How does a two-hole skimmer work?

byron366 · Postby **byron366** » Wed 08 Jun, 2011 20:53

Hello all,

First of all, I would like to excuse my stupidity in this thread.

We purchased this house back in '97, and the pool is serving us well. (although we are serving it more :lol:

) Anyways, all the equipment is old. Pump and filter are made by Sta-Rite, and the returns, skimmer, main drain (i think), etc, are all made by Jacuzzi. The skimmer has two holes. One goes to the pump, and the other is covered with a flap and runs down to the main drain. We have always operated the pool on full skimmer, but I always wondered how you would make use of the main drain. My dad's answer was that it was to hook up an external gas pump and drain the pool, and that it had nothing to do with the filter system whatsoever. I told him to start thinking straight, and continued on with the day.

After watching numerous pool videos, all in ground pools nowadays are plumbed with solid PVC, and there are the two suction lines connected to a diverter valve. Well our pool was installed 30 years ago according to the neighbours, so it ain't considered "nowadays". You see, I want to have an equal balance between skimmer and main drain, so there is better circulation.

Now to the technical part. For the record, the skimmer is a Jacuzzi Model W. All it has is the basket and this close-off flap that i'm talking about. How are you supposed to make use of the main drain with a setup like this?? It's a question thats puzzled me to this day.

Thanks for your help.

booger · Postby **booger** » Thu 09 Jun, 2011 09:26

with a 2 hole skimmer you need a skimmer float that sits over both the holes with the basket sitting on top of that inside the skimmer. Now on the bottom of the skimmer float theres a hole wth a moveable flap that opens and closes the hole. When you have the hole closed your only using skimmer and as you open it you start using the skimmer. So half open half closed is 50/50 sharing both.
A one hole skimmer uses a diverter valve which you would turn to do the same thing within the hole and when vacuuming etc.

booger · Postby **booger** » Thu 09 Jun, 2011 09:28

correction: that would be when flap opens you start using the main drain which is really just a bottom skimmer.

byron366 · Postby **byron366** » Thu 09 Jun, 2011 14:10

thanks booger for your reply. would you happen to know if there is any specific model for my skimmer?