Brand new pool owner and clueless

We recently purchased a house with an inground pool. It was already closed for the winter when we moved in so we didn't get any experience with it last year. It is now time to open up and I am clueless at everything I am looking at. I figured out that I have a Hayward pump and found an owners manual online to help me out. I then figured out that I had a Sta-Rite sand filter with a multifunction valve on top. There are miscellaneous pool tools that the previous owner left for us but I'm not sure how any of them are used or hooked up. One is the vaccuum and I think it gets hooked up near the skimmer (which I think I know where it is) but I don't know how. There does not appear to be anywhere to plug it in for the suction. Where does this hook up? Please be kind, I know I'm clueless and could use any help with this.

We would need more information about the vac to be able to help. Some are pressure side vacs and others (most) are suction side vacs. If yours is a suction side vac, you most likely have a vacuum plate that you attach to the vac hose and it goes inside the skimmer. It is usually a round plate that has the same diameter as your skimmer. Best I can do for now without more info about it. Welcome to our forum!

If that's the case, then it sounds like I am going to need more parts. The only thing I have is the hose and one of the vaccuum heads that you stick on the ind of your skimmer pole and push around the bottom and sides. Sorry I don't know what else I need to tell you. I will try and take pictures of what I have and then send them.

Check and see if the diameter of the hose fits in the hole at the bottom of your skimmer where the water goes into the pipes. It won't fit tightly, but will be pretty close. If so, then you "can" use that to vacuum to waste--you fill the hose with water, and have someone hold the end of the hose in the hole (basket removed) and the suction holds it in place. However, that leaves you open for whatever you're vacuuming to get into your pipes and clog them up. I think it's much safer to buy the plate because it will fit over the skimmer basket and then filter anything that comes through the hose before it gets into your pipes, so nothing clogs them up. The plate can usually be bought at a pool store--around here they're around $15. Take your skimmer basket into the store with you, though, because the plates come in a couple of different configurations.

Janet