When we lived in AZ we had a skimmer built in and a seperate vaccum plumbed in. The skimmer generally only ever caught dead crtitters, not much foilage in Yuma.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

i do both. but, i turn a valve to use skimmer or vacuum. can skim and vac at same time, but suction is decreased for both.

i do not skim--i just swim



on a more relevant note--yes you should run a skimmer or manually skim. My BIL up in ATL had a lot of problems with debris causing water problems until he went with a salt water system. He still skims the heck out of his pool for the debris but it doesn't cause near the water problems with the salt water system. With my Endless Pool (inside a pool house) of course this is not a issue at all. :-)

/r

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Steve

Stop by Paragon Pool and Spa on TO BLVD. I worked there in the 90's when I was in college. If Steve is still the owner you'll get great advice. When I cleaned pools those things never worked well, but technology changes.

For a half second i thought you were like this guy



Then I put on my glasses.

Thanks. I've seen some "alternatives" - like the leaf canisters that go in-line on the vac - but they don't really seem like they achieve the same function. I have yet to see something that does the same basic function but better... I'll go check out Paragon.

Seems like they have new owners. Or at least employees - http://www.paragonpoolspa.com/about-us

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Thanks for the link. Dan was also an owner. He's been there for 30 years. Knows his stuff. I miss that job. Used to get a tri tip sandwich just down the street after I was done.

Depends, a lot of small debris, insects etc... Just float on the surface and will never be picked up by the cleaner. If your pool doesn't have a dedicated vacuum line you have to choose to either clean the bottom or skim

I've been using one of these for about a year now and it works really well: https://www.skim-a-round.com

Pretty expensive but with this setup (barracuda cleaner and skim around) I haven't used a leaf net since. I just empty the skim around basket every week.

I had seen that - skim-around, but I couldn't find any independent reviews. I might give that a go based on your recommendation. Certainly seems better than the Vacmate, and not really all that much more expensive since the Vacmate constantly needs new gaskets and baskets. Thanks.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

How many lanes in you pool? We want to come over to work-out!

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law