Skimmer plugs?

[Lefebvrea090428]

My newly acquired pool has two plugs and no open holes in skimmer bottoms. So no water is drawn in through skimmers. Is this normal? Should I remove a plug? Water seems to get to pump.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Welcome to TFP

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume that a skimmer would need at least one open port. Could you provide some photos of the skimmer? Also provide photos of your equipment pad and plumbing.

 

[Lefebvrea090428]

No pics of the skimmer bottom but has two screw in plugs. One on the pool side one on the opposite side towards the patio surrounding area. Picture of plumbing pad are attached.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

What other suction sources does your pool have? Can you tell us where the yellow and red lines are coming from? Is the line circled in blue capped? I think we would still like to see a photo of the skimmer with the plugs.

 

[Lefebvrea090428]

What other suction sources does your pool have? Can you tell us where the yellow and red lines are coming from? Is the line circled in blue capped? I think we would still like to see a photo of the skimmer with the plugs.

View attachment 522151

Blue is capped… old hot tub area that was connected to pool I believe.
Yellow not sure….
Red not sure…
Only suction sources I know of would be main drain and skimmers.
Only discharges I see are wall vents and a bubbler. The valve after the chlorinator controls water to both wall vents or bubbler.

I did remove plug on patio side of skimmers and water definitely is sucked in when pump is running. Get much better flow through pump since I did that just about an hour ago.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

I did remove plug on patio side of skimmers

This would normally be the port connected to the pump. Try slowly closing the grey valve on the red line and see how it effects suction in the skimmer. You should be able to determine if that line goes to skimmer(s) or main drain.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

You haven't shown pics of the plugs or skimmer, but is it possible these are winterizing plugs that were no removed? Does you pool get closed off-season?

 

[Lefebvrea090428]

This would normally be the port connected to the pump. Try slowly closing the grey valve on the red line and see how it effects suction in the skimmer. You should be able to determine if that line goes to skimmer(s) or main drain.

I will try that tomorrow. Thank you.

 

[Lefebvrea090428]

You haven't shown pics of the plugs or skimmer, but is it possible these are winterizing plugs that were no removed? Does you pool get closed off-season?

I was curious as to that as well. We owned this house 3 years back, sold it, then just repurchased from the same people. I didn’t remember plugs in the patio side hole so I asked the previous owner if he had plugged or had anyone do work on the pool or closed it for the winter. He said he had not and that they would be the same as when we sold it to them 3 years back. He said they had drained it and cleaned the plaster the refilled it 6 months later but nothing done to skimmer holes. I will say that the main drain has currently some debris over it so with the skimmers capped it would make sense as to why the pump was having a hard time drawing water and opening those ports has now helped it tremendously in drawing water. I bet the yellow and red and the main and skimmer draws and I will determine tomorrow which is which by closing the cable on the red circled pipe.

 

[Lefebvrea090428]

I was curious as to that as well. We owned this house 3 years back, sold it, then just repurchased from the same people. I didn’t remember plugs in the patio side hole so I asked the previous owner if he had plugged or had anyone do work on the pool or closed it for the winter. He said he had not and that they would be the same as when we sold it to them 3 years back. He said they had drained it and cleaned the plaster the refilled it 6 months later but nothing done to skimmer holes. I will say that the main drain has currently some debris over it so with the skimmers capped it would make sense as to why the pump was having a hard time drawing water and opening those ports has now helped it tremendously in drawing water. I bet the yellow and red and the main and skimmer draws and I will determine tomorrow which is which by closing the cable on the red circled pipe.

Red circle is main drain and the yellow is the skimmers.
Now that I removed the plugs the pump is circulating the water much better and it is beginning to clear out.

 

[Dirk]

There could be any number of reasons the skimmer ports were plugged, but one unfortunate one is the previous owner was hiding a suction-side leak somewhere underground, between the skimmer and the equipment pad. When you get everything sorted out, do a bucket leak test to confirm your pool is not leaking. Also, be on the lookout for bubbles in the pump basket or shooting out of the returns.

Leak Detection

A number of things can cause leaks in your pool. You can learn tricks for leak detection and how to pinpoint where your pool is losing water.

www.troublefreepool.com

We'll hope for the best, that it was just some sort of oversight. Welcome to TFP, by the way. Glad you found us!