PoolSkim is great!

[NullQwerty]

I first heard about the PoolSkim (http://www.thepoolskimmer.com/) on this forum when gwrace1 was talking about it. I am not affiliated with them at all.

No one else has mentioned it, so I thought I'd let everyone know that I purchased one and am blown away at how well it works.

I had just spent a 1/2 hour skimming my pool with a net. It still wasn't perfect though as I had a layer of some white cotton like stuff (probably pollen). About 2 hours after I was done we got a 10 minute thunder storm which loaded my pool with leaves and small twigs all over again. Coincidentally, the poolskim had just arrived in the mail. I hooked it up (which is easy...about 5-10 minutes) and threw on the pump.

After about 1-2 hours 1/2 the leaves were gone. I stopped checking it out, and the next morning went out there and all leaves were gone and even better, so was all the pollen like stuff! My pool hasn't looked nicer all season.

I ordered it direct from the manufacturer. It was $65 plus $10 shipping. Ordered on Tuesday or Wednesday and it arrived on Friday.

The only thing they could have done better in my oppinion would have been to add a wire to it's leaf bag so that it stays straight out. Right now it tends to fold a bit and float to the surface, which doesn't neccessarily hurt the circulation, but doesn't help it either.

That is minor though as the product is great. I saw some leaves trying to get by it by sticking to the wall and going past it, but even after getting past it, the whirlpool-like-pulling drew them in and they were sucked up.

Again not affiliated. Just a happy customer. I've had it for 3 days now and haven't had to skim once which is great and my pool looks awesome.

[10$liz]

Does it stay on permanently or do you take it off when swimming or vacuuming pool? also can you use the aquabot with it installed or do you have to take it off?

[KurtV]

So how is this better than the skimmer(s) you already have?

[10$liz]

I got it today and it is awesome. it attaches to the inlet jet not the skimmer basket and it creates a whirlpool effect. you can literally watch all the debris and pollen get sucked into this whirlpool and into the bag. I did try using it with my aquabot and that didn't go well. the aquabot knocked it off the wall and into the bottom of the pool. so no big deal. I'll take it off when using the aquabot. I love the Poolskim. I can't see any need to ever have to skim my pool manually.

[ChuckD]

So how is this better than the skimmer(s) you already have?

I'll give two reasons for my interest:
-My water level stays on the high side rendering the built-in skimmer nearly useless (for skimming). Rain adds to the water level often enough that I just get tired of lowering it.

-More notably, the builder didn't take into account prevailing winds when he located the skimmer which is placed at the opposite corner from where all debris seems to accumulate. Fortuitously he placed an inlet jet there tho so this thing might save me from cursing the real skimmer as I once again drag out the pole.

Little things, true. But they add up and I'd pay a one-time US$65 for the convenience (maybe).

[doggie]

Those that have one..... can you pull a solar cover over it? We keep our solar cover on all the time when not swimming, so I have to be sure you can cover the poolskim.

Thanks.

[NWMNMom]

Oh good question. Our cover is on all the time too when not swimming and then when we pull it off, we spend time skimming before swimming. With the current great Junebug migration to my pool (they seem to crawl UNDER the edge of the cover and sit there) and the crap dropping from trees, it would be nice NOT to have to hand skim each time I take that cover off.

[ChuckD]

Oh good question. Our cover is on all the time too when not swimming and then when we pull it off, we spend time skimming before swimming. With the current great Junebug migration to my pool (they seem to crawl UNDER the edge of the cover and sit there) and the crap dropping from trees, it would be nice NOT to have to hand skim each time I take that cover off.

I wondered about that as well. I'm betting you can leave it connected, but it won't do anything. The cover sits on the surface, which means stuff trapped there will stay there until the cover's removed. The skimmer relies on movement on the surface which won't be happening.

I'm guessing you'd remove the cover and go away for a while, or do your tests or something, and let the thing do it's bit.

[NWMNMom]

Were you thinking of ordering one? You know this is really very similar to the over the wall "hanging" skimmers they sell with those soft side pools from Intex - except it doesn't have a bag, the Intex one has a hard basket like a skimmer and of course it hooks to suction rather than return, but.... We had one of those years ago and bet its still in the grain bin we use to store our stuff. With a few mods, I could probably get this to do the same thing as the Poolskim.....hmmmmm. I'm too lazy to want to hand skim, but still have enough ambition to find a way to get something else to do the work for me!

[ChuckD]

I think I will.
I've got an IG liner, with a poorly placed built-in skimmer.

[NWMNMom]

Let me know how it goes. Lazy as I am, its always easy to "click" an item into a shopping basket online. My son just told me that the tree pollen (fluffy cotton variety) is flying like crazy so he was going to swim but decided to leave the cover on until I got home to hand dip all the Junebugs out AND catch the cotton before it hits the main skimmer. Ugh!

[iwannapool]

I got it today and it is awesome. it attaches to the inlet jet not the skimmer basket and it creates a whirlpool effect. you can literally watch all the debris and pollen get sucked into this whirlpool and into the bag. I did try using it with my aquabot and that didn't go well. the aquabot knocked it off the wall and into the bottom of the pool. so no big deal. I'll take it off when using the aquabot. I love the Poolskim. I can't see any need to ever have to skim my pool manually.

How do you adjust the height so it stays at the surface when water levels flucuate?

[doggie]

And please, is it OK to cover the unit with your solar cover while not using the pool? I need to make sure it won't damage it. Thank you.

[ChuckD]

Let me know how it goes. Lazy as I am, its always easy to "click" an item into a shopping basket online. My son just told me that the tree pollen (fluffy cotton variety) is flying like crazy so he was going to swim but decided to leave the cover on until I got home to hand dip all the Junebugs out AND catch the cotton before it hits the main skimmer. Ugh!

Just ordered mine. It'll be a couple weeks before I can report on it's performance but I promise I will.

[AnnaK]

Could you please post an estimate of the size of this skimmer? How much space does it take up, approximately? And how easy (or difficult) is it to remove it from the return? My Polaris attaches to the water return.

Looks like a very handy gadget to have and I'm getting the "want it" feeling . . . :)

[Tredge]

I ordered one off the advice of this thread.

Worth Every Penny.
It cut my manual skimming by 90%+ and does a better job at it.

I have a high amount of debri due to the location of my pool and it was a full time job keeping up.

Instructions were good and installation was pretty easy. It also seems to adjust well to several inches of depth as they claim.

If you have poor skimmers or spend too much time like I did with a net then I reccommend it.

[newtopools]

I also ordered a pool skim and love it. It does a great job.

[salinda]

I have the same question as in an earlier post: is it easy to remove for swim parties and such? How far does it stick out from the wall?

[Tredge]

Hasnt been a problem for parties...I leave it in. Most people just comment about the neato whirlpool thingy and leave it be.

It sticks out about 10" maybe? 1ft max.

Detatches easilly enough without any tools in a few seconds but I havn't had to bother. Also comes with a little stick that keeps the automatic pool cleaner's cord from interfering so I dont bother removing it for that either.

[AnnaK]

I first heard about the PoolSkim (http://www.thepoolskimmer.com/) on this forum when gwrace1 was talking about it. I am not affiliated with them at all.

No one else has mentioned it, so I thought I'd let everyone know that I purchased one and am blown away at how well it works.



I'm going to have to do a ME TOO post here! What a very cool device!

After reading about it here I spent some time pondering it, and then we had a pool party over the 4th of July with seven German Shepherds in the water for three days. The hair! Oh, the hair!!! We ran the pump 24/7, we cleaned the sock every 15 minutes, and in the mornings I scooped so much balled up dog hair off the bottom I could have built several more dogs.

Ordered it from In The Swim on Tuesday. It arrived this morning. I puzzled over the many elbow connectors for some time until I had it installed. Still have to cut the length of PVC pipe that came with it and put in the screws but it is in and it is working.

Wowser! I stood there smoking a stogie while I watched Japanese beetles flaoting clear from the other site of the pool inexorably toward the hat to get sucked into the bag.

As we used to say in my day: Like . . . groovy, man!

Question: once I get all the elbows and the height properly adjusted, is it ok to use PVC glue to hold them together? Or is it better to stick with the little screws in case I want to make directional adjustments?

Anna

[doggie]

Does anyone who has one use a solar cover? I simply want to know if it will damage the Pool Skim to have the solar cover pulled over it when the pool isn't in use.

[AnnaK]

From my very brief experience of just this afternoon, you can put a solar cover over it but you probably couldn't run your pump because I think a part of the cover would get sucked into the vortex.

However, you could cut a small 6 inch circle out of your cover to leave the PoolSkim uncovered. Then again, since the solar cover lies on the water, I don't know how effective the PoolSkim would be.

Love mine. Well, ok. Loved it, past tense, for about 30 seconds. That's how long it took one of the dogs to decide it was a fetch toy. He leaned over the edge to grab the hat, overbalanced, fell in. Fell on top of the device. BLAM! Pieces of PoolSkim everywhere. Ask me if I'm glad I didn't glue it all together.

No harm done. I fished the various elbows and such off the bottom and reconnected it. Next time the dog came near it I smacked him in the head. He hasn't looked at it since. And then I watched it suck dog hair off the surface. Really, too cool!

[hoffmans]

Smokin a stogie?!
Haven't had one a them in years............

~Hoffmans

[Sumo1]

I've considered the PoolSkim and also liked the look of the PoolDevil skimmer. Similar type of device. Has anyone out there tried the PoolDevil? It's only $30. See Pooldevil.com
Hal

[Tredge]

It doesnt affect the poolskim at all to just cover right over it. It does pull on the solar cover but very lightly and does no damage to either cover or skim.

The nature of how the pool-skim works there isnt anything to break or "hurt" by blocking it. The water just shoots out the bag as normal.

Funny story about the dog :)

[mshumack]

I read the great reviews and decided to take the plunge but all the websites advertizing the PoolSkim no longer have any to sell.

[Tredge]

Ya you need to order directly from them. Its weird that such a popular product isnt better distributed but I got through immediately and they were very easy to order from.


US contact:
YNBC Marketing
Jan Piazza

1074 Briarcliffe Blvd
Wheaton, IL 60187
Tel: 630-665-8790
Fax: 630-665-2335
Mobile: 1-630-263-4150
email: poolskimusa@aol.com

[jv4nu]

Sumo1, I have the PoolDevil and love it. It is quite similar to the poolskim, but the thing creating the vortex is shaped differently. Priced a little bit lower. I only really get it out in the fall (about this time of year)...I planted some large hardy pampas grass next to the pool, and it starts to seed about now. Hence, very tiny grass seed blows into the pool, too small to be picked up with even a fine net. So the skimmer sock works just great. I do put my solar cover over it and it doesn't seem to hurt it, but the action is greatly diminished without freely flowing water to skim.

[fog80]

I have to say what is the advantage of this over just having our skimmer collect the leaves and pollen?

the pump still has to run either way. I think I am missing the point.

[ChuckD]

In my case, the pool builder (built before I owned the house) didn't take into account the prevailing winds and placed the skimmer at the windward end. Consequently when it blows, all the debris collects at the opposite end. Fortuitously there's a return jet there, and so that's where the Poolskim goes as well amd greatly helps.

[newtopools]

It works a whole lot better than just the skimmer. Although the skimmer does well. It just creates this stronge vacume that sucks everything on top of the pool. I live in the Country and we seem to have alot of bugs and after a mow alot of grass ends up floating on the top of the pool. The poolskim just sucks it all in the net that attaches and you can just empty it. I empty mine just about everyday and there is always stuff in there. You may not need one if you do not have alot of things get in your pool. I have a 33 ft round and I love the poolskim.

[ryguy]

I have to concur with everyone on this device. It really is great. I bought mine 1 year ago and have been totally pleased with it. It works better than I even imagined. Sure, not everyone would need this thing, but if you've spent countless days wondering what you could do to keep your pool surface cleaner, then this may be the inexpensive answer to your problems. My pool was built in the 1950's and even though it has been totally renovated recently, it still has only the (one) original skimmer. It's never been enough to keep the pool surface clean. I have 1.5" pvc piping, so maybe those using 2" piping or multiple skimmers don't have problems. Also, the way my pool renovater installed the new skimmer, it has probably less than 2" of "ideal water level" to pull stuff effectively off the surface. I considered the "pool skimmer lever/stick" that they sell, but wasn't so sure it would do anything. I also considered replacing my Polaris with a Hayward Phantom, which rises to the surface to skim also, but it's very expensive. So I thought I'd start with the PoolSkim first, then see if I needed anything else.

Well, it was an easy install and the darn thing works! Don't really have to worry about it breaking because there are so few parts and it's a very simple design. A few of you asked about using it with a solar cover. Yes, you can do that. I've done it every day for a year now. It doesn't hurt the Poolskim or the solar cover. However, it won't effectively do anything when the cover is on. Who cares though? Nothings getting in with the cover in place anyway. So when the cover is one, it's simply acts as a pool return jet only, until the cover is removed.

There is only one negative that I can think of to the device. It doesn't bother me, but could be a concern for others. If you have younger kids swimming a lot, they'll probably knock it off over and over again. Just put it back on when they're out. Could get tiring I suppose, but I rarely have kids swimming in my pool (but when they do, they always seem to knock it off). It protrudes into the pool about 8-10". I have mine in the shallow end, so I'm sure if I moved it to the deep end, that would be less of a problem.

My Polaris rarely ever gets tangled in the PoolSkim either, so that hasn't been an issue. The bag that comes with it is durable and large enough that I don't have to empty it daily. I empty it maybe once a week at most, and far less during the summer. It will automatically adjust to varying pool levels up to a few inches (as much as you'd ever need). This thing has much stronger suction than my regular skimmer, so it is very quick to clear the surface. Typically, when I pull the solar cover off during spring or fall, all the pollen and seedlings and junk fall off the cover onto the surface. The poolskim will suck it all up pretty quickly, however, if I want to swim right away, I just use pole skimmer to move the debris toward the Poolskim. Once it gets close it is sucked up immediately and it's pretty much clear in 2-3 minutes using that method. If you've ever wished for a cleaner surface, do yourself a favor and try this thing out. I ordered mine directly from the manufacturer and it was received in less than a week from ordering. They were very good to deal with. Can't praise this thing enough. It has saved me so much time over the past year, and the pool is ALWAYS clear when I look out on it any time of day.

[conductor500]

well after reading all the talk of this thing I also ordered one from intheswim.com
and hooked it up today. At firdt I didn't put the screws in because it fit together really tight. After I turned on the pump it blew the basket off after about 30 seconds :D ,so I had to put the screw in. The thing works great. I really wanted to believe everyone about this thing but had my doubts. It really works well because of the floating head. I also run my water deeper than normal I guess because my skimmer doesn't do a great job alone.

I have one question for all the users here about this poolskim. Do you have alot of air bubbles coming through the net on the return? Just wondering if that was normal.

Now someone tell me the best way to put on and take off my solar cover from my 27' AG pool. I also ordered the saddles for the cover but they have not arrived yet. I have 2 teenage daughters 19,17 and they hate putting the cover on and off.

anyway I am now a believer.:)

[rnmuth]

Sounds interesting, especially when I get a billion maple tree "helicopter" seeds in the pool.

One other question - how does it fair with rodents? I always seem to get a dozen or so of them in the skimmer during the course of a year. Does it pick them off and more importantly, do they damage the PoolSkim?

A potential new toy.....

Thanks
Bob

[Tredge]

I dont know how you could hurt it other than dropping a heavy object or person directly on it.

Rodents would likely get trapped in the bag and drown in a swirly vortex of death. I get frogs sometimes that way.

Bag couldnt be easier to clean and I expect its going to last as long as the device itself. Even if it didnt last I'd still buy a new one every year now that I cant live without it. Anyways....mine is as the day I bought it.

Ya I get the bubbles too. doesnt hurt anything as far as I can tell.

[ChuckD]

Argh, those damn helicopters.
We've got two otherwise beautiful maples, one at either end, and one of those is upwind. I opened the pool in early april this year and the water's gotten up to 72 now just from the sun. But I've essentially shut the pool down until the 'whirligigs' have stopped falling. They've overwhelmed my ambitions, and the poolskim's. Yup, the poolskim will suck 'em up, but you'll soon wish it had a bigger bag. Also I've found they don't all sink equally and many will float around the top, so I scoop them out with the pole skimmer.

I don't think a rodent will get into the poolskim unless it actually climbs in. They float too far below the surface.

C.



Sounds interesting, especially when I get a billion maple tree "helicopter" seeds in the pool.

One other question - how does it fair with rodents? I always seem to get a dozen or so of them in the skimmer during the course of a year. Does it pick them off and more importantly, do they damage the PoolSkim?

A potential new toy.....

Thanks
Bob