water level above skimmer

[dtrebus]

I know I need to drain some water off. I have a cartridge filter on the pump and wondering if I could use that somehow to drain about 2 inches of water. The first time I lowered level, I just unscrewed the pipe to return jet... It worked but was a big mess. I do not have a hose bib attachment. Thought about using the cartridge drain plug, but wouldn't that just drain water from the cartridge casing? And if I did, and pump on wouldn't that cause damage? The store I got the pool from had in starter package what looked like a roll of blue tape, but I found out this is for sand filters, and its no big enough to fit on pipe couplings. Any suggestions before I have to invest in a pump? Thanks

 

[Richard320]

Is there a reason you can't just siphon what you need off? If you connect the vacuum and slowly push the hose in to fill it with water then cap it and haul it out and over fast, you can get a pretty hefty siphon going. And that backwash hose will likely fit on the vacuum hose to move the flow where you want it.

If the drain on the filter is a standard plumbing size, you can install a valve and a hose barb and connect the backwash hose to it. They sell the hose connector at Lowes and probably other stores too.

Or cut into the plumbing somewhere and install a tee. Some people have a hose faucet on the outlet of the pump and it;s real easy to connect a garden hose and empty water that way.

 

[dtrebus]

ok. will try the siphon method...when rain stops. so use hose from vacuum and when air is out, cap and bring side that attaches to skimmer panel over edge of pool and it will drain?

 

[Richard320]

ok. will try the siphon method...when rain stops. so use hose from vacuum and when air is out, cap and bring side that attaches to skimmer panel over edge of pool and it will drain?

Yep. Attach it to the vacuum so it's weighted down and stays put. Then feed the hose in slowly, keeping it vertical. That will push all the air out. Feed it in until it's submerged and clamp your hand over it tight, then haul it out and over fast and get the end lower than the surface of the pool ASAP. You're siphoning! As long as you keep the open end of the hose below pool level, water will flow and you can drag out more hose and move it around to avoid flooding one spot.

 

[Mdragger88]

U can also use the jet to fill the hose until it lets all the bubbles out to prime it then throw it over the side - i do this to vacuum sometimes instead of messing with the pump