underground pool-skimmer pipe is blocked-how to unblock it?

[Sickofvacuuming]

I have two skimmers on my inground pool and three return valves. One skimmer and both main drains are pulling fine, however the other skimmer is not pulling at all. I can't access the skimmer line via the pump due to the way it is configured (I have three lines running into my pump - 1 for main drains, 2 for skimmers) so I can't manuever the hose to get at it from the pump side. Will the Drain King work from the skimmer end (pool to pump direction)?

[Al Ahl]

I have a 21 year old inground pool that has worked fine until now. The pool has one skimmer and one bottom drain, both feeding to a cartridge filter. This year, the skimmer line has lost suction. The pump works fine with only the bottom drain line feeding the pump (with skimmer intake valve to pump closed) but as soon as I open the skimmer intake valve, the pump looses water, even from the drain line. I left it for 20 minutes to prime but no success. The pump also does not prime with skimmer line alone. I tried "drain jet" in the skimmer line and water flows in both directions. There may be some blockage but it is not complete.

Finally, I cut the skimmer line to the pump, just upstream of the valve to the pump and directly connected a 40-ft vaccuming hose to it with other end of the hose in the pool. This "skimmer bypass" should now take water from the pool without any obstruction and deliver to the pump intake. However, this bypass did not change anything. Still the same problem. I get no suction on the hose end that is in the pool and of course, the pump does not prime. PLEASE HELP.

[bri guy]

I HAVE A HAYWARD VACUUM THAT KEEPS GETTING CLOGGED BY LEAVES FROM A TREE OVERHANGING THE POOL, WHAT CAN I PURCHASE OR DO TO STOP THE LEAVES FROM CLOGGING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE VACUUM. I NOTICE THAT ALOT OF PEOPLE SAY GET A LEAF CATCHER BUT I DONT SEE HOW THAT WILL STOP THE CLOG FROM OCCURING AT THE BOTTOM, ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANKS

a chainsaw

[hoosierdaddy]

I'm getting a Drain King to unclog my skimmer pipe.

My main drain is not clogged so I can sanitize. However, I still have a lot of sand/dirt in the bottom of my pool. I didn't want to buy a $220 Pool Blaster, so instead I used my leaf master with a pillow case attached to collect the sand (since my fine mesh bag could not keep the sand/dirt) and in about 15 minutes my pool bottom was completly free of the sand/dirt.

now to get the skimmer pipe clear...

[psyop]

I have a skimmer line blockage of some sort as well. pump pressure is fine with junction or drain on (most of the water comes from the drain when set to junction), but almost nothing with the skimmer only inlet setting. I have the drain jet, and I've run the thing from the pool side and from the pump side (after disconnecting the pump from the piping (I have screw threading for joining to the pipe coming from the 3 way valve).

Water flow back or forward from the skimmer line is inadequate for anything, and I can't think of any way to get it out.

Beside cutting into pipe and what-not, anyone got any suggestions not already submitted here?

[Drain King Worked Perfectly]

Went to local hardware store and bought the 1 o 2 inch drain King. I stuck it in the piping to the pool inside my pump basket area and turned it on. In about 10 minutes it knocked out all sorts of debris back to the skimmer pool-side including some dirt and pine cone. Scooped up the debris and then shut it down.

Primmed everything up and turned on full power suck on the pump and the skimmer was sucking at 100 percent. Vacuumed the pool and now have clean pool. Brilliant!

Thanks everyone for your posts.

HoosierDaddy

[saeura]

I've read through the majority of this thread. I have a lot of the same problems as most of you except I know exactly what is stuck in my skimmer line. It is the round cap that goes on top of the HTH pool temp thermometer. It got sucked in about three years ago, and I pulled the thermometer out and the cap stayed lodged in (along with some of the string). I've tried all of the following with NO luck:
1) Drain King
2) plunger
3) air compressor
4) shop vac
5)Plumber's snake

I am running out of options. I have barely any suction anymore from the skimmer line and cannot vacuum my pool at all. I do it all by the pool net and brush to the main drain. I still have good suction from the main drain. I do not want to break concrete and I need to vacuum!!! Does anybody have any other options to try that I haven't been listed above? Thank you!

[eric2288]

Went to local hardware store and bought the 1 o 2 inch drain King. I stuck it in the piping to the pool inside my pump basket area and turned it on. In about 10 minutes it knocked out all sorts of debris back to the skimmer pool-side including some dirt and pine cone. Scooped up the debris and then shut it down.

Primmed everything up and turned on full power suck on the pump and the skimmer was sucking at 100 percent. Vacuumed the pool and now have clean pool. Brilliant!

Thanks everyone for your posts.

HoosierDaddy

I also have a slow vaccum line. I have a Jandy 3-way valve (one side is main, the other side is skimmer). Can you describe how you used the Drain King "stucked" it inside the pump basket area and turned it on? I am wondering if I need to take the Jandy 3-way valve cap off in order to use the Drain King. Thanks.

[Guest]

Reverse flushing, pumping the return water back from the pump to skimmer, is the only thing that has ever worked for me. It is unlikely that you can get enough push from a garden hose, you need the power of the pool pump. Mine reverse pushed for an hour or so before the blockage came up through the skimmer.

[kelwil]

I was told I had a blocked pipe.So we fixed that and the same thing.Then I had leak detectors come and they said it still blocked but definately not leaking.
So we got the plumbers back dug up the pipe near the skimmer box and had it replaced as it was leaking
Then we turned it all on,and the same problem was there.
So we were advised to replace all the pipes,which we have.Except the 20cm from the skimmer box to joining of the new pipes.In doing this we had to dig up the concrete around the pool.
We hooked it all up and the same problem.
I have had the swimming pool specialists here 4times,a plumber a concreter and the so called leak detection
people here.
And know one has fixed the problem.
Please can anyone help?
Give Ideas? that don't cost much as we have spent way to much for nothing

[catzz4dogs]

I have a skimmer line blocked. No suction from the skimmer at all. I have tried all of the mentioned suggestions. Drain King thingy, hose with city water pressure, the big Sears shop vac, Toro Leaf blower set on high and seal all lines except the drain outlet to the filter. I did get water flowing through the bad line also air moved through it as well. BUT still not enough to help. The pool Creepy Crawler works, maybe moves about 1 inch per hour. I have had to very reliable pool service repair contractors look at my problem. They both recommended I call Roto Rooter as they have the proper equipment to do the job. The pros know their stuff so to speak and I did everything that could be done via their suggestions. None worked. Both service techs said Roto Rooter is the only way to go for their type of problem. I will soon find out and let everyone know the outcome.

[OVO]

Hi there,
We have a 42 foot pool, kidney shaped with Spa. The Spa is above the pool by 2.5 feet. We live on a hillside and the pool equipment is about 6 feet below grade level of the pool. There are many trees around the pool which dump copious amounts of leaves into the pool over the winter time frame. DRAIN KING SAVED THE DAY! A younger member was given the task to clean the pool. Instead of using the leaf bag, the vacuum was used. You guessed it. The pool skimmer plumbing became plugged. We tried several techniques to remove the leaves from the pool-skimmer but nothing worked. The only thing to do is plug in your HANDY DANDY DRAIN KING at the pump and reverse flush the plumbing. a $17 DRAIN KING saved a huge expensive plumbing bill! Thank you Drain King!!

[greeny]

I have an object stuck between the skimmer and the pump. I am almost certain it is an old skimmer plug that lost it's outer rubber ring seal and got sucked down the skimmer line one day. When trying to flush the skimmer line both ways, it will sometimes open for a few minutes while vacuuming only to get stopped up again. My guess is it is either moving and or turning at some point to create the clog. Is there any solution besides a roto-rooter?

[Nanday]

Just wanted to add to check everything twice and make sure it's not something more simple. Last week my pressure dropped off. The last time that happened I did have a blockage (subsequent to a cracked pipe that had allowed debris to get in). I had to hire leak detector guys to come and clear it and it was expensive. Anyway, I thought the worst, but worked though to eliminate all possibilities. Found the culprit today - one medium size palm seed got caught in the skimmer basket plate which has a screw-pressure controlled handle to allow alternating between the pool cleaner device and the skimmer plate. It had lodged and pried the plate open so the pressure to the bottom cleaner had dropped off, but I couldn't see it until I took it all apart. Works great now.

I did work out a good test to see if it's a blockage. I cleaned the skimmer basket at the pump end, reassembled and removed the skimmer basket at the pool end, then put a couple of medium sized leaves through to see if they came out quickly at the other end. They did so I knew there was nothing blocking the pipe.

[Warren3148]

I had a small toy in my line.There is about 14 feet of underground PVC between the skimmer and the filter basket. I opened the filter basket and simply pushed a garden hose back through the PVC pipe. I encountered some pressure but the hose held up and pushed the toy back into the pool skimmer so I could retrieve it. Until I got it out, I could not prime the pool or get the heater to turn on due to lack of water flow.