Skim a round

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This thing will not help your pool. All it does is restrict the opening at the top of the basket to make the water speed higher AT THE MOUTH OF THE BASKET. Everywhere else, water velocity and volume is unchanged. The water volume actually entering your skimmer from the side of the pool is completely unchanged, in fact it will be less because of the added restriction of the narrow basket opening.
Save your money.​
 
I have used one for a couple years now and I did have to call their support # to get it dialed in correctly. They answered right away and had working within a few minutes. My issues were either to much or not enough suction. I don't think it skimmed the pool any better, however in SW FL especially through summer water levels are all over the place. Beginning of summer is hot and not as much rain so you may be having to add water and then by end of summer with our daily showers you may have to drain some. The advantage of the Skim a Round is no matter the water level, I always had some skimming and never had to worry about pump running dry. So even when the water level was above the skimmer opening, it still worked for me and no draining.

I also needed to return an item at one point and it was no hassle for me. WIth all that said, I just put in a VSP and removed it from my pool for two reasons.

1. I like being able to run at low speeds which isn't quite enough to keep the skim a round happy
2. We moved last July and the position of our new pool relative to the sun and the screen in lanai have really almost halted evaporation so never worried about pump running dry. I may use it in the wettest of summer months so I don't have to keep draining and the skimmer is effective.
 
Even tho I just ordered 2, you know what works for me. Woman stocking over the basket in the skimmer. It creates a suction, problem with this is when pump shuts down and the leaves start to float. I have to try it. If it doesn’t work it will go on shelf with all the other new inventions.
 
Ordered my Skim Around Skimmer basket on June 20th, 2018.
Got an email saying it was shipping on June 21, 2018.
Called the manufacturer and asked about a delivery date and was told that the skimmers are made to order and I would recieve it around July 7th, 2018.
I have never heard of a business that made products to order. I think 2 weeks for a skimmer basket is the sign of a business that is not too stable.
Not sure I would have ordered it if I'd known that it would take so long to deliver.
 
[FONT=&quot]Don't waste your time on this product - it is a major fail!!! It may appear to work at first (if you can manage to get the ring to fit the basket properly) but you may cause very costly damage to your pump system. #1 if you don't get the ring to fit exactly right on the basket - you will get a lot of air going through the skimmer to your pump. #2 if you do manage to get the ring to fit the basket just right you still get some air going to the pump (some), but more importantly IF too many leaves, grass or debris go into the basket, the basket will soon float and debris will be sucked into skimmer below the basket making its way to your pump. Very costly to fix!!! I really did wish it would work, I tried desperately for it to work... It failed. Then to get your money back is a challenge. I did understand the 15% restocking fee (didn't like it but I understood that it was a possibility to lose 15% of my money in hopes that the product worked). Having tried it for a week, my son took apart the pump to check it out... leaves, pine needles and hair in the pump. Luckily we caught the mess early and was able to avoid costly repairs. I followed the company's policy to the "T" to make my return... still waiting on my money nearly 3 weeks later. They keep telling me a few more days... UGH[/FONT]
 
So I bought this over the winter. I tried it early in the spring, but it didn't fit my basket, none of the 3 rings did. So I shelved it for later. Fast forward to our weir door braking (it's spring loaded, but the rings that hold it in place snapped and it pops off during heavy swimming. They advertise this working without a skimmer weir door so I get it back out.

I take my dremel to one of the rings and get it to fit. It does indeed work well with my 1hp pump. However if the pump is off and there are swimmers, anything collected will just float back out. I just instruct the wife that for now, make sure it's empty before swimming. Now about 2 weeks into full time use my pump is having problems. tripping breakers and stuff. The pump has another basket as well of course but I'm wondering if air during heavy rains somehow got into the system from this thing. Could be a coincidence. Despite the pump issues, I'd also say that it's not worth the ~$30.
 

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I tried the skimmer basket version. It did not fit my skimmer and the 3 adapters were of no help. It was either too big or too small. I couldn't get enough suction without making some MAJOR modifications to it or my skimmer portal. I returned it (at my own $33 expense) within the alloted time frame after going through the RA# number process and was still charged another $10 as a restocking fee because I was returning a "non-defective" unit. So, all-in-all, it const me $43 to TRY to do business with them. That's more than HALF of what I originally paid for them to start with ($71) They did not pay return postage for it not fitting my pool AND they charged me to restock! I hear, now, that many people complain that it doesn't fit their skimmers. There's no way to tell ahead of time that it's going to fit or not. They advertise as if their adapters fix that issue but they do not and should give some EXACT dimensions BEFORE people invest their time and money into this. I just wasted $43 and several hours of my time ordering, trying to do due diligence, trying it out, contacting support, requesting an RA#, driving to the UPS store and mailing it back, searching my emails for my returned money over 2-3 weeks and now, writing this review. My pool is not unusual and is only 4 years old.
 
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I tried the Skim-Around skimmer basket a few years back and it did not fit properly for me either. I bought it through eBAy so I got a full refund.

I then got a Pool Devil. I like it much better. What I really like is that I can place it on the opposite end of my pool (or at any wall return location) where the afternoon prevailing winds blow the surface debris. It collects more than my wall skimmer. It is not obtrusive, stays in the pool all the time and it does not tangle with my suction-side pool vacuum. I use cheap leggings from the dollar store for replacement filter nets. I throw them out when they are full leaves and bugs and pop on another. It skims pretty well at lower pump RPM's too.
 
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I purchased a Skim-A-Round Ultimate last year. I used it mostly in "Original" mode, with just the Skimmer and hose, and no Vacuum hooked up.
I was very satisfied with it's performance, until....

Yesterday, I removed the internal basket, and tried pulling the surrounding float out of the water with the internal basket removed. The structure surrounding the basket failed, and cracked. Upon further examination, the other side was starting to crack also. Contacted Skim-A-Round, will follow-up with their answer.

Disappointed that plastic float failed after short time.
 
EDIT: Not sure I can recommend these products. Mine failed just removing it from the pool, and they claim they don't support my generation of Skim-a-Round that is just over 1 year old. I just need the floating skimmer that cracked and failed when room from pool.
 
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