Steve, I have the same problems, although the grass in my pool is mostly from my own mowing and trimming. Wax Myrtle leaves, tiny flowers from Holly trees, Esperanza flowers...the list goes on and on, plus periodic raining flying ants. If I run my pump slower than 1650 RPM, there's just not enough water movement to suck in that stuff. Here are the solar powered surface skimmers I've found. I've not bought one...yet. Solar Breeze seems to be the most common. Amazingly, the people who seem to like that one quite a bit are the same ones who talk of its poor reliability and longevity. I'd really like to hear from someone who says, "I've had the so and so model for five years, and it's still going strong." Several of these can also be seen on YouTube. Of course on YouTube you're seeing a brand new unit work, not a three year old one. Anyway, here are the ones I've found: Skim Devil, Solar Breeze NX2, SolaSkimmer, Skim King, SkimBot.
BTW, skimmer socks do at least keep all that stuff from getting to the main filter. Most of the year, I'm using disposable hair nets, but spring requires real skimmer socks plus daily cleaning to do the job right.
Update I see NX2 at Amazon for $498 plus $76 for "3 year extended warranty." Description says the Asurion warranty picks up where the mfrs warranty ends, but it is not clear that it is 3 years
after the mfrs warranty or three years
including the 1st year by the mfr. Also, reviews of the Asurion plan are a mix of negative reviews and positive reviews that sound fake. Pretty much all the solar skimmers manufacturers offer only 1 year warranty, which suggests a couple things: one that physics and chemistry are barriers to a long life for this kind of product, or two that there are just no high quality manufacturers in this field of pool equipment. I'm almost tempted, but I'd like to hear about real people's experience with Asurion. I've had extended plans from Home Depot that turned out to be worthless. Just more profit for Home Depot.
Another update. Skimking.com seems to be vaporware. No info on the site other than a video. Email to
[email protected] bounces as no such mailbox.