Does this pool have a drain at the bottom? My suction side looks similar, except I do not have 2x valves, only one that can point left or right. I was told when I bought the house in Aug 2023 that the left side was the drain in the bottom of the pool, and the right was skimmer. I also see a port along one side of the pool like this, but the liner covers it completely. I wish I could upload pics here. I wish you were in Long Island NY, lol....
Thanks a lot for the help with all of your videos. I live in Vegas so we don't close the pool completely but it does get below freezing a few nights of the year. I noticed on my pool that the valve for the pool labeled "cleaner" (for the auto-vac) is always closed. I don't have a flap door on the port in the pool. Since this valve is closed 90% of the time the water must not be moving in that pipe. Is it ok to crack that valve so water will move in that pipe and leave it that way for the winter months? Thanks again!
To prevent freezing you should have some water flowing through It. So I'd find some way to safely open it and open the suction valve for it a bit. But make sure no one is around that open port when the filter is running. It can be very dangerous if someone gets sucked on it and stuck especially little ones.
Do you have any other videos on “how to identify pool valves”? I would like a step by step process of possible. I’m having a real problem on how to Figure out which valve belongs To what.
Which valve is for the bottom of the pool drain? Same as the skimmer or would there be a third valve for it? I have owned a pool here for 13 years and saw the line with a plug in it and had no idea it was possibly a vacuum line. Opening the pool this week so I'm definitely going to check it out. I have been vacuuming to the skimmer with a cover over it to catch any debris in the skimmer basket.
Typically most pools don't have the ability to direct the suction from the floor drain with a valve (safety reasons - someone getting sucked and stuck on it underwater and drowning). Typically the hole in the skimmer you're talking about that's plugged is the pipe to the floor drain and by using a diverter you can divert some of the suction from the skimmer to the floor drain. Many people plug that hole because there's really not a need for the floor drain to have suction if you have a pool vac or infloor cleaning system. Or if you manually vacuum your pool. This video on diverters may help: ua-cam.com/video/-TUs90A5uVo/v-deo.html
I have a skimmer on my pool deck . It has two holes in it. One has suction that I can put vacuum hose in. What’s that other hole for ? I also have jacuzzi jets that I can open to run. The jets are letting a ton of air bubbles in my pool. Air is being sucked in from the jet pipes sticking out of the ground. I’m having trouble with too much air bubbles and lowered suction because the pool water don’t seem to move.
The second hole goes to the floor drain of the pool and typically a diverter is put into that skimmer to help divert some of the suction to it personally I think it’s a rather useless thing but others swear by it
I have an old pool. We constantly get limited suction, it eventually stops after time and high pressure 30 psi gauge, even after cleaning the filters. We have 2 valves, the one in the right I believe is the suction for the skimmer by the pools, the valve on the left is frozen, broken , needs to be replace, could the broken valve be the problem
@@PoolSchooler Hi sure. I get bubbled return in my jets all the time when I turn on. I notice we lose suction after a certain amount of time, I will turn off and turn back on the pump then I have suction again, I finally found an air leak under the pipe fitting connected to the pump, I will have to find what kind of silicone it will need or can I use something else, thanks
How do I know if my drain is working. My infloor system seems like the drain doesn't have any suction at all. I get its a safety drain but I put a little sand in the drain area and turn the valves to main drain and NOTHING moves (its a Pentair A&A AVSC Single Suction Channel Drain)any ideas? I know the infloors pop-ups seem to just move dust. Before I call a pool service any ideas
There’s a possibility that the floor drain has some sort of blockage in which case it may have to be “blown” out using compressed air. But you probably have to call an expert to come out and do that.
Check to see if you have a diverter in your skimmer sump. It’s at the bottom below your skimmer basket. You might try closing that adjustable cover underneath it.
Hello Im new to the pool, 1 pump this pool does not have the side wall option to connect a hose. I was trying to figure out which line is for what the left one I was able to close it and it cut of the water where the pump went empty I immediately opened it back up. I move to the right side valve and it’s really tight I tried to force it and broke off one of the ears. I’m confused because from what I’ve seen on ur videos I should be able to close the left one and there should still be water feeding from the right side that doesn’t move. Can u recommend what to try next. Thanks in advance
Sorry you’re having so much trouble with that valve. Honestly I’ve seen so many different configurations and valve types on pools it’s hard to really comment accurately for your situation without seeing pictures or a video. Feel free to email me some pictures and/or video of your pool equipment, set up and valves. Then I will be able to more accurately help you. My Gmail address is Kennypoolschool@gmail.com
Bottom floor drain's are honestly of little value if you have a suction side vacuum. They have to share suction with your skimmer (through a diverter) and are "supposed" to pull dirt through them, but I've not known them to really work that well. Most don't have a dedicated suction line to them because of the risk of too much suction and a child etc getting stuck on them. Perhaps with a pop up in floor cleaning system they are a bit better but even then I'm not convinced they are really worth it.
Some pools are plummed to have a dedicated suction line for a vacuum that doesn't go through the skimmer. So they have two pipes coming out of the suction side into the pump. One for the skimmer and one for the vacuum. If yours doesn't then it's probably like you said, just for your skimmer and you attach your vacuum to that. I'm also talking about a stay in the pool suction side vacuum, rather than vacuuming a pool manually (attaching a hose to the skimmer only when vacuuming. You may want to watch my video on how to install a suction side vacuum into a pool (like yours with only skimmer suction) using a Vacmate. Here's a link: ua-cam.com/video/eagXAKxN8zM/v-deo.html Hope that clears up any confusion.
@Pool School my problem is I have 4 pipes 2 hooked up to pump and 2 one off of chlorinator one I guess return? But water in the pump is boiling and I see a little steam or smoke so I don't know if my pool line is clogged hence the pump sucking too much air or there's a clog In the line or my pump motor is shot any suggestions helps thanks
@@ray.a7343 if the water in your pump is boiling, it’s because there’s no water circulating through it. Think of it as a car engine cooling system the fluid flowing through it keeps the pump and motor from overheating. My guess is you either have a clogged suction line somewhere or a return line is clogged. Also, when you run the pump, does water fill the pump basket area you should be able to tell by looking through the pump lid. If not, that’s a clear indicator you have a water flow issue as far as which and it’s clogged up in my guess it’s on the suction side. But you want to get that remedied before you run the pump for any period of time or you could actually melt the components inside the pump, which would require you to then replace the entire thing. There are other reasons why your pump might not be getting water into it. One could be that it’s not priming meaning the system has lost. Its seal and air is getting in there somewhere. That could be caused by a bad pump lid or bad pump, lid, O-ring or a combination of the two. It could also be that you have a clogged impeller if you’d like to email me some pictures of your system I might be able to better assist you.
Does this pool have a drain at the bottom?
My suction side looks similar, except I do not have 2x valves, only one that can point left or right.
I was told when I bought the house in Aug 2023 that the left side was the drain in the bottom of the pool, and the right was skimmer.
I also see a port along one side of the pool like this, but the liner covers it completely.
I wish I could upload pics here.
I wish you were in Long Island NY, lol....
Hard for me to comment on that, without really seeing the set up but you can always email me the pics. My email address is Kennypoolschool@gmail.com.
Thanks a lot for the help with all of your videos. I live in Vegas so we don't close the pool completely but it does get below freezing a few nights of the year. I noticed on my pool that the valve for the pool labeled "cleaner" (for the auto-vac) is always closed. I don't have a flap door on the port in the pool. Since this valve is closed 90% of the time the water must not be moving in that pipe. Is it ok to crack that valve so water will move in that pipe and leave it that way for the winter months? Thanks again!
To prevent freezing you should have some water flowing through It. So I'd find some way to safely open it and open the suction valve for it a bit. But make sure no one is around that open port when the filter is running. It can be very dangerous if someone gets sucked on it and stuck especially little ones.
Do you have any other videos on “how to identify pool valves”?
I would like a step by step process of possible. I’m having a real problem on how to
Figure out which valve belongs
To what.
This one might help ua-cam.com/video/nJCg8SjdBCM/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared
Which valve is for the bottom of the pool drain? Same as the skimmer or would there be a third valve for it? I have owned a pool here for 13 years and saw the line with a plug in it and had no idea it was possibly a vacuum line. Opening the pool this week so I'm definitely going to check it out. I have been vacuuming to the skimmer with a cover over it to catch any debris in the skimmer basket.
Typically most pools don't have the ability to direct the suction from the floor drain with a valve (safety reasons - someone getting sucked and stuck on it underwater and drowning). Typically the hole in the skimmer you're talking about that's plugged is the pipe to the floor drain and by using a diverter you can divert some of the suction from the skimmer to the floor drain. Many people plug that hole because there's really not a need for the floor drain to have suction if you have a pool vac or infloor cleaning system. Or if you manually vacuum your pool.
This video on diverters may help: ua-cam.com/video/-TUs90A5uVo/v-deo.html
I have a skimmer on my pool deck . It has two holes in it. One has suction that I can put vacuum hose in. What’s that other hole for ? I also have jacuzzi jets that I can open to run. The jets are letting a ton of air bubbles in my pool. Air is being sucked in from the jet pipes sticking out of the ground. I’m having trouble with too much air bubbles and lowered suction because the pool water don’t seem to move.
The second hole goes to the floor drain of the pool and typically a diverter is put into that skimmer to help divert some of the suction to it personally I think it’s a rather useless thing but others swear by it
I have an old pool. We constantly get limited suction, it eventually stops after time and high pressure 30 psi gauge, even after cleaning the filters. We have 2 valves, the one in the right I believe is the suction for the skimmer by the pools, the valve on the left is frozen, broken , needs to be replace, could the broken valve be the problem
It's hard to know for sure. Can you email me some pick of what you're describing? or even a short video. ALSO do you have a DE filter?
@@PoolSchooler Hi sure. I get bubbled return in my jets all the time when I turn on. I notice we lose suction after a certain amount of time, I will turn off and turn back on the pump then I have suction again, I finally found an air leak under the pipe fitting connected to the pump, I will have to find what kind of silicone it will need or can I use something else, thanks
How do I know if my drain is working. My infloor system seems like the drain doesn't have any suction at all. I get its a safety drain but I put a little sand in the drain area and turn the valves to main drain and NOTHING moves (its a Pentair A&A AVSC Single Suction Channel Drain)any ideas? I know the infloors pop-ups seem to just move dust. Before I call a pool service any ideas
There’s a possibility that the floor drain has some sort of blockage in which case it may have to be “blown” out using compressed air. But you probably have to call an expert to come out and do that.
Check to see if you have a diverter in your skimmer sump. It’s at the bottom below your skimmer basket. You might try closing that adjustable cover underneath it.
Hello Im new to the pool, 1 pump this pool does not have the side wall option to connect a hose. I was trying to figure out which line is for what the left one I was able to close it and it cut of the water where the pump went empty I immediately opened it back up. I move to the right side valve and it’s really tight I tried to force it and broke off one of the ears. I’m confused because from what I’ve seen on ur videos I should be able to close the left one and there should still be water feeding from the right side that doesn’t move. Can u recommend what to try next. Thanks in advance
Sorry you’re having so much trouble with that valve. Honestly I’ve seen so many different configurations and valve types on pools it’s hard to really comment accurately for your situation without seeing pictures or a video. Feel free to email me some pictures and/or video of your pool equipment, set up and valves. Then I will be able to more accurately help you. My Gmail address is Kennypoolschool@gmail.com
How do you identify the suction lines if you have no suction. I can’t get my pump primed.
Watch this video it should help: ua-cam.com/video/wD_7YjxITX8/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared
What about the value for bottom drain?
Bottom floor drain's are honestly of little value if you have a suction side vacuum. They have to share suction with your skimmer (through a diverter) and are "supposed" to pull dirt through them, but I've not known them to really work that well. Most don't have a dedicated suction line to them because of the risk of too much suction and a child etc getting stuck on them. Perhaps with a pop up in floor cleaning system they are a bit better but even then I'm not convinced they are really worth it.
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I m confused u say skimmer and vacuum. I vacuum through my skimmer so this makes no sense ?
Some pools are plummed to have a dedicated suction line for a vacuum that doesn't go through the skimmer. So they have two pipes coming out of the suction side into the pump. One for the skimmer and one for the vacuum. If yours doesn't then it's probably like you said, just for your skimmer and you attach your vacuum to that. I'm also talking about a stay in the pool suction side vacuum, rather than vacuuming a pool manually (attaching a hose to the skimmer only when vacuuming. You may want to watch my video on how to install a suction side vacuum into a pool (like yours with only skimmer suction) using a Vacmate. Here's a link: ua-cam.com/video/eagXAKxN8zM/v-deo.html
Hope that clears up any confusion.
@Pool School my problem is I have 4 pipes 2 hooked up to pump and 2 one off of chlorinator one I guess return? But water in the pump is boiling and I see a little steam or smoke so I don't know if my pool line is clogged hence the pump sucking too much air or there's a clog In the line or my pump motor is shot any suggestions helps thanks
@@ray.a7343 if the water in your pump is boiling, it’s because there’s no water circulating through it. Think of it as a car engine cooling system the fluid flowing through it keeps the pump and motor from overheating. My guess is you either have a clogged suction line somewhere or a return line is clogged. Also, when you run the pump, does water fill the pump basket area you should be able to tell by looking through the pump lid. If not, that’s a clear indicator you have a water flow issue as far as which and it’s clogged up in my guess it’s on the suction side. But you want to get that remedied before you run the pump for any period of time or you could actually melt the components inside the pump, which would require you to then replace the entire thing. There are other reasons why your pump might not be getting water into it. One could be that it’s not priming meaning the system has lost. Its seal and air is getting in there somewhere. That could be caused by a bad pump lid or bad pump, lid, O-ring or a combination of the two. It could also be that you have a clogged impeller if you’d like to email me some pictures of your system I might be able to better assist you.
@Pool School ok what's your email? Thanks
@@ray.a7343 it’s always at the end of every one of my videos, but it’s kennypoolschool@gmail.com