It takes approximately 2 minutes or less to attach SkimDoctor to your skimmer basket. All fasteners are provided and no tools are needed.

SkimDoctor 2.0 uses several physics principles to create a vortex in your skimmer and increase surface water velocity. First, by forcing water to flow through SkimDoctor’s narrow slots, SkimDoctor 2.0 increases the speed of the water in your skimmer. This phenomena is called the Bernoulli principle and also explains the flow of water in white water rapids.

In addition, the SkimDoctor 2.0 tube itself forces water to flow around the tube, thereby narrowing the water channel, and creating a second Bernoulli effect.

Because SkimDoctor 2.0 increases the speed of water, debris is drawn more quickly into your basket, which may allow you to run your pump less.

It’s important to remember that water velocity and energy savings are only some of the benefits of SkimDoctor 2.0. SkimDoctor 2.0 also prevents you from having to put your hand through all that gunk to remove the basket. SkimDoctor 2.0 also increases the storage capacity of your basket. (It is still a good idea to empty your pool basket frequently).

The width of the SkimDoctor’s slots determines water speed inside your skimmer. Rotating SkimDoctor’s inner tube so that the outer tube covers more of the inner tube’s slots will increase the speed of water. Conversely, rotating the inner tube so that the outer tube covers less of the inner tube’s slots will decrease the speed of water in your skimmer. The SkimDoctor’s ears on the inside tube allow for easy rotation of the inner tube. The science behind the SkimDoctor is explained here.
In general, when your skimmer is working well, you will likely need to only cover a small portion of the outer tube slots or none of the slots at all. On the other hand, when your skimmer is not working well, you will likely need to cover more of the outer tube slots. It’s important not to cover the outer tube slots too much so that your pump does not draw air. The SkimDoctor 2.0 new design makes it impossible to completely close off the slots but still requires the end user to adjust per your particular situation. We recommend that you do a small number of adjustments to find the best setting for your pool. Also, if you notice air being blown out of the water jets, you should uncover the SkimDoctor 2.0 slots more until no more air is seen. If you have a variable speed pump and you wish to only adjust once we suggest you set the openings in the slot to the highest speed your pump runs if you have it set to change setting automatically. If you make these changes to your pump manually you can adjust the slots as per pump speed setting.

There is no wrong way to install the SkimDoctor. In our preliminary tests, we have found that the SkimDoctor 2.0 works best when the SkimDoctor slots are to the left and right of the skimmer. For a good reference just point the SkimDoctor log on the tube to the front towards the pool water or to the back of the skimmer away from the pool water. because water will flow around the tube like water draining in a sink. Likewise you may need to do a small number of adjustments to find the best setting for your pool. See the next drawing for reference.

If there is large debris, large amounts of leaves or large leaves you could benefit by placing one slot directly toward the skimmer opening if you are having trouble with debris getting stuck in the chamber in the other position.

Hold the basket or basket ring with one hand and unscrew the SkimDoctor tube with the other hand from the basket and ring turning the tube counter clock wise. Set the tube aside and briskly shake the basket back and forth or tap the basket bottom with your hand so that the debris becomes dislodged and shakes out of the basket. Do not hit the basket or ring on hard surfaces which could break them.

If there is a lot of small debris or debris is suctioned to the sides of the basket, hold the basket with ring attached upside down with one hand holding the basket and tap the side of the basket with the other hand to help loosen. Rotate the basket using this method. Another method is to tap the basket gently against the inside of your “plastic” trashcan. Caution, do not tap against metal or hard trashcans or hard objects that could potentially damage your basket or SkimDoctor ring. If the basket has suctioned debris very hard against the basket so that these methods do not work you may have to use a garden hose to loosen. Always check your ring bolts that they are still secure and hand tight. Screw the SkimDoctor tube back into the basket ring, readjust SkimDoctor and enjoy you pool!

If your skimmer is not working well or seems to not have enough suction here are some tips that may help. If you have a 3 way valve at your pump between the pump inlet and the skimmer and bottom drain line you, should be able to direct more suction to your skimmer and less to the bottom drain. Or if you have independent valves on your bottom drain line and skimmer line going to the same pump, closing down the bottom drain a bit should give you more suction to the skimmer. Always make these adjustments gradually until you see the results you want. Also setting your jets in the pool to gently move the water around the pool in one direction and on to the skimmer. Turning off water features and water sprays during non use is a good idea as this can disrupt the calm flow of water to the skimmer.

The silver ring, which connects the tube to the basket, is 7.5 inches in diameter.
The blue ring is 8.38 inches in diameter. This ring, though included in every package, is only required if you have a large skimmer basket.
The tube is 6.5 inches in height when attached to the silver ring.