Weir door sucked closed

[Flamer]

Hi friends,

Pool newbie here. I just discovered I had a weir door in my pool shed so I clipped it into place in the skimmer and all went well (amazed at the difference it made!) this morning though I heard the motor noisier than normal, checked it out and the weir door had been sucked closed by the skimmer and was blocking any water flow and the motor had been sucking dry for an hour woops.

I have put a large stone in the skimmer now (between the skimmer plate and weir) which prevents the flap from being able to get sucked all the way down again but it's not ideal the stone could fall into the basket at anytime and it will happen again.

The water level is right on halfway or perhaps a bit less of the skimmer, not sure what else I should do?

It's a vac/weir. Part number is quip master sk1000, I leave the vaccum port closed fully. The polystyrene is intact and it seems to float OK most of the time but with my pump running 12 hours a day I'm very concerned of burning it out if left all day.

Any ideas?

 

[wireform]

Not quite sure what you're saying. Weir door flaps towards the inside of the skimmer and does 2 things. If water level is correct it'll create better skimming and secondly when the pump is off it'll close and not let debris out from the basket back to the pool. How can it create the condition you describe. How can it get sucked closed if it's where it belongs it gets sucked open unless you somehow you have it mounted on the wrong side but can't see how. Pictures Pictures please.

 

[Charlie Bezzina]

I've seen this a couple of times. You need to install the door from the inside of the skimmer, not the pool side.

 

[Flamer]

I'll take some pics tomorrow, to better explain it.


Before the pics arrive to better explain it:
1) with the pump off, the door is vertical, 90 degrees straight up
2) with pump on its about 45 degrees with water flowing over it into the skimmer basket
3) problem state - door goes 180 degrees, flat/hortizonal, being sucked down against the skimmer basket, blocking any water from going through

* added the pic from manufacturers website. The hinged weir door is shown in the pic it can/will cover the pipe in the fully down position. For vaccuming you open the round hatch and push it down flat and put the hose into the hatch on the weir door

 

[wireform]

Possibly there are 2 flaps available for the skimmer box. One for normal skimming and one as pictured for vacuuming or for skimming it's removed and put back for vacuuming. One more possibility the hole in the flap is adjustable and needs to be opened and tweeked for proper operation.

 

[Jimrahbe]

F,

Edit.. What I said below is not at all correct now that I have looked at the skimmer manual posted by Jeff.. Not at all like any skimmer I have seen.

You must have the door installed wrong or it is the wrong door. When the door is lying flat it should not be covering the skimmer basket. It should be closer to the pool.

When my weir door is completely horizontal, I can still take the skimmer basket out without moving the weir door.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

You can find the manual here... StackPath

Looks like there should be an 'angle stop' at the back edge of the skimmer box to prevent the weir door from laying completely flat. You push this 'angle stop' back to allow the weir to lay completely flat for vacuuming.

My guess is that the angle stop is either missing or damaged so that the weir door does not stay up in the 3/4 position.

--Jeff

 

[wireform]

Looking at the manual there's a spring clip probably made of stainless steel on the back wall of the skimmer box. It's designed so when the skimmer is in normal operation the top of the weir door/flap stops at a given angle and can't completely block the basket. When you need to vac you'd push the clip backwards to bypass the angled position and then the door lays flat.

 

[Flamer]

Thank you all! Finding that manual really helps yes I seem to be missing the angle stop, I was at least on the right track with my stone to stop the full closure . I'll try and source that part from somewhere.

 

[wireform]

FOUND your missing part

 

[Charlie Bezzina]

Well that is surely a unique skimmer, and that is definitely not the stuck door issue I have seen previously.
I'd bet this skimmer is going to be high maintenance.