Vacuum issues, love some tips!
- Thread starter jbarrow1126
- Start date
I don't think it matters from my experience. If you're going for leaves and worms, I'd leave it in to keep them from going to the pump basket.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
So I was able to vacuum yesterday and it definitely worked well enough that I got 90% of the sand and small rocks at the bottom of the pool, but not 100% because I gave up for the night. I spent over 2 hours and still couldn't get everything..... it was just SOOOO slow. Pressure on the filter gauge remained at about 12-13 which is just below normal. I did hose over the pool deck onto skimmer 1 (basket in), skimmer 2 with that adjustable cover rotated over the hole to allow 20-30% flow. I still can't help but wonder if the suction should be better, because I have nothing to compare it to. But to hopefully put it into perspective. a small area maybe 5-6 inches round with sand and small rocks took about 10 minutes to completely vac. I basically held the head over it and every few seconds, id shake it around to disturb what was resting on the floor under it, and it would suck it up at what seemed to be 3-5% at a time. Bottom line - IT WORKED. I'm still wondering if that right angle vacuum plate will make a difference, as well as another hose. I'll do some trial and error on my own. Thanks everyone for the advice!!
Hopefully I didnt miss this in the discussion above, but ditch the vac plate and connect direct to skimmer.
Your return flow should be pretty strong with and without the vacuum attached. Put your hand in front of a return and feel how much force is in the return flow. If the water movement is gentle or barely there you need to clean your DE filter. A dirty filter will cause weak suction when trying to vacuum. How long has it been since the filter was opened up and the grids hosed off?
Zea3, return flow was good. Grids are new, a week old and I backwashed right before I vaccumed. Ssgumby, how to direct connect?
Suggestions:
1. Buy a new hose. Your used one may have some small cracks/breaks in it that are picking up air while it floats on the surface. This may be your issue because I will note that when I have the hose connected, primed and vacuuming properly in my pool most of my hose sits below the surface of the water, not floating on top the way yours is in that picture.
2. Try opening your filter to "waste" for a few minutes after the hose has been running on "filter" and see if there is a marked difference in suction. If so, then your filter is probably clogged. If not, then you have eliminated one possible cause for the problem. You will probably lose a few hundred gallons of water doing this.
1. Buy a new hose. Your used one may have some small cracks/breaks in it that are picking up air while it floats on the surface. This may be your issue because I will note that when I have the hose connected, primed and vacuuming properly in my pool most of my hose sits below the surface of the water, not floating on top the way yours is in that picture.
2. Try opening your filter to "waste" for a few minutes after the hose has been running on "filter" and see if there is a marked difference in suction. If so, then your filter is probably clogged. If not, then you have eliminated one possible cause for the problem. You will probably lose a few hundred gallons of water doing this.