skimmer basket

[cinbia12]

This probably sounds stupid but when our pool was installed they asked if we wanted the skimmer through the wall or over the top. Dear DH thought over the top. Well we constantly lose prime, it doesn't suck right and the pool store told us we were asking for trouble to change. Is there a better over the top model than the stupid thing we have?:rolleyes: Thanks

[hrsdennis]

I have not seen an over the wall skimmer in over ten years. I did not know they still made them. There is one positive aspect to them. You can have more water in the pool than with a thru the wall.

As for the prime, try this. Before you turn the pump on loosen the lid to the hair and lint pot. It should fill with water, then turn the pump on. It should start right up.

I am surprised by the advice the pool store gave you but changing to a thru the wall is really not that hard.

Later, Dennis

[cinbia12]

Thanks Dennis, is it something we could do ourselves or would we be better off having someone else do it? The problem with the over the wall is that we lose prime when it gets bumped by wind or if the kids are splashing around too much.

[hrsdennis]

Hi, I understand your problem.

It is hard to advice if you should do it yourself or hire out. If you could find someone that new how to do it correctly, and did not charge an arm and a leg it would probably be worthwhile.

If you are handy with tools I could walk you through the whole process with no problem. It is not much more than drilling a few holes. That is assuming the thru the wall knockouts that came in the wall are not near the filter area. If they are it's a piece of cake.

Let me know if you need a step by step. Not a problem.

Dennis

[matt4x4]

Yes, changing to a through the wall skimmer is as easy as cutting a hole, however, due to having to lower your water level, I would wait until you are ready to close this year or ready to open it up again next year. I would actually wait until next spring, this way, your water level is allready low enough, you'd need to fill anyways, you can then do any leak troubleshooting immediately instead of letting it all winter before you refill your pool.
If the pool company used the return hole that came with the pool, I would hazzard to guess that the knockout is close enough to the equipment in order to be used.
I have absolutely no idea why the pool store would tell you you're asking for trouble changing the skimmer.....

[cinbia12]

They didn't even use the return hole, that also goes over the top.But I think I know where they are, under the deck. So maybe my 10 year old granddaughter is good with tools.:D The pump isn[t to far from that point. personally I think through the wall would be much easier. We've been fighting green for three weeks now. Dh thinks he got all the crap off the bottom today, so I'll cross my fingers. ;)

[cinbia12]

Dennis or Matt- Is $100.00 a reasonable price to have it installed if we supply the skimmer? It's getting to the point that if we don't do something I'm about ready to throw in the towel. We've been keeping chlorine sky high and we've got everything else good (according to the pool store) but no matter what we do the green isn't going. I'm assuming that switching to thru the wall, more water will be going through the filter and won't just becoming from the side. Good news though it's not under the deck. Right beside the filter.
Thanks

[hrsdennis]

Hi, a hundred is a fair price. This eve I will post some diy instructions that might help also.

Dennis

[matt4x4]

$100 doesn't sound too bad, it's about a 2 hr job at most, easily undertaken yourself, but if you don't mind parting with the money and don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, it's definitely not robbery.
Personally, I would do it myself, but then again, I pretty much do everything I possibly can myself, just the way it is. Leaves me with more play money that way!

[cinbia12]

The only thing i worry about is that the liner is about 5 years old. Is it going to be too brittle
:confused:

[matt4x4]

Not an issue - because you're only dropping your water about 1 foot, it won't shrink etc, so all that needs to be done is to cut a hole the size of the skimmer knockout and a smaller hole the size of the return knockout, both will have gaskets on them to seal them, the liner does not need to move, twist, pull etc, so it won't get harmed in any way.

[hrsdennis]

Here’s the way I install a skimmer and return. You will need a 2 ½” hole saw for the return. Check your return as 2” is a possibility. You will also need a ¼” drill bit, a sharp razor knife and a pair of tin snips.

You should start by draining the water down to about 6” below where the bottom of the skimmer will be. Remove three top rails, rods coping ect. Next lay a damp towel on the liner and against the wall where you will be working. You do not want any hot metal shavings to burn the liner and you want an easy way of getting all of it out of the pool when you are done.

The return hole is easy. Mark the spot and use the hole saw. A hammer on one side and a block wood on the other is a good way to flatten any rough edges or burs. Hold the wood against the wall and hit it from the other side with the hammer. Flattens it all out nicely.

Here is a neat way of cutting a skimmer hole. Hold the face plate on the outside of the pool in the location you want the skimmer to mount. With a pencil, mark the top right and left holes. Remove face plate and drill these two holes with a ¼” drill bit. Find a couple of bolts and nuts about that size and bolt the face plate to the outside of the pool. Now drill the bottom right and left holes. Use two more bolts in these holes. Now you can go around the rest of the holes and drill through the wall.

Now take a razor knife and score the wall all along the inside of the face plate. Do this several times so the score is deep. Now use that hole saw and drill a hole in the middle of the face plate. Now remove the face plate. Now use your tin snips and cut from that center hole to each corner. That would make four cuts. Each of these four pieces will now snap off with just a little back and forth motion. Just don’t cut yourself.

Now you clean the opening, the liner and the inside wall. It should all be smooth with no debris. Put the liner back in place with coping and rods but wait on the rails until after the skimmer is installed.

PS Like Matt says, the liner will be fine. You can go from full to 1' and back again a million times. Just no lower and refill ASAP.

[cinbia12]

Well the pool guy came out to look at it today. This is starting to work out really well. Next door neighbor had a skimmer he bought at a yard sale, the pool guy had a return in his truck so that was installed today (amazing how much more movement there is in the water) We went and got the plate thing and shorter hoses. He'll be back sometime tomorrow for that. Thinks our filter is too small, so guess has an extra DE filter from a yard sale (actually he has 2 in his shed) so if that can be attached to our pump and is big enough he will be getting a gift certificate to a local restaurant. and the skimmer might be installed for trade with a snow blower. LOL Thanks for all your input and I'll let you know how all goes.:) :) :)

[matt4x4]

Wow! Pool bartering - I like it!!!!
Sounds like you got it all covered!

[cinbia12]

Let you know later how all goes. One more question though- he seems to think we have metal in the pool, but when we had the water tested Sunday, metals read 0 for iron and copper. Should we throw metal free in just for fun? I just don't want to end up with more of a mess than the green we have now.
Thanks

[matt4x4]

If your tests came back 0, I would doubt that you have any metal, tests don't screw up that bad, if in doubt take another sample in. I wouldn't just throw chemicals into the pool for fun.

[cinbia12]

Well got the skimmer in, in the pouring rain no less. New (to us) filter is set to go. Just need to raise the water level and will be good to go. Rain we had tonight should really help. Is a too large filter going to be a problem" It is a Hayward E60. Hopefully nothing leaks. If it does they will come back.

[cinbia12]

Well all has gone well so far. Neighbor's first filter wasn't working right, but he had another one same model. Everything seems to be working great. Hubby went in to stir stuff up. and backwashed the filter. Don't believe the amount of junk that came out of there. He'll do it again tomorrow morning and seeing the green is much lighter, maybe we'll be swimming sometime tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks guys.