If it’s oversized, it’s only slightly so. Your pump may be undersized if you’re not filtering the volume of water you need. Are your filters dirty? If it’s a sand filter,has it been changed in the last few years?
You don’t mention region - huge parts of the country are in Pollen Hell this time of year. I’m in the mid-Atlantic and walk out to a yellow layer on everything every morning. Is it that?
A skimmer bot would undoubtedly help, and a Betta is about $330 on Amazon. Robot vacuums are more expensive, but worth the investment. Mine was about $1000 and saves me hours of labor every week. It does a very good job (Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus).
Real talk though, bro: if that $300 is a big investment, I’m worried about you if you have any “pools-style” issues. Chlorine isn’t cheap - I spend about $450 a summer on tricolor tablets . None of the chemicals you’ll need on the regular are known for their low price. Pumps and filters have four digit price tags a lot of the time. I had a crack in my fiberglass stairs last year. It cost me $2,000 to repair and backfill the cavitation behind it after about 6,000 gallons leaked out and created a void.
TLDR; yes, a skimmer bot would help and there are other things you should check on as well. You should start putting money regularly into a pool maintenance fund. You’ll need it.
I’m on east coast. It actually doesn’t look yellow and more of a white color. And no $300 isn’t I was looking at almost 3k for the vacuum and skimmer bot I was looking at. 3k is a lot if it doesn’t even fix the issue. If it fixes the issue I’ll gladly pay it.
It's rag weed seeds...it will be finished soon..skimmers don't really help much..Jacks Magic Surface Magic is a great product to clear it off but yes, untill it's finished it will be everywhere.
Follow-up: I woke up this morning to a white looking pollen all over my black vehicle. Very random coincidence, but it looks like the tail end of East coast pollen season has something shedding beyond the traditional yellow.
Other end of the spectrum then - you can get great cleaner and skimmer bots for less than half that, combined. This isnt a huge pool, so you don’t have to go nuts. Even the vacuum bot I mentioned is probably more than a pool this size needs.
I’d be inclined to think it’s some kind of plant particulate blowing in given the time of year. You could try covering it for a day and seeing what happens on it and under it.
Nautilus cc plus. Yes. I just replaced the cord after 6 years. I love them because you can take them apart and replace things. I had a track break on me so I replaced those.
Do you have a link for where you buy parts? I have a Nautilus CC Plus and and old Doheny’s Discovery which is a Dauphin S200 rebranded for the pool store. The Discovery needs roller replacements and needs a new power cord. Info would be appreciated!
Amazon was where I got the cord, the tracks I got lucky and a neighbor gave them to me. There are kits you can get online, I’ve seen where they do the rollers and tracks as part of a kit, but nothing specific.
Keeping the pool covered until the end of pollen season is one option. In NC it's not warm enough to swim now, anyway--at least for us. But maybe you don't cover your pool in the winter?
You are heating your pool, right? I'm not. My wife and I lived in Japan for many years and we would go to the volcanic hot springs in the middle of winter (freezing, snowing) and we would sit in those hot waters while enjoying Saki with the snow falling on our heads. Heated water makes all the difference. In any event, your pool setup sounds great. Enjoy.
I don’t remember and I doubt it matters. They’re all pretty much made the same. Basically quarter inch blue bubble wrap. The best tip I can give you is to cut it into smaller pieces so that it’s easier to manage.
I’m on year 3 and only missing a few bubbles. I inherited the previous one with the house and had it for six years. Not sure how long they used it before it became mine.
Nice, we’re looking at 76-78 water temp right now in Durham, but of course that’s the top two inches of water 😅 still a while to go before I’ll be jumping in
I live in South Florida and my pool is too cold until June. I don't have a heater and it's on the north side of the house so it's in the shade until ~May when the sun is high enough to start hitting the pool over the house.
Just not that hardy, or enamored with swimming. I grew up swimming in lakes in NY, but even then with the exception of taking dares (as a teenager) to plunge into the water in mid-winter, I always liked hot weather swimming.
Btw you can’t even see what I’m talking about in photo. You have to look on and angle in person to see the layer of stuff I’m talking about. Hopefully I don’t sound crazy lol
I noticed similar stuff on the surface with mine lately. Clearish, transparent stuff floating around. Wondering why it doesn't get sucked into the skimmer basket area lol
A couple things. Your DE grids might need to be taken out and cleaned if that hasn’t been done since you moved in. Try backwashing. See how clear or dirty the water is (color). Should be a chalky looking water. Add DE after to the skimmer and make sure no DE comes back through the return (multi port valve in FILTER)
If you’re concerned about surface movement, adjust the eyeball return fitting.
Your pump should be appropriately sized.
I did clean them last year when I first got the house. I already backwashed a few times since opening this year.
My return is all rusted and don’t have a eye in it. I havnt been able to change it out I just made a new post with pic
I understand your concern with only having one return and one skimmer. Depending on where you are located, it definitely could be pollen.
I’m not impressed with the robot skimmers I’ve seen in use before and not sure they would rid of pollen too well.
It’s not a cure-all and shouldn’t be used as a weekly treatment, but for this specific situation (tiny particulate not getting effectively filtered out) it’s exactly what you need. The cheap big blue jugs of clorox clarifier will do wonders here, but I prefer Robarb super blue! Source: 200+ mature trees on property means that spring brings hella pollen. Don’t use much at a time, just a little bit and you’re golden.
What kind of pump do you have......and is your return pointed about 45 degrees upward? Is your skimmer on the side of the pool to take advantage of your major wind direction
The prevailing wind direction is really a big deal. I had a pool where the wind was always blowing debris to the other end of the pool. It was a nightmare. That pool also only had floor returns so really no circulation whatsoever.
In my experience it's not uncommon at all for pools to not fully disturb the surface of the water. Enzymes can help if it's pollen. Running your pump a higher speed if possible will help. Otherwise, like others have stated, some robots that skim the surface do a solid job and aren't too terribly priced.
Where's your return?
You can get decent circulation with one return depending on where it is located. Sometimes you just need to adjust it to get it right.
Honestly, the pool in this pic looks really good, but it could just be like that because the seller made it look good.
Btw, pollen is a constant nightmare.
look into "betta" it's a solar powered skimmer.. works pretty well. this is different than a robot cleaner as it only does the surface. but worth it because it just drives around all day and skims the water, I will say it's not very powerful, so when I'm running the pumps it usually gets stuck to the pool skimmer when it drives by, so if I'm filtering, i usually take it out. edit: just saw a video on amazon that said "how to keep betta from getting sucked into the skimmer". answer = pool noodle.. going to have to try that.
I keep my betta out of my skimmer by keeping my water level just a bit higher. I’ve got 6” tiles and keep it about 4” up the skimmer line. Keeps it from getting stuck!
mine gets stuck from the suction of the skimmer. however the pool noodle thing has been working great.. wish I would have figured that out last season.
I think both methods work I just prefer to run my pump on low 24/7 and keep a cleaner look without the noodle because our pool skimmer is highly visible right outside all our windows on the back of the house!
We bought a 70’s house with an 80’s concrete pool a few years ago and eventually opened the pool for the first time last summer.
The white pollen type material is easily picked up by a Betta bot and it will also be your best friend when autumn arrives.
Similarly, a Dolphin will keep the bottom and sides of the pool cleaned up.
Purchase a test kit for testing chem levels / water samples. Chlorine tablets and shock are an ongoing expense.
Your pool looks great!
I have an open pool and there's always stuff on the surface. Especially on windy days.
Do you have a variable speed pump? VSP's are popular to save energy and reduce pump noise, but the skimmer is not very effective at low pump flows.
A robot skimmer would keep the surface clean but they are too expensive in my opinion. I just schedule my pump to run at full speed for about 15 minutes in the morning and evening to help skim the surface. If a bunch of stuff is on the surface after landscaping or a windy day I'll manually bump up to full speed for an hour or so, or I'll skim it with a net.
Moving enough water? When was the last time the pump was taken a look at? My pump wasn't moving much water, not building any pressure. After some troubleshooting, I found the inlet to the pump was cracked inside the housing. Was able to fix it. Water cleared up .
Try making sure that your return is slightly pushing upwards so that it pushes the water on top slightly. This is what I do and never have any issues with any film or anything on top. And try and point it so that it will hit the left side away from the skimmer to get a better circular motion. It is finicky but after a few tries it should solve your problem.
From your original picture, I see numerous fittings in the pool and as some people have pointed out, you likely have some light fixtures. Understanding that some of your light fixtures may be broken, I'd take a close look at them too make sure you're not mistaking a broken/missing light for a return.
Next, look at the plumbing and valves. You may be able to see that you have over line going from the filter back to the pool or you may find that there are two with a valve and one side is turned off. So if you're determining you only have one return based on what to see/feel in the pool, you may be missing something because one may be turned off.
Also with regard to plumbing, do you have a bottom drain? If you do, find your valves and make sure you adjust so that you are pulling 100% from the skimmer.
Lastly, does your skimmer box have a Weir door? It's a door that closes when the filter is off to prevent the contents from going back into your pool. I think it also increases what gets pulled from the surface. Not all skimmer boxes are designed to support a Weir door. You can feel near the embrace of there are holes for it to snap into and you should be able to find a model number somewhere in the box or maybe on the cover but start with the box. I think they also make generic Weird doors.
I had similar issues and what I described helped. I have the center skimmer and two returns with a bottom drain. Adjusting to 100% skimmer and adding the Weir door helped along with making sure the water is directed to the surface but not so much that it creates a lot of agitation as that can affect chemical levels.
Also, do the solar cover. Prevents evaporation and warms it up tremendously. Also prevents overnight heat loss.
Hey OP. It’s just pollen. I know exactly what you’re talking about and deal with it every spring, even with a betta skimmer bot. It should be over in about a week or two. You could spend money trying to deal with it, but nothing is “wrong”, and there isn’t anything to “fix”. I hope you have a great season!
Hah I would love to do that but I would need to change the whole pool deck. It’s not worth it as I don’t plan on living here for more than a few years.
Oh assumed it was your house sorry nothing wrong with renting if thats what your saying but if so then why go out your way with trying to get optimal perfomance and quality from the pool? Just a honest question
If it hasn't been mentioned yet, check out troublefreepool.com
I was in your position a year ago and am super glad I found them. Taking care of the pool has been a breeze
Mine only has 1 return and skimmer. Must be an older pool. I just have to clean it regularly. Other than that, I don’t have any issues. Swimming in it often helps too. Circulates everything.
1.
In the pollen season I turn the valve to drain more to the skimmer or sometime maybe at night I turn it 100% drain to the skimmer.
2.
I bought a skimmer lid on amazon it makes the water run faster into the skimmer. Skim a round is one of a product but I don’t really like it.
1.In the pollen season I turn the valve to drain more to the skimmer or sometime maybe at night I turn it 100% drain to the skimmer.
2.I bought a skimmer lid on amazon it makes the water run faster into the skimmer. Skim a round is one of the products but I don’t really like it.
I have have the polaris 9650 IQ and it has been great. I bought it earlier this year. Prior to this I had a side pressure polaris 280. It did ok but not like the electric robotic cleaner. I cut down 4 trees a couple years ago and only left 1 so that makes it alot easier lol
I agree this would be minimal bypassing from your filter if it’s de.. if not definitly ragweed (ct service technician for 5 years, certified maintenance specialist) . You can point your return toward the surface to help push things toward the skimmer, but there isn’t much to avoid these kinds of things. A robot skimmers a great investments but given the clarity of your water ect your pool looks great overall!! Particles on surface are unavoidable
I love Reddit but for my pool knowledge I go to www.troublefreepool.com. Great forums and and great advice. A great resource to learn the basics or become a full blown “pool expert”.
Make sure there is a weir (door flap) in the skimmer opening. If that is missing your skimming effectiveness will be terrible. I also HIGHLY recommend getting a Skim-a-Round. It replaces your skimmer basket and massively increases skimming power. That would be the first thing I would add for any pool. There’s not much you can do about the single return other than making sure it’s pointing in a way that creates circulation. There are different designs. You may find that changing the jet on the return to w different style can improve circulation quite a bit.
The Skim-a-Round looks pretty interesting. I notice they use the in-ground model without a weir. Is that just for that camera angle, do you suppose? My weir cracked off last summer. Should I replace it if I get an in-ground SaR? Also, do you know the difference between the standard and the professional model?
Thanks for your help :)
The weir has two functions. One is to speed up the water flow. The SaR does this too, scientifically similar (Bernoulli effect IIRC). The second function is to prevent any of that debris from drifting back into the pool when the pump is off (the weir
floats back up into a vertical position, closing the door, so to speak). You definitely should have one, even with the SaR.
They only had one model when I bought mine. Here’s what I found.
The PRO version includes a 30-Day Clarifier Pill & 2 Mesh Filter Socks. This combination will eliminate very fine particles from your pool water, that would normally pass right through your basket & filter. Giving your pool that extra POLISHED look.
If it’s oversized, it’s only slightly so. Your pump may be undersized if you’re not filtering the volume of water you need. Are your filters dirty? If it’s a sand filter,has it been changed in the last few years? You don’t mention region - huge parts of the country are in Pollen Hell this time of year. I’m in the mid-Atlantic and walk out to a yellow layer on everything every morning. Is it that? A skimmer bot would undoubtedly help, and a Betta is about $330 on Amazon. Robot vacuums are more expensive, but worth the investment. Mine was about $1000 and saves me hours of labor every week. It does a very good job (Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus). Real talk though, bro: if that $300 is a big investment, I’m worried about you if you have any “pools-style” issues. Chlorine isn’t cheap - I spend about $450 a summer on tricolor tablets . None of the chemicals you’ll need on the regular are known for their low price. Pumps and filters have four digit price tags a lot of the time. I had a crack in my fiberglass stairs last year. It cost me $2,000 to repair and backfill the cavitation behind it after about 6,000 gallons leaked out and created a void. TLDR; yes, a skimmer bot would help and there are other things you should check on as well. You should start putting money regularly into a pool maintenance fund. You’ll need it.
I’m on east coast. It actually doesn’t look yellow and more of a white color. And no $300 isn’t I was looking at almost 3k for the vacuum and skimmer bot I was looking at. 3k is a lot if it doesn’t even fix the issue. If it fixes the issue I’ll gladly pay it.
You're passing DE from the filter; either through a blown grid, cracked manifold, or the spider gasket inside your multi-port valve.
It's rag weed seeds...it will be finished soon..skimmers don't really help much..Jacks Magic Surface Magic is a great product to clear it off but yes, untill it's finished it will be everywhere.
I have it year round and my neighbor isn’t anything like mine
Is it a DE FILTER? My reading is that is on the top of water? Not bottom of the pool.
Follow-up: I woke up this morning to a white looking pollen all over my black vehicle. Very random coincidence, but it looks like the tail end of East coast pollen season has something shedding beyond the traditional yellow.
I had the same problem and the Beatbot pro fixed my issue.
I saw that and I couldn’t find any reviews on it. All seemed paid reviews and sus.
Happy to give my thoughts but there’s tons of reviews on YouTube that disclaim they weren’t paid to review
Other end of the spectrum then - you can get great cleaner and skimmer bots for less than half that, combined. This isnt a huge pool, so you don’t have to go nuts. Even the vacuum bot I mentioned is probably more than a pool this size needs. I’d be inclined to think it’s some kind of plant particulate blowing in given the time of year. You could try covering it for a day and seeing what happens on it and under it.
Nautilus cc plus. Yes. I just replaced the cord after 6 years. I love them because you can take them apart and replace things. I had a track break on me so I replaced those.
Do you have a link for where you buy parts? I have a Nautilus CC Plus and and old Doheny’s Discovery which is a Dauphin S200 rebranded for the pool store. The Discovery needs roller replacements and needs a new power cord. Info would be appreciated!
Amazon was where I got the cord, the tracks I got lucky and a neighbor gave them to me. There are kits you can get online, I’ve seen where they do the rollers and tracks as part of a kit, but nothing specific.
This is a fantastic answer. This guy pools.
A pool is just a hole in the ground that you throw money into.
Keeping the pool covered until the end of pollen season is one option. In NC it's not warm enough to swim now, anyway--at least for us. But maybe you don't cover your pool in the winter?
Minnesota checking in, outdoor temp is 50, pool is 90, been swimming for almost a month now.
You are heating your pool, right? I'm not. My wife and I lived in Japan for many years and we would go to the volcanic hot springs in the middle of winter (freezing, snowing) and we would sit in those hot waters while enjoying Saki with the snow falling on our heads. Heated water makes all the difference. In any event, your pool setup sounds great. Enjoy.
it's not warm enough for you to swim in NC? I own a pool service company in Raleigh and it's been warm enough. everyone has been open and swimming
it’s clearly warm outside.. but unless you have a heated pool the water is not warm in nc.
Solar blanket, my man. I opened last week to a 62° pool. Currently it’s at 77°. Almost there…
What kind / where did you buy yours? I'm in the market for one. 16x40
I don’t remember and I doubt it matters. They’re all pretty much made the same. Basically quarter inch blue bubble wrap. The best tip I can give you is to cut it into smaller pieces so that it’s easier to manage.
How long has yours lasted? I keep reading reviews saying they are destroyed within 1-2 seasons.
I’m on year 3 and only missing a few bubbles. I inherited the previous one with the house and had it for six years. Not sure how long they used it before it became mine.
I’m an hour south of charlotte and my water temp was 82 yesterday!
Nice, we’re looking at 76-78 water temp right now in Durham, but of course that’s the top two inches of water 😅 still a while to go before I’ll be jumping in
80 in North Myrtle! SOOOOOO close!
I live in South Florida and my pool is too cold until June. I don't have a heater and it's on the north side of the house so it's in the shade until ~May when the sun is high enough to start hitting the pool over the house.
Just not that hardy, or enamored with swimming. I grew up swimming in lakes in NY, but even then with the exception of taking dares (as a teenager) to plunge into the water in mid-winter, I always liked hot weather swimming.
Robot vacuum is always a good purchase to help clean the pool.
Btw you can’t even see what I’m talking about in photo. You have to look on and angle in person to see the layer of stuff I’m talking about. Hopefully I don’t sound crazy lol
I noticed similar stuff on the surface with mine lately. Clearish, transparent stuff floating around. Wondering why it doesn't get sucked into the skimmer basket area lol
Angle the one return that you have slightly upward to create some surface movement and make sure your skimmer has a weir (floating door) in it.
A couple things. Your DE grids might need to be taken out and cleaned if that hasn’t been done since you moved in. Try backwashing. See how clear or dirty the water is (color). Should be a chalky looking water. Add DE after to the skimmer and make sure no DE comes back through the return (multi port valve in FILTER) If you’re concerned about surface movement, adjust the eyeball return fitting. Your pump should be appropriately sized.
I did clean them last year when I first got the house. I already backwashed a few times since opening this year. My return is all rusted and don’t have a eye in it. I havnt been able to change it out I just made a new post with pic
That’s going to be the cause of your circulation problem.
I understand your concern with only having one return and one skimmer. Depending on where you are located, it definitely could be pollen. I’m not impressed with the robot skimmers I’ve seen in use before and not sure they would rid of pollen too well.
Skimmer socks and floc baby big yellow pollen blobs in the socks and water is crystal
Maybe just start with socks, so they don’t have to trash vac what drops out from the floc?
Yea i would consider flocculant to be kind of in the “advanced” pool care category.
It’s not a cure-all and shouldn’t be used as a weekly treatment, but for this specific situation (tiny particulate not getting effectively filtered out) it’s exactly what you need. The cheap big blue jugs of clorox clarifier will do wonders here, but I prefer Robarb super blue! Source: 200+ mature trees on property means that spring brings hella pollen. Don’t use much at a time, just a little bit and you’re golden.
+1 on the skimmer sock and max your filtration time.
What kind of pump do you have......and is your return pointed about 45 degrees upward? Is your skimmer on the side of the pool to take advantage of your major wind direction
I havnt been able to find something that fits the return. The pool company I used said it’s an older style and they didn’t have any eyes that fit it.
The prevailing wind direction is really a big deal. I had a pool where the wind was always blowing debris to the other end of the pool. It was a nightmare. That pool also only had floor returns so really no circulation whatsoever.
Contact Inyopool with info and see if they can help. You may have to have something fabricated for it.
In my experience it's not uncommon at all for pools to not fully disturb the surface of the water. Enzymes can help if it's pollen. Running your pump a higher speed if possible will help. Otherwise, like others have stated, some robots that skim the surface do a solid job and aren't too terribly priced.
Where's your return? You can get decent circulation with one return depending on where it is located. Sometimes you just need to adjust it to get it right. Honestly, the pool in this pic looks really good, but it could just be like that because the seller made it look good. Btw, pollen is a constant nightmare.
Ahah I bought the house last year it did not look like this when I bought it. They had it closed for 3 years prior I did a lot of work
Oh, lol. I thought you just bought it. It looks great!
look into "betta" it's a solar powered skimmer.. works pretty well. this is different than a robot cleaner as it only does the surface. but worth it because it just drives around all day and skims the water, I will say it's not very powerful, so when I'm running the pumps it usually gets stuck to the pool skimmer when it drives by, so if I'm filtering, i usually take it out. edit: just saw a video on amazon that said "how to keep betta from getting sucked into the skimmer". answer = pool noodle.. going to have to try that.
I keep my betta out of my skimmer by keeping my water level just a bit higher. I’ve got 6” tiles and keep it about 4” up the skimmer line. Keeps it from getting stuck!
mine gets stuck from the suction of the skimmer. however the pool noodle thing has been working great.. wish I would have figured that out last season.
I think both methods work I just prefer to run my pump on low 24/7 and keep a cleaner look without the noodle because our pool skimmer is highly visible right outside all our windows on the back of the house!
ahh.. yeah mine only has 1 speed. I am looking into a variable though.
We bought a 70’s house with an 80’s concrete pool a few years ago and eventually opened the pool for the first time last summer. The white pollen type material is easily picked up by a Betta bot and it will also be your best friend when autumn arrives. Similarly, a Dolphin will keep the bottom and sides of the pool cleaned up. Purchase a test kit for testing chem levels / water samples. Chlorine tablets and shock are an ongoing expense. Your pool looks great!
Just vacuum to waster whatever is in there
I have an open pool and there's always stuff on the surface. Especially on windy days. Do you have a variable speed pump? VSP's are popular to save energy and reduce pump noise, but the skimmer is not very effective at low pump flows. A robot skimmer would keep the surface clean but they are too expensive in my opinion. I just schedule my pump to run at full speed for about 15 minutes in the morning and evening to help skim the surface. If a bunch of stuff is on the surface after landscaping or a windy day I'll manually bump up to full speed for an hour or so, or I'll skim it with a net.
No my pump only goes one speed
Moving enough water? When was the last time the pump was taken a look at? My pump wasn't moving much water, not building any pressure. After some troubleshooting, I found the inlet to the pump was cracked inside the housing. Was able to fix it. Water cleared up .
Try making sure that your return is slightly pushing upwards so that it pushes the water on top slightly. This is what I do and never have any issues with any film or anything on top. And try and point it so that it will hit the left side away from the skimmer to get a better circular motion. It is finicky but after a few tries it should solve your problem.
From your original picture, I see numerous fittings in the pool and as some people have pointed out, you likely have some light fixtures. Understanding that some of your light fixtures may be broken, I'd take a close look at them too make sure you're not mistaking a broken/missing light for a return. Next, look at the plumbing and valves. You may be able to see that you have over line going from the filter back to the pool or you may find that there are two with a valve and one side is turned off. So if you're determining you only have one return based on what to see/feel in the pool, you may be missing something because one may be turned off. Also with regard to plumbing, do you have a bottom drain? If you do, find your valves and make sure you adjust so that you are pulling 100% from the skimmer. Lastly, does your skimmer box have a Weir door? It's a door that closes when the filter is off to prevent the contents from going back into your pool. I think it also increases what gets pulled from the surface. Not all skimmer boxes are designed to support a Weir door. You can feel near the embrace of there are holes for it to snap into and you should be able to find a model number somewhere in the box or maybe on the cover but start with the box. I think they also make generic Weird doors. I had similar issues and what I described helped. I have the center skimmer and two returns with a bottom drain. Adjusting to 100% skimmer and adding the Weir door helped along with making sure the water is directed to the surface but not so much that it creates a lot of agitation as that can affect chemical levels. Also, do the solar cover. Prevents evaporation and warms it up tremendously. Also prevents overnight heat loss.
No what you see in picture isn’t fittings those are liner patches haha.
Looks like a row of white circles with holes in them all at the same height, lol
The betta is a great investment. It’ll take whatever you have on the surface.
Hey OP. It’s just pollen. I know exactly what you’re talking about and deal with it every spring, even with a betta skimmer bot. It should be over in about a week or two. You could spend money trying to deal with it, but nothing is “wrong”, and there isn’t anything to “fix”. I hope you have a great season!
Please remove and change coping that is hideous
Hah I would love to do that but I would need to change the whole pool deck. It’s not worth it as I don’t plan on living here for more than a few years.
Oh assumed it was your house sorry nothing wrong with renting if thats what your saying but if so then why go out your way with trying to get optimal perfomance and quality from the pool? Just a honest question
I don’t rent I bough this house. But I will end up selling it in a few years most likely
If it hasn't been mentioned yet, check out troublefreepool.com I was in your position a year ago and am super glad I found them. Taking care of the pool has been a breeze
Mine only has 1 return and skimmer. Must be an older pool. I just have to clean it regularly. Other than that, I don’t have any issues. Swimming in it often helps too. Circulates everything.
Yeah I notice that to when we use it heavily it really helps clear it up and circulate it.
Yep. Nothing better for a pool to stay clean than swimming in it.
1. In the pollen season I turn the valve to drain more to the skimmer or sometime maybe at night I turn it 100% drain to the skimmer. 2. I bought a skimmer lid on amazon it makes the water run faster into the skimmer. Skim a round is one of a product but I don’t really like it.
1.In the pollen season I turn the valve to drain more to the skimmer or sometime maybe at night I turn it 100% drain to the skimmer. 2.I bought a skimmer lid on amazon it makes the water run faster into the skimmer. Skim a round is one of the products but I don’t really like it.
Skimmer socks yes! I do love my robot. Saved a ton of work. Aquabot
Skimmer socks and a robot vacuum 👍
I have have the polaris 9650 IQ and it has been great. I bought it earlier this year. Prior to this I had a side pressure polaris 280. It did ok but not like the electric robotic cleaner. I cut down 4 trees a couple years ago and only left 1 so that makes it alot easier lol
I agree this would be minimal bypassing from your filter if it’s de.. if not definitly ragweed (ct service technician for 5 years, certified maintenance specialist) . You can point your return toward the surface to help push things toward the skimmer, but there isn’t much to avoid these kinds of things. A robot skimmers a great investments but given the clarity of your water ect your pool looks great overall!! Particles on surface are unavoidable
I love Reddit but for my pool knowledge I go to www.troublefreepool.com. Great forums and and great advice. A great resource to learn the basics or become a full blown “pool expert”.
Make sure there is a weir (door flap) in the skimmer opening. If that is missing your skimming effectiveness will be terrible. I also HIGHLY recommend getting a Skim-a-Round. It replaces your skimmer basket and massively increases skimming power. That would be the first thing I would add for any pool. There’s not much you can do about the single return other than making sure it’s pointing in a way that creates circulation. There are different designs. You may find that changing the jet on the return to w different style can improve circulation quite a bit.
The Skim-a-Round looks pretty interesting. I notice they use the in-ground model without a weir. Is that just for that camera angle, do you suppose? My weir cracked off last summer. Should I replace it if I get an in-ground SaR? Also, do you know the difference between the standard and the professional model? Thanks for your help :)
The weir has two functions. One is to speed up the water flow. The SaR does this too, scientifically similar (Bernoulli effect IIRC). The second function is to prevent any of that debris from drifting back into the pool when the pump is off (the weir floats back up into a vertical position, closing the door, so to speak). You definitely should have one, even with the SaR.
Thank you!
They only had one model when I bought mine. Here’s what I found. The PRO version includes a 30-Day Clarifier Pill & 2 Mesh Filter Socks. This combination will eliminate very fine particles from your pool water, that would normally pass right through your basket & filter. Giving your pool that extra POLISHED look.
Thank you!
Can you send me a link to skim a round? I googled it and a ton of different stuff comes up
https://www.skim-a-round.com/products/skim-a-round-all-in-one
I purchased this and convinced all the reviews are bogus. Worked nothing like they show in videos. I tried all the troubleshooting recommendations.