Hi there,
I have a float valve in the bottom of my skimmer, which I put there mostly there to protect against damage from a low water level while I'm away from home during the summer. It's fall, though, and I have lots of trees around my pool, and within a few hours today (thanks to some wind and rain) my skimmer basket was apparently stuffed with enough leaves that the float valve tripped. My pool is set for 50/50 skimmer and main drain, so the pump just pulled through the main drain instead as intended. I cleaned out the leaves, reset the float valve, and everything seems fine.
My question is, should I just remove the float valve for fall and perhaps winter, and just toss it in as a safety measure before I go on vacation? I have a tower vented skimmer basket that will supposedly allow some flow even if the skimmer basket is packed, and some flow is better for the system in normal operation than that valve shutting, I would think...?
I'm located in Oklahoma and not closing my pool for the winter primarily because about half of it has a natural rock wall-type edge and it doesn't seem feasible to get a cover, so I'm trying to find the best way of surviving until spring. Pool was built in 2012 but house is new to me. Have pool guy who comes once a week.
I have a float valve in the bottom of my skimmer, which I put there mostly there to protect against damage from a low water level while I'm away from home during the summer. It's fall, though, and I have lots of trees around my pool, and within a few hours today (thanks to some wind and rain) my skimmer basket was apparently stuffed with enough leaves that the float valve tripped. My pool is set for 50/50 skimmer and main drain, so the pump just pulled through the main drain instead as intended. I cleaned out the leaves, reset the float valve, and everything seems fine.
My question is, should I just remove the float valve for fall and perhaps winter, and just toss it in as a safety measure before I go on vacation? I have a tower vented skimmer basket that will supposedly allow some flow even if the skimmer basket is packed, and some flow is better for the system in normal operation than that valve shutting, I would think...?
I'm located in Oklahoma and not closing my pool for the winter primarily because about half of it has a natural rock wall-type edge and it doesn't seem feasible to get a cover, so I'm trying to find the best way of surviving until spring. Pool was built in 2012 but house is new to me. Have pool guy who comes once a week.
