No suction when vacuuming

[Mickeymat]

I am a new pool owner & am having trouble vacuuming the bottom of the pool. The filter appears to operate properly & I do the backwash & rinse weekly but when I try to vacuum I have very little suction. The hose sucks down to the skimmer but dosen't have enough suction to clean. Thanks.

[dalparadise]

First off -- you really shouldn't have to backwash weekly after the first couple of times to get that first batch of sand and grit out of a newly constructed pool. Just keep an eye on your pressure gauge. When it goes up 8-10 psi over your freshly backwashed pressure, it's time to do it again. Also -- is this a DE filter? If so, are you adding new DE everytime you backwash? Just for comparison, I backwash my DE filter every 2 months, or so. Then, I do the full breakdown and clean at the end of every swim season. So far, mine is operating like a champ.

As for the vacuum thing -- do you have two or more skimmers? If you do, you'll need to put a tennis ball or coke can over the hole for the one not being used for the vacuum in order to get the suction up.

My recommendation would be to use an automatic cleaner, like a Polaris 250. I've had my pool for over a year now and have put the vacuum attachment in the darkest corner of my attic, never to be used again. The Polaris does its thing for an hour a day and I never have any worries. I still brush weekly, but could probably stop doing that, too, if I wanted to.