Bad Suction in Skimmer Causing Inability to Vacuum

akg0626 · Postby **akg0626** » Sun 24 May, 2009 01:18

Even BEFORE I hook up my vacuum there just isn't much suction at all in the skimmer... and therefore, when i do hook up the vacuum line, nothing is happening in terms of suction (duh

How do I get more suction??? Do I have to close one (or more) of the lines to divert more pump suction to the skimmer? I recently cleaned my DE filter and replaced with the required amount of DE...

I have a 15K inground, with also a spa and waterfall...

Any help or advice is appreciated! Thank you!

Postby **mr_clean** » Sun 24 May, 2009 11:32

Even BEFORE I hook up my vacuum there just isn't much suction at all in the skimmer... and therefore, when i do hook up the vacuum line, nothing is happening in terms of suction (duh

How do I get more suction??? Do I have to close one (or more) of the lines to divert more pump suction to the skimmer? I recently cleaned my DE filter and replaced with the required amount of DE...

I have a 15K inground, with also a spa and waterfall...

Any help or advice is appreciated! Thank you!

if you just cleaned your DE filter & still have bad suction at your skimmer, check your impeller for debris which will slow suction.

turn off pump, take off pump lid and remove pump basket. take your finger or small screw driver & put it in small hole at the bottom and turn impeller. it should turn very easy and if debris are in there you will feel them and see them start to fall out as you turn impeller.

if this is ok & you have some suction you can see if there is a clogged skimmer line by taking a small plastic bag and let skimmer suck it in. If you find it in pump basket its the pipe is not clogged if it does not go to basket you have clooged line.

you can clear line with air compressor & nosle that blows air by taking offpump lid & putting nosle with shirt rapped around it in top pipe where water enters from pool & blow out skimmer line. Sometimes leaves/toys will get sucked up & stuck in pipe. When doing this you will see water at skimmer go flying up high when pipe is being unclogged.

Postby **Denali** » Sun 24 May, 2009 20:02

akg0626 wrote:Even BEFORE I hook up my vacuum there just isn't much suction at all in the skimmer... and therefore, when i do hook up the vacuum line, nothing is happening in terms of suction (duh

How do I get more suction??? Do I have to close one (or more) of the lines to divert more pump suction to the skimmer? I recently cleaned my DE filter and replaced with the required amount of DE...

I have a 15K inground, with also a spa and waterfall...

Any help or advice is appreciated! Thank you!

Hi,

Is the reading on your pressure gauge on your filter where you'd expect it after cleaning the filter? If you have a separate line for the main drain and can close it, do that. You do want to isolate the suction line if your system is set up that way. If you have more than one skimmer you want to block one of them to increase suction.

Mrclean's advice to check the impeller for debris is a good one. Very common to get stuff in there. Pressure on your filter will drop if there is a blockage there or in the pump basket or in the skimmer suction line.

Pressure would be up if the filter was dirty. Even after cleaning a filter the grids could still be clogged with calcium buildup and cause the problem.

vicki · Postby **vicki** » Sat 30 May, 2009 11:10

I am so frustrated and its my fault because I do not know enough about the workings of a pool. I have tried to vacuum the pool and it looses pressure. (air in the hair basket) I then backwash because the gauge reads very high and that brings the pressure down. So I start over again with both the main drain and skimmer wide open. With both open the sucking pressure for the vac is not the best. I turn off the main drain and start to get air. God I hope its not a broken pipe. I limp along vacuuming. I would appreciate any help I need it bad. Thanks

Postby **mr_clean** » Sat 30 May, 2009 13:06

I am so frustrated and its my fault because I do not know enough about the workings of a pool. I have tried to vacuum the pool and it looses pressure. (air in the hair basket) I then backwash because the gauge reads very high and that brings the pressure down. So I start over again with both the main drain and skimmer wide open. With both open the sucking pressure for the vac is not the best. I turn off the main drain and start to get air. God I hope its not a broken pipe. I limp along vacuuming. I would appreciate any help I need it bad. Thanks

do you have a one hole skimmer or two hole skimmer?

if you have a one hole skimmer you use a deverter valve that can be turned to control the suction between bottom drain/skimmer & top skimmer & your vac hose will attach to this. Try turning this & you will see that it will adjust the suction & it also should pull out so you can look at the way it is shaped.

if you have a two hole skimmer then you would check for things like said before as the bottom drain would only work with a skimmer float in skimmer hole & you could not vac with this in.

if you have 2 skimmers then you would turn ortega valve & close off suction to one of the skimmers so you have full suction at one of them.

I really think you have a one hole skimmer & need to turn the diverter valve to get more suction.

after cleaning filter, adding de powder the suction should be great & when the diverter valve is turned more to share suction between top skimmer & bottom drain the filter pressure will show a little higher than normal after being cleaned than it normally does.

Postby **Denali** » Sat 30 May, 2009 20:08

vicki wrote:I am so frustrated and its my fault because I do not know enough about the workings of a pool. I have tried to vacuum the pool and it looses pressure. (air in the hair basket) I then backwash because the gauge reads very high and that brings the pressure down. So I start over again with both the main drain and skimmer wide open. With both open the sucking pressure for the vac is not the best. I turn off the main drain and start to get air. God I hope its not a broken pipe. I limp along vacuuming. I would appreciate any help I need it bad. Thanks

Hi,

When you close the main drain you start to get air. Does the air continue the whole time you vacuum or does it clear at some point? I would check your vacuum hose carefully for a leak. With the system running lift sections of the hose out of the water and listen for air being pulled in. With the vacuum hose not attached and the main drain closed do you still have air coming through the line?

jbrady5979 · Postby **jbrady5979** » Mon 08 Jun, 2009 13:46

I need help also... i just bought a new DE filter that runs off this fiber clear and i kno nothing about it. my pool is cloudy and the pump is always getting clogged and my water tests are comeing out perfect. the jet is always stopping because the filter raises in pressure and theres no suction and now i need to vacuum the bottom but i cant be cause theres no suction what should i do???

Postby **mr_clean** » Mon 08 Jun, 2009 15:10

I need help also... i just bought a new DE filter that runs off this fiber clear and i kno nothing about it. my pool is cloudy and the pump is always getting clogged and my water tests are comeing out perfect. the jet is always stopping because the filter raises in pressure and theres no suction and now i need to vacuum the bottom but i cant be cause theres no suction what should i do???

what is clogging the pump?
did you add DE powder?
have you backwashed?
did you connect the inlet outlet pipes correct?

if you just installed your filter & the gauge is reading very high compared to when it first started there would be a reason.
Was the pool filled with algae?
if yes, it's doing it's job catching all of it and you would need to backwash your filter.
look at the valve infront of filter it's either a push & pull or a multiport valve.
With the push & pull,
1) you turn off pump & you turn handle which unlocks pin & pull up handle.
2) Then turn on pump so it can flush out the dirty DE powder for 2-3mins or until water looks clear.
3) Turn off pump push down handle & turn it back so the pin locks again.
4) turn on pump and add the DE powder threw skimmer that is needed for your filter.

If multiport valve,
1) you turn off pump & turn handle that is pointing to filter clockwise to backwash.
2) turn on filter & run as above
3) turn off pump & put handle back to filter
4) turn on pump & add DE

when the filter pressure goes up 8-10 more than normal you need to backwash, you should then get normal pressure again.

if you just installed filter & it has done this from the start with no algae problem then it could be:
No DE was ever added
input & output pipes are backwards and by opening up filter & looking inside it you will know as DE powder would be on the inside of the grids (incorrect) & causing damage to them, clogging up everything so you get bad suction.
DE powder should be the outside of the grids.

If you have no backwash valve then buy one, push & pulls are not alot of money! or anytime the pressure rises you will need to pull apart filter & clean it.

PoolsRus · Postby **PoolsRus** » Mon 09 Aug, 2010 18:26

Hi I do not have a skimmer on my pool. I have an 18x48 round pool and we got it free. When we got it there was no skimmer. My question is how can I hook up a vacuum with bypassing the skimmer? Any help is appreciated.

Postby **floridapooltech** » Wed 11 Aug, 2010 23:43

PoolsRus wrote:Hi I do not have a skimmer on my pool. I have an 18x48 round pool and we got it free. When we got it there was no skimmer. My question is how can I hook up a vacuum with bypassing the skimmer? Any help is appreciated.

If you do not have a skimmer on your AG pool, then where does all the suction come from when the pump system is on?

Gringo · Postby **Gringo** » Wed 25 May, 2011 20:59

My in the ground pool skimmer works fine except that it prone to sucking air a little bit so the pressure gauge bounces 2-4 psi. Then when I insert the vacuum hose to the skimmer return line the pressure drops to "0" and I can't get it to vacuum at all. The vacuum hose is brand new and I can't find any leaks in the piping that is visable above ground. How do I find the source of my vacuum/air problem? Are there any resonable and reliable companies that I can contact for help? I live in Bloomingdale and prefer to do business as close to home as possible.

shelyn · Postby **shelyn** » Tue 07 Jun, 2011 20:34

We have had a pool for years but bought a new house last Fall and it came with an above ground kayak pool. We just opened it last week - previous owners had installed a new liner prior to leaving and the pool was crystal clear. It is cloudy and dirty on the bottom (lots of trees) and we can't get enough suction to vaccum. Put all new sand in the filter as we thought maybe it was too clogged/dirty to clean well. Air pressure is at optimum for about 15 minutes after backwash but then goes high and there is no suction. Is not a problem with the vacuum hose because the air "jets" (sorry that's what I call them!) you can't even feel the air come out of in the pool. Don't want to spend money replacing everything. Any ideas?

tdfuller · Postby **tdfuller** » Wed 08 Jun, 2011 10:38

I am going to try to the small plastic bag sucked through the skimmer first, to see if I have a partial blockage in my line going from skimmer to pump. I only have low suction while vacuuming.