Pool vacuum ports are somewhat crucial when you get to clean your swimming pool. However, many of us don’t know about it or don’t know how to open pool vacuum port.
Well, the procedure is more than simple. Firstly, you have to know where your pool vacuum port is located. It’s typically at the side of the swimming pool. It’s a bit above the base of the pool. Once you have located it, you have to loosen the grip of the screws.
You can either use a screwdriver underwater or have them loosened all the time. Finally, you have to open the shutter of the vacuum ports. If the grip is tightened, you need to apply force upwards. Just don’t apply the force in the wrong motion, or else you’d break them.
What is a pool vacuum port?
A pool vacuum port is an essential part of cleaning a pool even though many of you may not use it before or never heard of it. But how is it essential?
Swimming pools don’t only have one pool vacuum port rather they have a couple of them. And pool vacuum ports only work to clean the pool, nothing more, nothing less.
Basically, you attach your pool cleaners to this pool vacuum port. What kind of pool vacuums are compatible with pool vacuum ports? The automatic and handheld pool cleaners are compatible with it.
So, how does a pool vacuum port work? It works like a regular vacuum cleaner, but instead of sucking in air, pool vacuum ports suck water. Many pool vacuum ports have their own pumping system, whereas, others use the main pump to suck water and generate power.
How to open a pool vacuum port?
Alright, we have known about what a pool vacuum port is and how a pool vacuum port works. But how would you make it work? We meant, to make a pool vacuum port work, you need to open the port first. How’d you do that? Let’s find it out.
Finding the pool vacuum port
Pool vacuum ports are mostly found in the in-ground swimming pool rather than the above-ground swimming pool. In-ground pools don’t have much water above the skimmer so it’s easier to find the pool vacuum ports.
You should know how to drain pool below skimmer to make it find the pool vacuum ports easier. Also, if you can spot the ports without draining the water, it’s alright to do so.
A small swimming pool would only have a single pool vacuum port. But the bigger ones would have a couple of them. To clean your swimming pool more efficiently, you have to open all of the pool vacuum ports.
Loosening the screw
Almost every pool vacuum port out there has a screw to tighten the grip of the port so that it doesn’t open underwater accidentally. The pool vacuum ports are usually located a bit above the surface level of the pool. So, it won’t be very difficult to loosen the grip of the screws.
However, if you feel troubled loosening the screws underwater, you can keep them at a loose grip underwater. Don’t worry, the ports won’t open by themselves except if you keep the screws hanging.
Opening the pool vacuum port
After loosening the screws, the work is almost done. Just pull up the shutters of the pool vacuum ports, and your pool vacuum ports are being opened.
If you didn’t loosen the grip well, you need to apply force to open them. We recommend you to use a screwdriver, although it is troublesome to use a screwdriver underwater.
Instead of using a screwdriver, you could use a handkerchief or clean cloth to hold the shutter of the pool vacuum port and then twist it upwards to open it up. That’s how easy it is to open a pool vacuum port.
But always remember to close the shutter after you are done cleaning your swimming pool. If you don’t close them, the leaves and debris might get inside the pool vacuum ports, which will result in clogging the insides of the ports.
Does my pool have a vacuum port?
Almost every in-ground swimming pools have a vacuum port. The smaller swimming pools might only have one pool vacuum port, and the bigger ones would have a few of them.
On the contrary, above-ground swimming pools don’t really have or need a pool vacuum port. You can use an automatic pool cleaner to use to clean above-ground pools more effectively.
Kreepy Krauly is one the most popular automatic suction pool cleaners out there. You really should learn how to use suction pool cleaner to clean your above-ground pools. Here’s a guide on how to use Kreepy Krauly.
It is possible that your in-ground swimming pool may not have a vacuum port. If that’s the case, then you can contact any swimming pool construction company to build you one.
You can check for vacuum ports without being in the water. They are located at the side of the swimming pool, not so below the ground for in-ground swimming pools.
How to use vacuum port in pool
Vacuum ports are basically just used to vacuum your swimming pools. So, there aren’t many uses for these ports.
- Attaching the hose of the pool cleaner
Well, you need a pool cleaner to clean your pools. A skimmer is also fine, but vacuum ports are mainly designed for pool vacuum cleaners. So, attach the hose that is connected to the pool cleaner with the vacuum port.
- Opening the vacuum port
You already know how to open the pool vacuum ports. Just follow our leads and this step is done before you know.
- Turning on the main pump
As we mentioned earlier that many pool vacuum ports have their own pumping system. Just turn them on to generate suction, or else turn on the main pump to generate suction if your vacuum ports don’t have their own pumping system.
Before you go
We hope you got an idea of how to open pool vacuum port by now. We really think you don’t need to go anywhere for any additional information, you can get everything you need right here. You just need to follow the instructions correctly.
If you run into any problems, just let us know via email, or get help from any swimming pool professional near you. Until then, good luck with your swimming pool and opening the pool vacuum ports.
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