My pool came with an older Hayward Pool Vac Ultra type cleaner. It works great at keeping my pool clean as long as it doesn’t get stuck on the main pool drain. I know there are tons of experts that say if your pool vac gets stuck on the main drain, you haven’t adjusted your suction properly. With my pool however, this is not the case. All suction valves are adjusted properly and the vac still tends to get stuck on the main drain.
Maybe it’s because I have a completely flat drain cover, who knows. As soon as the pool cleaner, vacuum, robot, whatever you wanna call it goes near it, it gets stuck. No more cleaning the rest of the day. I’ve even tried placing a little plastic clip from maindrainclipon.com onto the main drain in an attempt to resolve the problem. It has not resolved the issue.
Here’s my solution for keeping your pool vac from getting suck on the main drain:
[requirements]
- Pool strainer basket roughly the size of the pool drain.
- Some plastic coated dumbbell weights (anything heavy that won’t rust under water will do).
- Zip ties.
- A hook to lift up the pool strainer (optional).
[solution]
I block my pools main drain using a heavy object which can’t be pushed out of the way by the pool vac. Here’s the solution that worked perfectly for me. I’m not saying this complies with any laws pertaining to your pool drain, so be careful you don’t break the law in your state…especially if you have kids.
[step 1] Take your pool strainer basket and secure the dumbbell weights inside using zip ties.
[step 2] I had one of those hooks with a screw end handy (mine is painted white), so I attached that to the outside to be able to lift and position the basket over the main pool drain using the pool net pole.
That’s it. No more pool vac stuck on your main pool drain.
Comments
13 responses to “Pool vac stuck on drain”
I was thinking about the same thing using rocks, but this is way better, basket is a genius idea.
my suggest is to remove cover(main drain) and drill several 3/8″ holes in smooth of cover, worked for me.
I cant thank you enough! This totally works, I have tried and tried to find something to stay in place and not mess up the drain or pool . Thanks !
Can you explain how you attached/secured what piece of the hook to what piece of the skimmer basket. The bottom of the basket is flat. Thanks.
I attempted this same approach. I used two 7 lbs weights and strapped them into the basket roughly as shown in the photo here. I actually used 2 straps for each weight.
Despite the pool cleaner occasionally bumping the basket off of the main drain, it worked fairly well for two months or so. Not sure if it was the pool chemicals, sun exposure or a mixture of both– but the plastic tie straps snapped and the basket floated away. When I retrieved it, the plastic ties had become extremely brittle and had a yellow tinge to them. Also, the weights had begun to take on water and the vinyl covering (which I thought was water-tight) became bloated with water.
While this is a clever solution, it didn’t prove to be permanent for me. I’ll be looking into vacuums that are designed to better handle an older style single main drain. I had been using a Kreepy Krauly vacuum.
Hi Jon,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m sure it’ll be helpful to someone. I’ve had to replace my zip ties as well. My basket had become brittle as well, so I replaced it too after about 1.5 years. My weights seem to be holding up. I did notice that one if them is just ever so slightly showing some rust buildup at one spot where the rubber cover had a hole…but it doesn’t appear to be leaking or anything. So I just put some epoxy glue on that spot and called it done.
I too will eventually replace my Hayward poolvac xl. I was looking at a Polaris.
Thanks again for sharing.
David Vielmetter
Hi David,
Can you explain where you attached the hook and how ?
This simple clip gets between the pool main drain and the cleaner and prevents the the suction lock from forming between the cleaner and the main drain cover.
Harry Alabugh
Manager
Main Drain Clip-On, LLC
I bought the Main Drain Clip-On, in fact two of them, and they do not work. I’m going to give this a try!
I had the same problem with my Zodiac G3 and Great White. The problem was a suction balance between the floor drain and skimmer. Too little suction on the floor drain created too much suction on the skimmer powered G3. The flow I finally found a very simple fix. I took the PVC connection from the tailpipe of a sink drain to the trap and put it between the G3 and hose. I drilled holes in this section (about 8 1/8 inch holes) one at a time until I got the right balance of suction. The Zodiac Baracuda Cleaner Automatic Flow Keeper Control Valve that came with the G3 kept breaking the springs, probably because our pool is salt and at $40 a shot I didn’t want to keep buying new ones. This simple solution fixed the problem and my cleaner no longer hangs up on the floor drain. Alsy, no moving parts to break.. Good luck.
The Main Drain Clip-On does not work. I have 2 installed in a cross pattern. Customer service does not return phone calls.
I had the same problem with my Zodiac G3 and Great White. The problem was a suction balance between the floor drain and skimmer. Too little suction on the floor drain created too much suction on the skimmer powered G3. The flow I finally found a very simple fix. I took the PVC connection from the tailpipe of a sink drain to the trap and put it between the G3 and hose. I drilled holes in this section (about 8 1/8 inch holes) one at a time until I got the right balance of suction. The Zodiac Baracuda Cleaner Automatic Flow Keeper Control Valve that came with the G3 kept breaking the springs, probably because our pool is salt and at $40 a shot I didn’t want to keep buying new ones. This simple solution fixed the problem and my cleaner no longer hangs up on the floor drain. Alsy, no moving parts to break.. Good luck.
Hey Larry,
Thanks for the info. I’m sure it’ll help someone else. For me it’s definitely a suction imbalance issue just like you said, thanks for sharing your fix.
David.