Swimming pools blog

Greetings,
I don’t play golf but I know that a hole in one is possible. Try
this story - the tail of our Polaris 380 become lodged in the bottom
drain pipe! What are the odds!!
The first sign of trouble was Friday, with a sudden drop in pressure
(at the filter gauge 10psi where 30psi is normal). I had my fingers
crossed that the four year old pump was okay.
I found the skimmer float valve held down by strong suction, and
concluded that the botton drain pipe was obstructed. (I know we have
some sand in the pool from recent repair work - it could have
collected in the bottom drain sump and slowed the flow).
I took the float valve out and the pressure came back up as expected.
Yesterday I took the cover off the pool and was stunned to see the
Polaris trapped by it’s tail in the bottom drain, the grate pushed
off to one side!

I was unable to pull the Polaris out by it’s umbilical hose. I
feared breaking something new, and having the whole Polaris stranded
in the deep. I then tried backwashing the bottom drain line with a
garden hose and “drain King” (to push the tail out) - no luck!
So I decided to snag the Polaris tail hose with string using the
telescopic handle from the pool brush. Then pull it out with the
string (it’s way too deep for me to dive down and do it by hand,
even before I broke my arm last month).
After a frustrating hour I finally got it free. The tail jet,
collar, and sponge came off the tail and I had to push them out of
the bottom drain line with an electrical fish-tape from the skimmer.
The episode is ending well. The grate is back in place, the Polaris
is doing it’s daily routine, and it has already sucked up the loose
parts that I will reassemble later today.
Hole in one? I still can’t believe this happened…
Comments Welcome!
Peter