Tornado in the Skimmer

[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.

[cleancloths]

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.

I must be really dense as I still don't understand what you said above after reading it several times. I assume you are talking about a valve that is between the skimmer and the INLET to your pump. If you partly close that valve you are decreasing not increasing flow and that is a very bad thing to do to a pump. Am I not understanding what you are saying????

[posguy]

The way I read it is duraleigh has more than one skimmer or maybe a bottom drain. Closing one partially or fully diverts suction the the other.

[hrsdennis]

Hi Dave, since your situation does not involve a second suction line don't jump to installing shut off or ball valves. Shut off valves are good for shutting down the water supply for doing filter maintanance. Not for reducing flow in either suction or return.

Most of the pools we install here in Arizona come with a 1 or a 1 1/2 HP pump. I have not seen a 3/4 or 1/2 in many years. Unless the pool came from Wallmart or Sams Club. The argument for moving water at a slower speed for more efficiant filtering makes sense to me, but when it comes to vacuuming a pool I love the suction of a 1.5HP. A two speed pump makes so much sense to me and I am so suprised that out of the four to five hundred pools I install a year I have yet to see one.

As for the basket, there is never a reason to run the filter with it removed. Most skimmers allow for vacuuming with the basket in place. Either with a small hole under the skimmer opening {Doughboy} or a Hayward vacuum adapter.

If you do need to connect to the bottom of the skimmer, as I have done many times before, use this method. With the pump running hold your vacuum hose over the return fitting and blow all the air out of your hose. Shut the pump off, remove basket and hook up the hose. Turn pump on and you should have very little proplem with prime.

Hope this helps some. Dennis

[DavidD]

Thanks Dennis. I told our friend the same thing, empty the basket quickly and replace it. The real problem is vacuuming and I've solved it as well. By the time we got the skimmer plate in, the skimmer was dry, even before we could hook up the hose! I figured out that the hose fits in the hole in the bottom of the skimmer so I'm having her fill the hose with water then stick it directly in the hole. Seems to work fine. Ball valves are already installed before the pump and after the filter so obviously the guy had some experience.
Why are the pumps you are installing so oversized? You must admit, a 1-1/2 HP pump for a 13k gallon above ground pool with one return and one skimmer is a little excessive. Think how much more efficient a 3/4 would be, cheaper to operate, quieter and it would still vacuum the stuff off the bottom right? Not to mention avoiding what seems to be a common problem of "Tornados in the skimmer".