Our Kreepy won't work

We opened our pool ourselves this year. Everything seems to be working great except for the Kreepy. It won't work at all. We replaced 2 hose sections that had small holes in them and replaced the seal. We adjusted the weights on the hose and checked for anything that might be clogged.
We only have one skimmer/suction. When we opened the pool the pool guys from fall had screwed a piece of PVC pipe into the hole that has the suction..which we removed. There are two holes in the bottom of the skimmer...when turned on one has suction the other doesn't. (I'm trying to give enough info here so please bear with me) It has done a great job of getting the stuff from the top of the pool so I know it's working and if you stick your hand in there the suction seems to be very strong. When we plug in the Kreepy it just sits there.
We have backwashed, emptied baskets and re-emptied baskets and are at a loss on how to get it to suction enough to make the Kreepy work. We have a 1.5 hp pump and a TA60 Tagelus Sand filter with new sand last summer. Any thoughts?
TIA

17,300 IG Gunite

Try pulling the Kreepy head out of the water and make sure that nothing is stuck in the throat stopping the "clacker" from moving. A twig, leaf, or anything else that prevents that part from moving will keep the unit from working.

Take a look at the "sole plate" on the bottom of the head. It is the round vinyl ring that surrounds the suction opening. It should be notched and the notches at least 1/4" deep. If it is very worn, the head will stick to the bottom and not move.

Check for any cracked or split hoses that leak suction not allowing enough water to be pulled through the head.

Make sure that when you put the cleaner into the water you fill the hose with water by pushing it straight down into the pool before hooking it to the suction port. If it is full of air the Kreepy won't work.

Just a few suggestions.

Ok, this advice is going to sound weird, but we have the same problem from time to time with our Kreepy... so if you've checked out all of the things poolman mentioned, just try tweaking these things:

1) Even though your suction is good, if you have cartridge filters, they may need cleaning. I noticed NO decrease in our intake or flow, but we cleaned the filters (and they were really dirty!) and Kreepy worked great!

2) Have you cleaned out the pump strainer/basket (the one next to the pump)? When I was a new pool owner, I would frequently forget about this basket. I would clean out the skimmer, but totally skip this. Then I noticed I was losing suction and went to check it out and sure enough, the pump basket was clogged! I was still getting *decent* flow, but it was enough to keep Kreepy from working.

3) Try adjusting your water intake from completely on SKIMMER to partly on MAIN DRAIN/mostly SKIMMER.
That may not be clear. :( Um, what I'm trying to say is: I was told to turn my water intake valve completely to SKIMMER when using the Kreepy Krauly. I did that and it just sat there. I started fooling with the valve -- moved it to half-skimmer/half-main drain: still nothing. Then I turned it so that it was pulling MOSTLY (about 90%) from the skimmer and about 10% fromt he main drain. Kreepy started right up!
Sometimes just changing the intake flow back and forth a few times gets him going...

4) Finally, try pressing (gently!) on Kreepy's head so that it gets FULL CONTACT with the pool floor. I don't know why this works sometimes, but it does! It's like it just can't get *started*. Once it gets going, it works great all day...

I can't explain WHY these things work sometimes and at other times, don't, but we have ALWAYS been able to eventually get Kreepy started up by adjusting one (or all) of these things. Most of the time, he starts up, no problem; but he is definitely one cantankerous piece of equipment! ;)
HTH,

ok...finally got it to work. Since we didn't have the pool guys open for us this time we didn't know to put a plug in the other hole in the skimmer. Seems that goes to the "main drain"? Anyway...once I put a plug in that hole the Kreepy works fine. Thanks for the suggestions tho