Skimmer/Plumbing Question

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Bigdog43

Bigdog43

0
Jul 6, 2016
192
Memphis, TN
Let me start off saying I'm not having any problems/symptoms (that I'm aware of).

So each one of my skimmers has two holes in the bottom you can see when you remove the skimmer basket. I don't know the correct terminology, but there's a "thing" that can be moved to cover up one (or neither) of the holes. I think when I first got my pool, the ones closer to the pool were always covered up. I uncovered them and there's a bunch of gunk in there that you can see from both skimmers and water is not moving through those particular ports. The ones further away from the pool are doing all the work. What is the function of this? Does this pipe just run between the two skimmers and the other pulls water to the pump/filter?

And how do I unclog this assuming I need to?
 
How old is the pool? Do you have a main drain, or drains, and if so are there valves to control flow from the drains at the pad? What does your plumbing look like at the pad?

The second port could be one of several things, and the age of the pool could help indicate which one is most likely. In older pools it's usually plumbed to the main drain, and a diverter valve can be placed inside the skimmer allowing you to pull water from either the drain or the skimmer. Sometimes it's plumbed to an equalizer port, which prevents the pump from running dry if the water falls below the skimmer throat. Sometimes it's plumbed to the equipment pad where it's capped capped, acting as a spare in case something happens to the main skimmer line, like a leak. And in some cases it's simply capped just under the skimmer. If it's capped just below the skimmer you should be able to tell pretty easily by vacuuming the gunk out while scraping/poking it with a screwdriver.
 
The pool is about 10 years old, give or take a few. I'm not exactly certain, but it cannot be older than 20.

I do have a main drain. There are three valves coming into the pad and each one has a lever that can be turned on/off. I don't see anything that looks like it would be capped.

One interesting point of info is that I was once trying to hook up a fountain in my pool. I was capping some of the returns to increase the pressure to the fountain and all this dirt, etc started coming out of one of the returns that happened to be between the two skimmers. I think someone on here mentioned that I could've had a blocked line and the change in pressure forced some of it through.
 
Couple updates. The permit for the pool was pulled 19 years ago. Can’t believe it’s that old.

I vacuumed out the mystery holes and it appears they are capped. Just some gunk was built up in there. (Right)
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I have the exact same set up in my pool. I have been leaving both ports uncovered thinking I was circulating water through both the skimmer (to clean stuff from the top of the pool), and the drain (to clean stuff from the bottom). However I don't feel any suction from the drain port, so I don't know if it does anything. I only have one pipe coming in from the pool, and 2 going out from the sand filter.
 
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