Tornado in the Skimmer

[DavidD]

Excellent ides on the discharge valve if it becomes a problem. I'm figuring the pool is 13k gallons and the filter is a little over 3/4 full of sand. It "appears" that the guy put the appropriate amount of sand in however it's hard to tell. I'm sure another bag wouldn't fit in there. I brought the water level up to within about an inch or so of the TOP of the skimmer opening to stop it from sucking the skimmer totally dry, now there's just the tornado but only when the basket is removed. If it is in place, the pump doesn't seem to loose prime. I did tell the friend not to backwash until the pressure increased 10 psi in the hopes that too would help things. She had been backwashing every time she turned the pump on.
Being the optimistic person I am, I've tried convincing her that the guy probably meant well and had the mentality that "bigger's better" but that this definitely did not apply to swimming pool pumps. Needless to say, she was quite upset that he had done this since she spent over a $1,000 for the pump/filter and to have it moved from under the deck to the side. I think he also closed the pool for her, and did a great job at that. Either way, I think we can make what she has work for now.

[wrinkleigh]

Mine does the same thing -- the answer -- dont remove the basket unless the pump is off.

[duraleigh]

Somewhat off the subject but just for clarification......

Restricting the flow on the pressure side will increase pressure....subsequently increase the work load (energy consumption) of a constant speed pump.

Restricting the flow from the suction side is okay as well. You get reduced pressure, reduced flow, and reduced work load in a constant speed pump

[NWMNMom]

Can you tell me how one would go about restricting the flow on the suction side of the system stated above? I believe that's what we have and BTW, she was overcharged for that by someone by about $400. Thanks.

[posguy]

Ball valve coming out of the skimmer.
Anthony

[NWMNMom]

Oh thanks! We DO have one, I'm so glad we installed that! Actually installed one on each side, just in case work needed to be done.

[drumr]

Mine does the same thing too (as wrinkleigh and DavidD) when the basket is out and I have a 3/4 hp pump on it, no problems with the basket in.

[cleancloths]

Ball valve coming out of the skimmer.
Anthony

That makes no sense and is a bad way to go. You NEVER want to restrict the inlet to a pump, you always throttle the discharge of a pump. If you restrict the inlet you will likely have bad cavitation and destroy your pump -- DON'T DO IT!!!!

[duraleigh]

I posted in error on this thread.

Restricting the flow on the pressure side will increase pressure....subsequently increase the work load (energy consumption) of a constant speed pump.

increased pressure does not increase the work load.

Restricting the pressure side results in less flow and actually less work (energy) not more as I stated above.

I helped get this thread pretty far off track. Continued discussion about pump flow, etc. should probably head for the china shop.


Back to the original posters question. I run my skimmer ball valves in a half closed position constantly. I do it to increase volume to a dedicated suction line.