Skim-A-Round

[Tuckerclan]

Just wanted to post on here my personal experience with the skimmer basket version of the Skim-A-Round. Don't bother. Yes, putting it in my skimmer, putting it on the highest setting, adding the volumizer and even turning the main drain off as to get a higher pull into the skimmer did make the "Bernoulli Effect" happen. Trouble is, that doesn't do anything. I actually get more into my regular basket than the Skim-A-Round basket. Using it does make a pretty cool little "Eddy" in the skimmer, but doesn't really do anything. In fact, it can create a problem by allowing too much air into the filter causing air bubbles, which I don't think is a good idea. It is built nicely and should last a long time, especially since I won't be using it. Hey for $35 bucks I thought I would give it a try as I have a lot of Pollen and tree fallout in my pool. I would still like to figure out a way to get more surface water through the skimmer, but alas, I don't think there is with the way my pool is built. Its kidney shape with 2 "eyeball" returns just doesn't move the water towards the skimmer no matter which way I point the "eyeballs". It flows in a clockwise rotation but before the skimmer it kinda turns a sharp right bypassing the skimmer and floating the particles back towards the other "eyeball". Obviously I get stuff in the basket, just not as much as I would like to, or as fast as I would like to. Oh well, gonna go swim now.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Tucker,

I am not a fan...

The key to skimming is water level, an operating weir door, and patience.

I run my pump at 1200 RPM and there is almost no noticeable movement when looking down into my skimmers.. That said, they work great and collect everything that does not sink to the bottom of the pool..

Most skimmers can tell if a human is watching.. If I sit and watch, they just don't eat.. But, if I go inside for half an hour, when I come back out they seem to have eaten just fine..

Do you have an operating weir door between your skimmer mouth and the skimmer basket?

Do you try to keep the water level about in the middle of the skimmer's mouth?

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gingrbredman]

I also tried out the magic skimmer thingy earlier in the year. Same result, that is, there was no results from it. Same settings here, and no noticeable improvement.

it can create a problem by allowing too much air into the filter causing air bubbles

What did concern me was the "floating" basket when the pump turns off so you can take it out and empty it. Problem is, with a low speed on my pump, the basket would float, and try and choke out the pump. It had to go.

The key to skimming is water level, an operating weir door, and patience.

100%!!! While I may have thought my skimmer wasn't doing a good job, I actually noticed the biggest difference when I started adding hair nets to the basket. The amount of stuff that actually gets in there, and previously went to the filters just amazed me. With the working weir door and the right water lever, my pool, even at the lowest setting, was skimming just fine.

Can't blame you for trying out the new skimmer thingy. It sounds like a great idea, but just doesn't work.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Good news - If you need more surface skimming, especially in the heavy pollen months, then you might put some cash into buying an Ariel by SolarBreeze. It's a surface skimming robot and people that have has the SolarBreeze NX and NX2 models like them a lot. The Ariel is their latest offering.

Bad news - you probably won't be able to get one for this swim season because they are currently back-ordered by months and still working through their initial offering from the spring.

Even-Worse News - they generally run upwards of $600!!

These solar powered surface skimmers are a good concept but their affordability, longevity, and battery life leave a lot left to be desired...