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

Pool pumps, pool filters and the plumbing of
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ijiejnmefjinmndndnenwu

skimmer pipe blocked

Postby ijiejnmefjinmndndnenwu » Thu 27 May, 2010 19:33

janine wrote:Anyone know if a wet dry blower/vac would work to unblock the skimmer line. I was going to go out and buy one but wanted to know if anyone had tried it first before i wasted my money on it



no, it's not worth it. buy a pipe balloon, 1 and 1/2" through 3". put it on the end of your hose, open the pump
and then have someone turn on the hose water. it will force the leaves back out up into the skimmer since
the were sucked into that pipe when someone vacuumed the pool. :thumbup:


dguadron12
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My Pool: 25000 gallon underground pool
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underground pool-skimmer pipe is blocked-how to unblock it?

Postby dguadron12 » Mon 07 Jun, 2010 11:54

i have a similar problem. Why is pressure low in my pool's jet? We opened our inground pool a few weeks ago for the first time in two years and after preparing the filter, we noticed that our jet was giving off water at a low pressure during its filter process. The skimmer was also taking in water at a low rate. This only occurs while on filter, if we do a backwash or rinse, the skimmer sucks the normal rate of water. We have bought a new pump, changed the sand in our filter, used a drain snake, fish tape, and a drain king on the pipe between the filter and the jet, but only the drain king seemed to work slightly.This provided a small amount of pressure to the jet when turned on. Both the fish tape and the drain snake would stop moving after a certain point, failing to pull back anything that may have been clogged there. We believe it is a clog within this pipe because when we place a hose into this pipe, water returns back up the pipe instead of releasing into the pool through the jet, but nothing seems to be working. Any ideas why we are having this problem?
gary

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

Postby gary » Fri 11 Jun, 2010 11:33

i had the same problem i plumbed a reverse pressure line out from the pump
iow the skimmer or vac line keeps running and i then put pump output to either one of those lines for a couple minutes
lowes has great prices on pool valves, you need 3 of those, pvc pipe and some glue
ive had to use it twice so far works wonderful
knownothing

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

Postby knownothing » Sat 12 Jun, 2010 09:19

I too thought my lines from the skimmer to the pump was blocked. Turns out it wasn't. I decided to open the filter, lifted out the part that filters (I have a Hayward DE 3620) hosed out the drum and lo and behold, there was a huge crack in the drum running from the outlet plug in the bottom of the drum back to the piping. Looks like I need a new filter, unless one can just buy the drum. That's why I could not get any suction, so check your filter.
clogged too

skimmer pipe blocked

Postby clogged too » Thu 17 Jun, 2010 21:17

janine wrote:Anyone know if a wet dry blower/vac would work to unblock the skimmer line. I was going to go out and buy one but wanted to know if anyone had tried it first before i wasted my money on it


I had a pine cone stuck in my return line. I tried blowing it back out with a shop vac, but did not work. I am going to try the drain jet/king blowout bag etc.
Sickofvacuuming

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

Postby Sickofvacuuming » Fri 18 Jun, 2010 15:09

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

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

Postby Al Ahl » Tue 22 Jun, 2010 04:50

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

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

Postby bri guy » Wed 30 Jun, 2010 00:51

JAVIER wrote: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

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

Postby hoosierdaddy » Sat 10 Jul, 2010 17:02

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

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

Postby psyop » Sat 10 Jul, 2010 19:39

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

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

Postby Drain King Worked Perfectly » Tue 13 Jul, 2010 20:48

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

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

Postby saeura » Fri 23 Jul, 2010 15:19

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

Postby eric2288 » Mon 20 Sep, 2010 16:38

Drain King Worked Perfectly wrote: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

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

Postby Guest » Sun 26 Sep, 2010 22:34

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
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My Pool: fibre glass kidney shapd in ground pool 9m * 3.5M
concrete around the pool,zodiac LM3-20 self cleaning salt chlorinator,Hurlcon Eseries sand filter,Hurlcon CX series pump,barracuda pacer automatic pool cleaner
Location: byron bay

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

Postby kelwil » Wed 27 Oct, 2010 20:36

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

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