Vacuuming Your Pool

Preparing To Vacuum Your Pool

Before you vacuum, look around your pool. Is there anything along the edge that you can trip over? You should have a minimum of 4’ - 5’ clearance around the pool without worry of tripping over anything. Are there toys or floats in the pool? Take them out as they can gather and hide leaves and debris.

Caution: Is your pool deck flat all around the pool? Some pool decks have one or two steps around their perimeter. These steps can be your nemesis once you get into cleaning mode. There is nothing worse than walking around a pool and taking a step into air and falling because of a forgotten step. Mark the area with something colorful that is in your sight but not in your way.

1. Attach one end of vacuum hose to the vacuum head and the other end to the coupling and cone. Make sure you have a tight fit on both ends. If they are loose, a few strips of well-placed electrical tape can solve the problem.
2. Attach your pool pole to the vacuum head. The easiest way to do this is by laying both pieces on the ground and attaching pole to the vacuum head. Now extend your pole and drop vacuum head into pool as far away from the skimmer as possible. Lean pool pole firmly against side of pool so it doesn’t float away. As your hose uncurls, grasp it in your hands and stretch it straight until you get to the skimmer, then let it lie on top of the water. This ensures an easy vacuuming process without getting the hose tangled.
3. Walk over to your pump area, turn on motor and turn valve handle going into pump to main drain (MD) in order to shut it off. This leaves the skimmer (SK) all the way open for maximum suction. Remove skimmer lid and basket and pay close attention to the water flow. Can you see water being sucked into the port at the bottom of the skimmer? If you aren’t sure, throw a small leaf into the skimmer. If it gets sucked into the port quickly, you have good suction.
4. Next, let’s get water into your hose by creating a suction. This can be done two different ways: a. Hold the hose over a side jet to fill it with water. Be cautious of the strong water pressure. b. Hold the end of hose under the water and pump it up and down until you get water flow.
5. Place the end of the hose into the skimmer and push it gently into suction port to ensure it has a good fit. Caution: There is a strong suction here so keep your hands away from the skimmer suction port. To be safe, turn off pump motor while you put hose into suction port, and then turn it back on when firmly seated. Let pump suction take out any remaining air from hose. If there is air in the hose you will see air bubbles coming out of the side jets. When the bubbles are gone, you should have a good suction and are now ready to vacuum the pool. If the air does not dissipate and bubbles continue to come out of the side jets, you may have a problem with the pump not priming properly, or a potential leak in the pipe.

Note: On rare occasions, the vacuum suction is too strong and portions of the hose start to collapse. If this happens, reevaluate your valve settings and open the valve between the main drain (MD) and skimmer (SK) until the hose is OK.

Vacuuming Your Pool

With pole firmly in hand, slowly move vacuum head on the floor of your pool. Choose an area to focus on and mentally divide your pool into four to six areas which you will vacuum one at a time. With a slow, easy sweeping motion, move the vacuum head back and forth. If there is lot of debris, you may have to go very slow until it is all picked up.

Keep in mind that this debris goes into your pump basket and if it fills up, you may have to empty it during the course of vacuuming so it doesn’t interfere with the water flow. If there is a lot of debris, use an in-line strainer (see page 65) to prevent debris from going into the pump basket. Vacuum the floor of the pool until it is to your liking.

Once you are done vacuuming the bottom, here is a trick: Set the pole and vacuuming head into the slight curvature of the pool between the wall and bottom and slowly push the pole in front of you, focusing only on this curvature. If you get good at this, you can push the vacuum head around a good part of your pool with minimal work.

When finished, turn off pump, and remove vacuum head from pool. Set flat on deck as far away from skimmer as possible. Leave other end of hose in skimmer. Turn pump on for a few seconds to draw excess water out of hose (this makes it easier to wrap) and turn off pump. Do not leave pump on for very long, or else you will get too much air in your system making it difficult to prime. If you do not feel comfortable with this method, remove hose from skimmer and elevate portions of hose until all of the water is out.

With hose now lying flat, drained and stretched across the water, leave pole attached to vacuum head and lie on
deck. Pull hose towards you and roll it up around vacuum head in slow easy motions, clock wise or counterclockwise, which ever works best for you. Once rolled up, detach pole from head (when it is attached, the head doesn’t roll away) and store in an out of the way place. Be sure to replace skimmer basket and skimmer lid.

Re-Priming Pump

1. With the pump turned off, open the lid of your pump basket and empty any debris that was deposited from vacuuming your pool. Most baskets turn partially counterclockwise and lift out. Inspect basket. If it is cracked, replace it as debris will be sucked into pump and filter.
2. Put water into the pump with a garden hose until filter and pipes fill with water and the pump overflows. Turn off hose, lubricate pump lid O-ring, screw lid back on and set skimmer/main drain valve back to its original position.
3. Turn on pump and open the air release valve on the filter to let excess air out. It should ramp up pretty quick at this point. Watch the pump basket carefully until you see a good flow of water going into it. A few air bubbles may blow out of the pool jets, which is typical. Walk to your skimmer and remove lid. Do you see water movement? If so, you’re set. If you aren’t sure, do the leaf test mentioned above.

Note: If air continues to blow into pool, re-prime pump according to steps above. Make sure the pump lid is tight (don’t over tighten) and creating a good seal. If air continues to come out of the jets, or, pump doesn’t prime properly, you may have a leak in the pipes or pump. If so, turn off pump at the breaker switch and call for service. If water is not going consistently into the pump, or, you open the pump basket lid and the water is hot, you could burn out your motor. Call for service.