Weir door skimmer round cover flappy thing missing

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S

SoCalDIYWannabe

Active member
Mar 14, 2025
31
Orange County, California
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Plaster
Rectangular outside and round inside.
Never had a basket or weir door.

I think i remember previous owner mentioning something about a round cover to seperate skimmer from pool.

Our pool pad has only one pipe in from pool. We don't have a diverter to choose drain or skimmer. When the pump is running it seems to suck from the suction line (makes sense).

Is there a round plate cover thing that forces water into the suction line from the main drain? Or how do i get that circulation from main drain moving?

And . Any idea on weir door setup based on my photos, or is that even needed?

Thanks bunches
 

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S,

Half the the old pools in the US probably don't have an operating main drain, and they all work just fine... Most pool owners don't even know it... :mrgreen:

You should be really concerned that you have no weir door, as that is what makes skimmers.... well, SKIM...

But, trying to get the main drain to operate, may just be a waste of your time.

When I look at the pic, it appears to me that you have two holes in the bottom of the skimmer, and one of them is capped off.. Hard to tell for sure, so you need to go out and see what you can feel with your hand..

Please let us know what you find.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
SoCalDIYWannabe said:
Rectangular outside and round inside.
Never had a basket or weir door.

I think i remember previous owner mentioning something about a round cover to seperate skimmer from pool.

Our pool pad has only one pipe in from pool. We don't have a diverter to choose drain or skimmer. When the pump is running it seems to suck from the suction line (makes sense).

Is there a round plate cover thing that forces water into the suction line from the main drain? Or how do i get that circulation from main drain moving?

And . Any idea on weir door setup based on my photos, or is that even needed?

Thanks bunches
Click to expand...
In addition to the above, I’d get that skimmer basket ASAP. Without one, you can get all kinds of creatures that drown in the pool and then get sucked into your plumbing. The basket is designed to prevent that.
 
Jim and Bperry, thanks tons for the replies.

For the skimmer at the bottom, that picture was before I realized what the cap was, it's not a cap. It was soft and powdery, I'm guessing it was the 7 lb of conditioner I added a few days ago to the freshly filled pool after the resurface. Probably added to the skimmer too fast and the pump didn't suck it all in, so a big portion probably settled in that main drain hole.

I think I got most of that sucked out of there, using various tools to include a 3/4 in PVC and some suction and a thumb over the end of the PVC and a few other methods. Now it looks like a hole that goes down about 1 to 2 ft and then angles toward the pool. I can't see past that though.

Are baskets fairly standard size? Can I simply order a round skimmer basket? Or will I need to measure diameter and depth?

For the main drain issue, when trying to do things like add acid or liquid chlorine until I get my salt generator in a month, is that supposed to be added at the skimmer or just down in the deep end of the pool? If it's at the skimmer is it too concentrated? Or does it circulate fast enough to unconcentrate it? If it was added just over by the deep end, how does that get circulated if the main drain isn't working?
 
SoCalDIYWannabe said:
Are baskets fairly standard size? Can I simply order a round skimmer basket? Or will I need to measure diameter and depth?
Click to expand...
Look on the underside of the skimmer lid for a part number. Then search google for "xxx parts" where XXX is the part number of the skimmer. That will lead you to the correct basket.
 
S,

You add chemicals like Liquid Chlorine or Muriatic Acid, slowly pour them in front of an operating pool return.. Just to be clear, a 'Return' is where water is coming into your pool from the filter..

When you have two open holes like you do in the bottom of your skimmer, the hole closest to the water is normally plumbed into your main drain. This is why the CYA you added did not go anywhere..

I doubt your main drain has ever worked in since you bought the house... :mrgreen:

In 'theory' to get your main drain working you would just need to install a floating diverter valve.. It looks like a little spaceship.. Similar to the one in the link, but for your skimmer.


That said, I have never had any luck getting them to work.. They are supposed to get sucked down against the black o-ring at the bottom of your skimmer. This closes off the skimmer suction and moves it to the main drain.. I gave up trying.. I ran two rent house pools for over 12 years with no operating main drains and they worked just fine. The water was always clear and I never had a single algae bloom.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
SoCalDIYWannabe said:
Jim and Bperry, thanks tons for the replies.

For the skimmer at the bottom, that picture was before I realized what the cap was, it's not a cap. It was soft and powdery, I'm guessing it was the 7 lb of conditioner I added a few days ago to the freshly filled pool after the resurface. Probably added to the skimmer too fast and the pump didn't suck it all in, so a big portion probably settled in that main drain hole.

I think I got most of that sucked out of there, using various tools to include a 3/4 in PVC and some suction and a thumb over the end of the PVC and a few other methods. Now it looks like a hole that goes down about 1 to 2 ft and then angles toward the pool. I can't see past that though.

Are baskets fairly standard size? Can I simply order a round skimmer basket? Or will I need to measure diameter and depth?

For the main drain issue, when trying to do things like add acid or liquid chlorine until I get my salt generator in a month, is that supposed to be added at the skimmer or just down in the deep end of the pool? If it's at the skimmer is it too concentrated? Or does it circulate fast enough to unconcentrate it? If it was added just over by the deep end, how does that get circulated if the main drain isn't working?
Click to expand...
For future reference, don’t add any chemicals in the skimmer.
 
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Bperry I think adding chemicals in the skimmer probably came from adding de, but my new filter isn't d e anymore. I'll avoid that from now on.

Jim, I may or may not try that spaceship thing down the road, but putting chemicals in front of one of the four pool returns makes good sense. And I'll try to look around and see if I find a model number, when you say skimmer lid, do you mean the Round Disc that we pull off in order to look down in the skimmer? OR is it the roof of that little tunnel between the skimmer and the pool? I'll check both.

===========

Slightly excited for all the new stuff but also slightly nervous. As of a month ago, even though it was a very old filter, it was a DE filter, and the pump was a whisper flow, I think 1.5 horsepower. And the pool water was bromine, not chlorine. We never had issues with the water, it was always clear and with fairly low maintenance.

With this resurface, we're switching to chlorine by way of salt, at least after the first month of new surface, and we're switching to cartridge instead of De, and we're switching to variable speed pump. So, lots of new learning and new DIY adventures. Truly appreciate the help here.
 
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