degrees to the right, (toward the Skimmer label) that would shut off your Main Drain and fully open your Skimmer.

I'd try moving again and see what happens.. But.. If the pump struggles then you did the right thing not to leave it in that position. If this is a new pool, I would contact the builder and ask him why you can't run off of just the Skimmer.

Looking at the big picture, you want most of your input to the pump coming from the skimmer.. This will help keep the surface of the pool clean.. In real life the Main Drain is almost useless.. Many pool don't even have an operating Main Drain and they work just fine.

What HP is your single speed pump???

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[mknauss]

The arrows on that valve handle are not implying how a normal three way valve works.

 

[Jimrahbe]

F,

There are three arrows on the valve.. One of them says "Closed"... The closed arrow is opposite from the handle.. So.. the Handle points to the open pipe, while the closed arrow points to the closed pipe.

The other two arrows are just there to confuse you...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[mknauss]

One of them says "Closed"..

I did not zoom in --- why would they do that??

 

[Fillup]

Thanks to both of you. Yes that helps me understand better. Ill definitely contact my builder. While I have some experts here can y’all look at these pics. pool builder did not include the door to skimmer think I found why. Should I be concerned with this hole doesn’t look like other side seems like they might have damaged one side and took the door with them hoping it would go unnoticed . Im worried about pool water leaking through there.

 

[Jimrahbe]

F,

Your pool builder is an idiot for sure... The Weir door is what makes a skimmer... wait for it... SKIM...

The door is what makes the skimmer take in water from the surface of the pool... Without a weir door, the skimmers sucks water more from the bottom of the skimmer opening and this reduces the effectiveness of the skimmer by about 50%..

The door came with the skimmer, you paid for a complete skimmer, so the pool builder owes you a working skimmer.

I can't tell what they did for sure, but it sure looks jerry-rigged to me...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Fillup]

I think either builder tried to attach door and broke it or tile guys tried to take it off improperly leaving this hole. Water leaking here through this hole a possibility?

 

[Jimrahbe]

F,

Either way, the pool builder owns you a working skimmer..

I doubt that the hole is causing a water leak.. Hard to tell from the pics..

How much water do you lose each day?

Thanks,

Jim R.