Hi everyone! I'm a new home owner, and new pool owner. As some background info, the pool is an inground kidney shape that I'm estimating somewhere in the range of 30-40k gal. My wife recently met our neighbors who mentioned that the previous owners had rarely been at the house for the past 5 years... so it's unknown if they really used or maintained the pool during that period. The cover on the pool was however fairly new. The pool has 2 skimmers, and 2 main drains. One skimmer (farthest from the pump) seems to have a plug in the second port, while the closer skimmer does not. There are 2 suction lines running to the pump... neither of which is labeled. Closing one off "appears" to close off the skimmers but I'm not 100% positive if it's closing one or both as the flow is so poor. I thought it was one line for the skimmers and one for the main drains until I saw the open 2nd port in the closer skimmer and now I'm questioning things.
So as part of cleaning up the pool and opening it, I'm obviously trying to get the bottom vacuumed up and all the debris out. However I'm finding the suction at the strainer baskets to be severely lacking. even with a completely empty basket, the suction is insufficient to suck any floating debris down into the strainer basket. in fact, I'd characterize the condition as a "slow flow" rather than a vacuum. The pump doesn't pulse... and doesn't "seem" to be running loudly or poorly... but I don't have a great comparison either. Sounds similar to the neighbors. Pool filter pressure is about 22 psi and is a large 4x cartridge type (approximately 8" diameter x 36" tall). I've tried emptying the baskets, hosing off the filter cartridges, switching the flow between the assumed "main" and "skimmer" repeatedly (at the suggestion of a youtube video... I didn't do this for very long as some banging noises were making me worry about water hammer). I also recently stuffed a hose down the far skimmer line with a pressure bladder attached... it made it about 20 feet before hitting a spot it couldnt pass at which point I turned on the hose and ran it for 30 minutes (pump off, assumed "skimmer" line open). I couldn't see hear or feel water flow at the pump or other skimmer. And this (the far skimmer) is the one I'd have considered to have the better suction of the 2. I know I'm getting decent total flow through the pump based on the water falls which are being fed a decent amount of water in addition to the 3 pool returns... but I'm working under the assumption that the flow is either predominantly from the main drains or just that the total degraded flow between the 2 skimmers and 2 drains is borderline sufficient for pump operation.
Given the novella above... what else can I try to unclog or test these lines... and relatedly is there any "good" way to tell how my pool is actually plumbed without digging it all up?
So as part of cleaning up the pool and opening it, I'm obviously trying to get the bottom vacuumed up and all the debris out. However I'm finding the suction at the strainer baskets to be severely lacking. even with a completely empty basket, the suction is insufficient to suck any floating debris down into the strainer basket. in fact, I'd characterize the condition as a "slow flow" rather than a vacuum. The pump doesn't pulse... and doesn't "seem" to be running loudly or poorly... but I don't have a great comparison either. Sounds similar to the neighbors. Pool filter pressure is about 22 psi and is a large 4x cartridge type (approximately 8" diameter x 36" tall). I've tried emptying the baskets, hosing off the filter cartridges, switching the flow between the assumed "main" and "skimmer" repeatedly (at the suggestion of a youtube video... I didn't do this for very long as some banging noises were making me worry about water hammer). I also recently stuffed a hose down the far skimmer line with a pressure bladder attached... it made it about 20 feet before hitting a spot it couldnt pass at which point I turned on the hose and ran it for 30 minutes (pump off, assumed "skimmer" line open). I couldn't see hear or feel water flow at the pump or other skimmer. And this (the far skimmer) is the one I'd have considered to have the better suction of the 2. I know I'm getting decent total flow through the pump based on the water falls which are being fed a decent amount of water in addition to the 3 pool returns... but I'm working under the assumption that the flow is either predominantly from the main drains or just that the total degraded flow between the 2 skimmers and 2 drains is borderline sufficient for pump operation.
Given the novella above... what else can I try to unclog or test these lines... and relatedly is there any "good" way to tell how my pool is actually plumbed without digging it all up?
It might help to see some pics. Can you post a few pics of the equipment pad from various angles? It helps to see all the plumbing, valves, etc.
