Intex Deluxe 800 GPH+ Wall-Mounted Swimming Pool Surface Automatic Skimmer

This skimmer is great. It catches everything floating on top and goes inside of a basket inside the skimmer. Setup is very easy. You connect the tub to the intake and clamp it on the side of your pool. Make sure it’s right under the water level and the white part will float right at water level. It’s adjustable so you can use it for many different pool levels. You can adjust it up and down and you can adjust it on the pool with different angles with the clamp. Keep in mind you need a good filter that has a decent amount of pressure in order for this to work If the pressure of the filter is not good, this skimmer won’t catch anything. It’s very easy to clean, take the basket out, spray it down with the hose and put it back together which is also very easy and quick. The product is very light but works very well. I recommend this product and I’m sure it will help keep your water crystal clear.

Perfect solution for installing a skimmer to a soft-sided pool. Installs easily, and is very effective.

I am not compensated by anyone to write my review... This is nice when it's working. My pool has two vacuum ports, and this takes one of them...It's isn't providing much suction so, it's not the best. However, when it is working, it's nice to have. First, I must say I have a 9' x 18' x 52' Intex pool. It has two suction inlets. Also, just as a top item. I wish the assembly could better seal so the only way to suck in water was over the blue ring. The following is a description of that failing to work correctly. In order to get this to work properly, you must restrict the flow of the other. I have found a custom made plug, much like the gray one contained in it (only with a few extra holes from leather punch) works best. HOWEVER, you cannot leave your pool this way, as you will not get proper filtration and will have crap build up at the bottom. I usually take it off restrictor either each night, or when I think about it and let the pump run normally for a while with no skimmer attached. You could also just remove the skimmer hose, but it is a giant pain to grab again from outside the pool. It also helps to have this "skimmer" in the back corner. I thought the middle would work initially but it didn't seem to work as well as the back edge. I am afraid I might be disturbing the proper circulation though. One MAJOR problem, air in the lines as others have stated. ADDITIONALLY, periodically, the suction will no longer pull the basket down and activate the (blue) float ring to dip letting water flow over it. So instead it basically pulls water in from under the upper lip, or from the very bottom defeating the purpose of the skimmer. I really don't care for this design, but with some constant TLC, it will clear the leaves and bugs, etc. from your pool. My pool is next to an oak tree on one side, and a cherry tree on the other (holy moly, lots of cleaning). Essentially, I have to use whatever I can get to automate the surface. I also have to frequently vacuum, but it is worse when the skimmer isn't working. Today, I clean an nights worth of wind blow debris in about an hour (without manual skimming), but I did have to keep resetting the skimmer, and emptying the basket about every 20 minutes. This bring out another point that many have made. A good wave or wind, maybe a large bee are all good culprits and blowing the debris in the blue ring all over the pool. One method I use, take hand leaf skimmer (the oval looking one) and depress the blue ring while skimming the top bit of debris. That cleans a lot of it without much manipulation. Depending on quick/accurate I am, it usually fairs well. For the other times, it takes a bit to catch all the stuff I just dumped back into the pool. The mounting arm is pretty flimsy, and quite annoying. However, keep in mind it is adjustable for a purpose. If you have the arm too high, the basket will be very close to the top ring and might create to much suction, which will eventually cause it to stop functioning. If however, it is too low, the suction will not be strong enough to keep the blue ring below the water (ie situation described above where the water is sucked in below the blue ring), eventually causing it to fail. It takes a balance, and a lot of attention. I have taken to ,moving mine so it is angled forcing the front of the blue ring to always be slightly in the water (skimmer moved towards side of pool). The at least delays the suction issue where the blue ring won't dip below the water. Not great, but we do what we can. Skimmer socks (smaller cloth based filters that fit over the basket, inside the blue ring) will work great for a short while, but then get filled up with junk and blocks the port. It also makes it harder for a weak pump. I've tried them on the inside around just the basket, I've tried them around the entire assembly, which works for a bit. Ultimately, I think I might have figured out a way to keep them working, but alas, pull them off each time. The crap off Oak Trees can pass right through some of these wide filters, and reduce the suction on your pump. If you have a filter style, stop and clean it. One time mine was nearly clogged in under ten minutes (is in, I just replaced the filter with a new one, started the pump, 10 minutes later I had to pull it out and rinse it off again). I've also had the sand one need a backwash after a short time for similar reasons. Another note as some have stated. The blue plastic connector port for the side of the inlet WILL NOT work directly with a vacuum hose. That was an older connector design (probably around 2014 or earlier) that allowed a vacuum hose to be inserted in to the connector. Now that same area is covered by a plastic grate to prevent large debris. Apparently as others have said, the only way to get the correct attachment is the cleaning kit. I've just ordered one, so I'll review it once I have it. All in all, it's definitely a good thing to have, but it IS NOT set and forget. Sometimes it works great for a week, sometimes I have to screw with it every 10 minutes. Most of it has to do with the conditions it's operating in.

My granddaughter is very squeamish about bugs and "icky stuff" floating on the pool, we were spending a large amount of time every day using a hand net to remove bugs and "icky stuff" before during and after her swim. The skimmer is cleverly designed and does an excellent job skimming the pool, it actually works better than my previous pools built in skimmer did before I set up the replacement Intex pool. Within a few hours the pool surface was, as the name says crystal clear. Also the filter basket is very large and holds a large amount of debree that never makes it to your pool filter, helping to save cost on cartridges (if you are using them) Its not really clear from the description but it comes with all of the brackets needed to use with a Intex straight wall pool or an easy set pool (the kind with the air ring) I have an easy set pool with the air ring at the top of the pool. The skimmer went together in a few min and I selected the air ring bracket. It connects very easily with the pool. It comes with a threaded adapter that screws over the intake vent on the pool, then you connect the small hose supplied from the skimmer to the intake vent adapter. This simple skimmer works great after you play with it and get it going, heres my story about that; I'm using my skimmer with a 1 1/2 hp Hayward hi flow pump and a Triton hi flow sand filter (left over from my previous 24 ft above ground pool), the pump is very powerful. The strange thing was that the skimmer would sit perfectly flush with the top of the water and as soon as I turned the pump on... it would rise out of the water and the pump would start sucking air. (I think the suction on the hose to the skimmer was somehow pushing the skimmer housing out of the water) I tried tightening the clamp on the air ring, I made brackets to connect to the air ring clamp on the out side of the pool to keep the skimmer from rising and all of my attempts would fail after a few hours or days of use. I finally figured out what to do. 1) The first thing I did was lower the skimmer basket housing (the light blue or in my case white piece) from flush with the surface of the water to 3" or so below the surface. (The skimmer assembly (the dark blue part) floats inside the housing, and can rise or fall with the water by around 4 - 6". ) 2) The second thing I did was to budgie cord the skimmer basket and bracket assembly inside the pool to the hose right where it connects to the pool return vent # 1 has the basket assembly well below the surface so the skimmer can float up and down with the waves etc and doesn't suck in air. #2 prevents the skimmer basket housing from twisting or rising out of the water when the kids are playing. Done desperately I still had problems... done together and no more issues. Even with my powerful pump the skimmer works well. Note: On the bottom of the skimmer basket housing there is a open intake vent... I assume if the filter basket gets totally clogged the vent still allows water into the intake so the pump it isn't starved. There are also some rubber flaps that look like they may open or close to allow more water to by pass the skimmer depending on the amount of suction. I'm not sure but as an eng i know they wouldn't have put that in place unless they felt it served a purpose. Anyway I am very impressed with this little device, its been a week of continuous use now and no problems

In theory this is very easy to install – just connect some pieces, hang the tub an inch below the surface of the water, connect the hose to one inlet, toss the basket and blue-colored floating cover in, and place the flow reducer under the cover of the other inlet. Once together, you can see it draw lots of leaves and bugs into it, undoubtable helping keep the pool cleaner. For the price it’s a must-have addition! We even enjoy watching this work, mesmerized by debris swirling and eventually being drawn in. But sometimes things don’t work as well in theory as in practice, which is why I had to remove some stars. For starters, the clamp that attaches to the frame of the pool is ever slightly too small for the frame of our 20’ Bestway pool (which I understand to have been manufactured by Intex). That causes it to frequently come off and so I will modify it by sanding down the ridges on the inside of the clamp. The other problem is that the tub and hose are too buoyant (even before I dumped salt into our pool), causing the entire thing to want to pivot into a horizontal alignment. It has to stay very vertical in order for the floating cover to work correctly. So I bought large stainless steel washers from the hardware store to plunk into the tub and try to ballast it. These flaws aren’t deal breakers, but they should have been foreseen and corrected by the manufacturer.

Undisputed MVP of my pool equipment team. I have a 3000 gallon Intex 16'x8'x42" Rectangular Prism Frame Pool and a 2100gph Intex Sand Filter. I was vacuuming, filtering, and skimming with my net constantly and still my water was cloudy despite having good numbers all around. There was always a film of dust, and sunscreen sludge on the surface that no amount of filtering or skimming could remove. Swarms of gnats so small that the skim net couldn't retain them would litter the surface. When I mow the lawn, mountains of dust and tiny clippings would settle over the whole pool and the skimmer could do nothing. I'd have to wait for everything to sink and then vacuum. I would cringe when I mowed the lawn. I would cringe when the kids went in with sunscreen on. I would cringe when I saw the gnats swarming in the evenings. And then I bought the Intex Deluxe Wall Mount Surface Skimmer. I was skeptical. It just didn't look all that effective or reliable. When I opened the box, it was bigger than I expected. Installation was incredibly easy and quick. Within half an hour, the surface sludge was gone and before the day was over, my water was sparkling! I'd be remiss if I didn't say that a bit of care and thought goes into using the skimmer effectively. For starters, with my 2100gph pump, I have to install the white restrictor cap over my second outflow port in order to generate enough suction to operate the skimmer. The skimmer works best when blue sleeve floats about 2 to 3 inches above the white base cylinder that the hose attaches to. You get your best performance in calm water. I've left it in while the kids were swimming and it has been fine. But if the water gets too turbulent, you the sleeve could come out or, worse yet, bottom out and you could suck air into your lines. I also have an air leak at my restricted outflow port that causes air to slowly get sucked in to the line. Because of this, I have to shut the pump off for a few seconds every couple of hours to allow the air to escape back up the line. This may not be your experience, but it is something to watch out for. I frequently skim the layer of sludge off of the surface of the skimmer using a name brand paper towel. If you get too much sludge/oil buildup in the skimmer, it will actually float back up out of the skimmer. When I am finished using the skimmer, I detach the hose from the outflow port and I cover the end of the hose with a (you guessed it) name brand paper towel that has been folded in half. I then detach the skimmer and lift it slowly out of the water. The paper towel filters the water as it runs out of the hose and prevents small debris and sludge from flowing out into the pool. I am obsessed with keeping my pool clean and I was fighting a losing battle until I purchased the Intex Deluxe Wall Mount Surface Skimmer. Now I can't wipe the smile off of my face as I watch it devour mountains of bugs and sunscreen sludge.

I have owned and maintained my own above ground swimming pools for over 30 years. Through the years I have had 4 different pools at different homes. The first 2 pools I owned were expensive, high quality pools, and both of these had the typical sidewall mounted skimmer. For my third pool and now fourth pool I decided to save some money by installing the less expensive soft sided type pools. On both of my soft sided pools I have installed these Intex Deluxe Wall Mount Surface Skimmers, and I have been very pleased with the performance of this skimmer. From my own experience, I have found that this Intex wall mount skimmer actually performs better than the typical sidewall mounted type skimmer. With the sidewall skimmer, I usually saw much of the floating debris would float past the skimmer before the skimmer could pull it in. This wall mount skimmer is out in the path of the floating debris and therefore captures the debris more reliably. The instructions clearly state that your pump needs to have at least 800 gallons per hour flow rate for this skimmer to perform correctly. This is not a problem for me because I upgraded to the 14" sand filter which is rated for 2,800 gallons per hour. I have 2 suction hoses on my pool and the skimmer works great even with no restriction on the second hose. If you have 2 suction hoses and a less powerful pump, you will likely need to plug the second hose. This will not cause a problem because the skimmer allows for quite sufficient water flow to the filter. The skimmer kit comes with the fitting and hose to easily connect to the suction fitting. On my pool, I had to remove a small screw from the side of the strainer before I could unscrew it from the pool hose fitting. The only part of this kit I am not completely satisfied with is the mounting clamp. On the plus side, this being the newer model, the clamp does fit the large oval tubing on the newer pool. On the minus side, the plastic clamp is not as rigid as I would prefer, but at this price point I do not expect significantly more. As for longevity; as I stated earlier, I had one of these installed on a previous pool and that one lasted through 4 years of my use and was still usable when I took the pool down and gave it to a friend for their backyard.

I’ll start off with a little back story. I had a round pool 16 foot by 42 inches last year with a built in skimmer. However the pump on the skimmer was junk and leaked all the time. Bought this Bestway pool at beginning of the year same size, but was really upset because although the pump looked better in quality, there wasn’t a skimmer. I only had two inlet hoses they essentially only cleaned small particles as they have strainers over them which wouldn’t allow larger debris into the filter. Therefore I was extremely frustrated. Had to constantly use a manual skimmer but if I waited a day or two, the debris was already sinking to bottom of the pool. Now I had to get out the vacuum to clean bottom of pool. It was a non-ending cycle and drove me insane. I decided to buy this wall skimmer not expecting much as most cheap items don’t work like we expect. But boy I was wrong. The pictures of my pool I’ve posted is no maintenance going on a week. I have a large pine tree less than 15 feet away and a huge oak tree right next to my pine tree. This skimmer is the best purchase I’ve ever made this year. I think even if I had a skimmer pump already on my pool I’d find a way to attach this because I just does an amazing job. It seems flimsy because the top ring floats on top of the pool but that’s fine because it’s how skimmer works to clean debris on top of pool surface. If you have issues like me and you keep getting debris on top of your water that sinks to bottom of the pool look no further and buy this. I don’t leave reviews but this thing has saved me easily 10 hours a week of cleaning the pool. Simple design, yet effective. Honestly was thinking the pool was too much work until I installed this thing. Keep in mind I have a Best way pool with two inlet drains that filter through. And I didn’t have to plug the second drain at all and had enough suction with only one inlet. Seriously thinking about buying another just in case this product stops being produced because you can’t find them anywhere in local pool supply stores.