PoolSkim Pool Skimmer and Pool Cleaner

I purchased the PoolSkim 2 years ago form Amazon. I have to say it was one of the best $100 bucks I have ever spent!!!! In this day and age of poor quality and false advertising, it is wonderful to find a product that actually performs well and does what it is supposed to do. It has far exceeded my expectations. It attaches to the return on your pool and creates a vortex on the surface of the water that sucks all the surface debris (bugs, leaves, seed pods, etc.) into the attached mesh bag. You simply empty and rinse the bag when it gets full. I have a 27" round pool and I only have to empty the bag about 1 per week, sometimes twice per week in the spring and fall when there are extra leaves and seed pods. It doesn't require any electricity or any sort of attachment to the filter itself. With the PoolSkim, you will never have to manually skim your pool with a net ever again. It works so well that you will be able to vacuum less since it sucks up all the surface garbage before it can sink to the bottom of the pool. It also saves your filter from getting dirty and you will clean your filter less frequently. This past season I only had to vacuum my pool @ every 10 days and even then it wasn't very dirty. I only cleaned my DE filter once during the season and once at closing. The Pool Skim saves you so much work and makes pool maintenance a breeze. I had no trouble installing it. I only had to make one cut in the PVC pipe to get it to fit properly on my return. The entire installation only took me about 30 minutes. I have an above ground pool where the return is fairly close to the surface so that may be why it was an easy installation for me. I know some reviewers said they had difficult time installing it but believe me, once you finally get it installed, it will definitely be worth the effort. I highly recommend the PoolSkim to every pool owner. You will never regret it. You will be so glad that the PoolSkim is now cleaning your pool instead of you.

Was sick of spending quite a bit of time skimming prior to each pool use. Was actually looking for a surface skimming automatic robot (selection appears limited and they appear to be pricey) when I stumbled upon this. Price seemed fair, reviews seemed good, and figured I could send back if didn't work. It works exactly as shown. Creates a little whirlpool that all the floating debris goes into. Most debris are gone w/in 10 minutes and everything (or close to it) is gone within a hour. This thing will save me HOURS every summer. Not hard to install but not a cake walk either, takes a little bit of basic DIY skill. Configuration depends on how low below the water line your jet/return is and also what type of vacuum you have. The installation video on their site is confusing in my opinion, however, I found one YouTube from the manufacturer which made more sense to me. You have 2x 90 degree elbows, 1 45 degree elbow, and a 1ish foot piece of PVC pipe. You may need only 1 90, or only 1 45, or 2 90s + pipe, or 1 90 + pipe + 1 45...may need to angle the pipe upwards, downwards, or somewhere in between, may also need cut the pipe. The water pressure was causing the unit to move at the return threading so it took a little plumber's tape and a pipe wrench to get it snug. The screws need to be really tight as well (probably not a terrible idea to use pvc glue instead of the screws once you are confident with your configuration). Seems pretty sturdy, ridiculously easy to empty the debris bag, works as it should, and eliminates (or almost eliminates) the need to manually skim. If you're tired of manually skimming then this is an absolute must have.

I bought one of these just over 5 years ago. I love, love, LOVE IT! It gets used all summer long saving me hours of hand skimming. I buy packages of plus size knee high nylon stockings to line the bag, which saves cleaning time, and I also put an 8 or 10" piece of PVC pipe inside the stocking which keeps the stocking in the bag instead of floating around in main chamber. Once a week when I refill chlorinator I pull stocking out of bag and pitch it, after retrieving my pipe. I put a foot long connector pipe (included) from pool return to Pool Skim, which means I can change the bag without getting in pool or lying on my stomach. I just rotate it up with a boat hook so I can easily reach it. Unfortunately, the easy rotation also works when you don't want it to. To prevent the thing from rising into the air and draining my pool, I bought a 6'x1" PVC pipe, connectors and some glue. Measured how deep I needed the thing to be and made a bracket to hold it in place. I place a concrete block on it to keep it from rising out of the pool. If we get a lot of rain, I set bracket on two bricks, then put concrete block on top. It looks a little odd, I suppose, but so worth it to get rid of floating debris.

First off, it was kind of a mission to install. I had to take a drive to my local Home Depot and had to have 2 employees help me with the installation hurdles. I believe it's because our pool is fairly new and uses those "snap in covers" in our water return/outlet pipes. Not the screw type which they provide fittings for. 2 hours , 2 couplings, and reducers later; that bad boy was installed. I then turned on then pump and the thing did nothing. I then realized my return didn't have sufficient pressure/force from the water coming out of the pipe to make it function properly. The reason is: we have a waterfall in our pool that acts like a return making the actual returns in the pool really weak. I was disappointed an called the company for a full refund / minus the shipping I had to pay to send it to them. I went to dismantle the thing to return it and thought, "let me take a look by the millions of pipe by the pump for my pool and see if it had a waterfall shut-off valve. It DID! So my water fall is never on now. I prefer a clean pool than beautiful waterfall. (the women in the family disagree) I made a deal that during events/parties that the waterfall would be on. This skimmer left my pool, that was full of dead bugs, bees, flies, and these really small white gnats, completely clear in 2 hours. I was amazed. I stayed in the pool those 2 hours with my glass of wine(s) observing and following particles and dead bees from their starting point the their destination(poolskim). The trip avg. was about 10-20 mins. for which ever debris I followed. (yes, I was bored on that Sunday dusk) I also noticed at first the the really small particles and gnats would come out of the net as they were smaller than the holes in the net, but after the net got filled with more debris and grass and leaves they sort of turned into a secondary filter which stopped the smaller particles that once escaped their demise. Everytime, I go in the pool I still get amazed how clean it is. The pool man asked me where I found this amazing product as he doesn't have to clean the pool surface anymore. I told him he now is being paid 10 dollars less then normal. (was joking with him). He should of been the one recommending this product to me instead of me hunting online trying to find a surface cleaner. Well his future and current customers will thank him now, and he should thank me. And I should thank the reviewers and amazon. And finally we should all thank POOLSKIM for an amazing invention. so simple yet so effective. Keep up the good work. If you're hunting for the same thing I was. Stop hunting. You found your new cleaner. BUY IT. You won't regret it.

This skimmer is incredible when it's set up and working properly. It took me a few hours to get it configured right for my pool. I have a 1HP dual-speed pump, and at high speed, it's just too strong--the force of the water going into the venturi device is too much for the connections, and it pushes the "hat" up out of the water. The method of using little metal screws to secure the PVC pieces is a little bit ineffective, so I ended up using some PVC primer and glue to glue things together appropriately. It took some experimentation with the different connectors to figure out the best setup. I still have to jam a stick or something in between my pool coping and the "hat" to keep it from floating up, no matter how tightly I screw in the connector at the return. BUT! Once it's all set up and sitting properly, it's AMAZING! It can clear a pool full of leaves in 30 minutes. My pump stays on low speed almost all the time, and it works so so well. This, combined with a Hayward Pool Bug cleaner, has been keeping my pool so much cleaner this season.

This product is very simple and works well. I run a Hayward XL as a bottom cleaner on the intake side of the pool while the PoolSkim skimmer is simultaneoulsy connected to the outlet back to the pool. The pool is inground with dimensions of 17 feet by 40 feet. With the pump set for 25 GPM the two units clean the top and bottom of the pool in about one hour. The skimmer works well at lower settings also. I get leaves, cottonwood pollen and seed pods, and other material that flies through the air in New Mexico's spring winds and the PoolSkim removes everything larger than the pores in the bag. The unit was simple to install and skims debris off the surface rapidly. I would estimate that it is about 5 times more effective than the built in side skimmer in my pool. Some people have complained about the $90+ price since the unit is so simple but elegant engineering is what you are paying for. 2 May 2017: It's now 4 years later. The skimmer works phenomenally well as I said years ago in my original review. It has been in the pool water all the time and works exactly like the day I installed it. I was never satisfied with the pool's original side skimmer as the leaves and debris would come in faster than it would remove it. The PoolSkim stays easily ahead of any leaves, bugs or debris. Also the way it is made, it is inherently safe. You can stick your hand in the intake while it is operating with no danger. It converts the high velocity discharge of your pump into a much larger volume of slower moving water. This device should be a standard part of any well designed pool. 20 June 2020: Seven years after installation and I still feel this is the best addition to the pool that I have ever made. The New Mexico spring winds blow leaves and debris into the pool even though I have a motorized pool cover. The surface of the pool had about a large coffee can full of leaves and styrofoam from a roof project. The PoolSkimmer removed 99% of it in less than an hour. That's with the pool pump running at less than half flow.

Seriously... I couldn't wait to write a review on this. First of all it came way quicker than I expected - so that was a good start. Then... I got a little bummed because the spot that I had intended to put it ended up NOT being a return line (we're new to pool ownership - this is our first season start to finish here on Long Island). Luckily, our pool people were able to change the line (which was an old pool vacuum line) and change it into a return line. The pool guys had never seen this Pool Skimmer before but easily installed it following the directions. I have a rectangular in-ground pool and it is halfway on one of the long sides. I was so excited to turn the pool on to see how it works (much to the pool guys amusement). It works FANTASTIC!!! Our pool is surrounded by pine trees.... those stupid pine needles are a giant pain in the butt because they are constantly falling into the pool and I feel like I could never skim the pool well enough & it would take me forever. But I kid you not .... I'm going to barely have to do any skimming myself now.... this Pool Skimmer is getting e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g off the surface of this pool (yes there are a few things that get stuck in a corner.... but otherwise it's clean clean clean). I simply turn the pump on and go inside to have my coffee.... no more skimming by me :) The bag comes off very easily, then I turn it inside out to get everything out, give it a rinse with the hose, turn it right side out and put it back on. I was initially concerned that it would stick out into the pool... and with kids I thought for sure it would get damaged. But, it's tucked nicely against the side of the pool so I don't think it will be an issue. If it does seem like it would get in the way, the pool guys explained it's fairly easy to take off with the fitting that is provided. I of course can't comment on how long it will last..... though, it appears to be well made and sturdy. As of right now.... I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS!

I agree with most of the reviewers that the directions are sparse but the pieces you are given if properly fit, will do the job and that is a plus. Next, it will literally clean the surface of a pool, mine is 25,000 gallons and a lazy L shape and surrounded by trees, in about 15 minutes of pump time. A problem I had and the advice of my pool supplier helped me solve, is worth mentioning because it might save others some valuable time. I could not fit the attachment adapter into the pool output jet hole. I had to use a water jet hole that I use for the Polaris bottom cleaner. Also, the level was not correct because it was higher up on the side of the pool. Literally I had about one inch of space between the top of the PoolSkim Pool Skimmer and the water surface. It did suck in the leaves but the Cap was over the water level if I used it. The man from the pool supply place told me to screw out the plastic attachment from the pool wall. He suggested that I make a key for it and it should screw out. I saw the problem and said, let me try a Plumbers Monkey Wrench and it took it out quickly, or better said, in less than 15 seconds. I took that part and screwed it back into the water jet attachment and put it away for another time. The PoolSkim attachments were two in number and the smaller one was a perfect fit. I used the first U-turn to direct the pipe upwards and the second U-turn to direct it parallel to the water serface; the 45 degree angle was used as recommended and went from the upper U-turn to the 45 degree turn. I now had the device about 5 to 6 inches below water without the Hat on it. I turned on the pool pump - I have a 1.5 horse power pump - and could see the whirlpool forming and sucking the leaves and twigs down into the device and into the leaf bag. I put the Hat on the device and it worked even better. I seems to make a 2 to 3 inch drop in the water level from the intake opening to the inside of the tunnel in the tube. The pool water appears to be flowing down into a cavity. I just watched and saw that the oak pollen and leaves and pine leaves were heading to that part of the pool and disappearing into the leaf bag. This is the best buy I have ever made for my pool. I would buy this item again if needed. But I do not see how it could break.