Throught the wall skimmer question

[edlentz]

I have an Intex 16x48 agp . It came witht he over the frame skimmer. Last year I installed a through the wall skimmer. I have a 1hp pump into a Hayward 180T sand filter. I also send the filtered water to a solar system on my garage, then back to the original output in the pool. Sometimes I throttle back the flow to get more heat. I installed the skimmer basically between the original inlet and outlets. I have noticed that when ai have the flow choked down the skimmer doesn't woek as well. Is there a specific flow that works best for skimming? My water level is about 3/4 up the skimmer.


Thanks

[Anonymous [GDPR] European in the UK]

From my work, there isn't a specific flow that works. Each pool if it is adjustable can alter the flow to suit. To slow (below 26 GPM) and they don't work that well, a massive flow only increases the actual draw by a couple of inches in front of the skimmer. Better to have the returns pushing the debris at the skimmer but some pools have the returns and skimmers at opposite ends and it seems as if the flow from the returns only has a control over a leaf 12-16ft, if the flow is fast the leaf would get pushed out of the main flow to the calmer edges of the flow so often missing the skimmer (assumes a turbulent street type flow pattern from the return). Like going on to a putting green armed with a wood and not a putter.
Although you throttle back your flow to get more heat you are not really. It has more time to get hotter (feels hotter) but there is less flow. Using more flow but a slightly lower temp (un throttled) will heat the pool faster.
A bit pedantic but it's my answer.

[swimdaddy]

Agreed. I notice better skimming in my pool when the flow is throttled down a bit. AS far as your solar panels, the faster you water goes through them, the better. A good way to know what's going on is to put your hand on the panels. If its a sunny day and the panels feel hot, your system is inefficient and not transferring all of the heat energy to the water running through. If the panel feels cool, than the system is efficient and transferring more heat to the water.

The problem is most people go by the feel of the return water. When the system is running slow and inefficient, the water at the return may feel warmer than when it is running fast and efficient. But running it slow is like pouring a pot of scalding hot water in a bathtub full of cold water. It won't do much good at all, bath water will still be too cold to get into.