Tornado in the Skimmer

[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".

[hrsdennis]

David, glad it is working.

I just install what the pool stores sell. I do however prefer cleaning a pool with a high HP pump. As for normal filtering, a 1/2 or 3/4 seems more suited.

I think a two speed might be the best of both worlds.

I never gave the matter much thought until I started reading the comments of users in this forum. I will be doing some testing on my own pool for sure.

Dennis

[DavidD]

I'm sure the "friend of a friends mechanic" got this filter and pump as a package as well. Probably all the pool shop had. Yes, two speed pumps seem to be the way to go. I've already decided that when my 1 HP goes on my pool, I'll put in a two speed.

Dave