Which direction should i face my return jets?

[FLDude]

Hi All,

Attached is a pic of my pool, yellow is the skimmer and green are the return jets, the end of the pool closet to the bottom of the pic is the shallow end. Ive been trying for the past week to set them up to get good circulation going and have debris enter the skimmer but im at a loss and cant get it to work. They all have equal flow at the moment, two return jets in the bottom right are on one pipe and the other two are on another pipe. I can adjust flow at the pump between the two pipes if needed. Ive tried pointing them straight out and down, down and at a 45 degree angle, up and 45 degree angle, 90 degree angle and down/up, mostly anti clockwise rotation, tried some clockwise but didnt work. Ping pong ball has yet to enter the skimmer.

Any thoughts on the best setup?

Side note, coming to the end of a slam and been very very pleased with the results!

Thanks!

 

[Texas Splash]

In your case I'd probably just aim each jet towards the skimmer. Keep in mind the prevailing winds can really impact water movement.

 

[FLDude]

In your case I'd probably just aim each jet towards the skimmer. Keep in mind the prevailing winds can really impact water movement.

Thanks! I'll give it a try when it stops raining. So I know for the future, what's the reasoning behind pointing them all towards the skimmer in a setup like mine??

 

[Texas Splash]

what's the reasoning behind pointing them all towards the skimmer in a setup like mine??

There are mixed reasons for how you might adjust returns such as:
- Move surface debris towards the skimmer
- Encourage the best possible chlorine) circulation to avoid dead areas
- Aeration

There is no one perfect way, so you can experiment as you like. Toss some packing peanuts on the water to monitor the movement. It might help.

 

[DavidArmenB]

As stated above, there is no perfect way. From everything I have read, you want the water in the pool to always flow in a circular motion with no disturbances on the surface. Pointing jets up may look cool because of the bubbling and movement on the surface, and may cause one to think they are getting better flow and circulation since they can visually see the flow, but this will cause (1) only the top 1/3 of the water to be filtered, leaving most of the deeper sections stagnant, (2) aeration, which will increase your pH, and (3) disruption of the surface, which will increase the surface area of your pool and cause your skimmer to be less efficient in skimming debris. In my opinion, the calmer the surface, the better your skimmer will do its job.

If I had your setup, I would point each jet in a downward angle so it blows the filtered water towards the bottom of your pool, which is more desirable for a more efficient turnover, and then aim all of them slightly to the right, so it creates a circular motion of the entire pool of water and decreases the chance of dead spots. Also, since the water will be moving in a circular motion, it will cause the water to flow past the skimmer from the left to the right and get sucked in. Thirdly, because the surface will be calm, the skimmer will be more efficient in sucking all the debris as the water flows past it.

 

[Bugman1401]

Don’t think skimmer action is such a big deal for screened in pools. I assume you have very little surface debris. My pool is not screened in and the surface flow really helps direct the leaves into the skimmer boxes. Contrary to the post above, I point my returns towards the surface so I get the maximum amount of circular surface flow, but without any jet breaking the water or bubbling.