SWIMLINE HYDROTOOLS Standard Thru-Wall Above Ground Pool Skimmer Kit With WATER LEVELING SYSTEM | ABS Construction | Large Debris Basket| Snap-In & Removable Weir | Above Ground Pool Skimmer | Skimmer

Very good product! I’ll try to keep this short and sweet as others have mentioned some of the most important things already. Firstly the instructions are pretty good however...BE SURE AND PRESCREW ALL THE SCREWS INTO THE HOUSINGS!!! I did this as well and it did make it much easier to get the screws in once you have your holes punched. You’ll need a heavy duty screwdriver though (not sure of the size but something like a #8 or #9 ((large headed)). This unit works perfectly with the Intex return hoses! No need for an adapter the return hose slides right into the lower fitting that comes with it and the clamp fits very secure just make sure the hose is all the way on and your clamp is above the divot ring so the hose gets a good seal and won’t slide off. Don’t cut your pool “opening” until after you’ve screwed in all the screws VERY TIGHT. Also, the main housing uses 6 screws! 4 of them are kinda hidden way down in the top and bottom. I used a long handle pair of pliers to pre-install them on my workbench then used a manual screwdriver to torque everything in place (DONT FORGET YOUR GASKETS) the only issue I had was the Teflon tape that comes with this is junk. Don’t use it. Get some good tape for the bottom fitting. Mine leaks a little but not too bad. I’ll fix that later. I’m using an Intex 16” sand filter with a 1/2 Hp motor. Let me tell you...this thing sucks HARD! Don’t stick your fingers down on the suction hole like I did and almost lost a finger! Otherwise it began sucking everything that approached it amazingly! The plastic looks kinda cheap but is thick and pretty durable only time will tell if this thing holds up to the West Texas sunshine and heat!

I bought at just under $28 so how could I go wrong? Whoops! The price has gone up. I had a similar skimmer on my previous above ground pool, but that skimmer had a smaller mouth. Because of the wider mouth on this one it works better. It narrows inside which causes the water to move faster as it enters the skimmer helping to pull in more floating debris. (My new Kholer toilets unique flush valve uses a similar design to give a fast flush with little water.) Installation was pretty intuitive, but difficult and tedious. Difficult because it took everything my old arthritic hands had to turn those screws. Thankfully, I had followed another reviewers suggestion to screw in then remove all the screws before installation. I had to use a drill to get them in because I just didn’t have the strength to do it. Even after taking this extra step it was still difficult for me to get the screws in by hand during installation resulting in blisters by the time I was done. Should have worn gloves. (The pool was almost full of water in order to have the wall tight and I wasn’t going to stand in the water and use an electric drill. I guess this was one of those rare times when I could have used a battery powered drill.) The tediousness comes in when trying to line up the holes and get the screws to bite - especially the first few. Be sure to get those screws TIGHT in order to avoid leaks. Have some patience here. It’s all worth it when you are done. It’s too bad above ground pools don’t come with such a skimmer. Just having an underwater hole in the side of the pool doesn’t do the job required. Between this skimmer and my Intex robot vacuum, I NEVER have to manually vacuum my pool. I just keep my filters clean. If there were any flaws with the skimmer it would be that the little basket inside is kind of flimsy. It certainly does the job, but it is just kind of light weight and feels kind of brittle. I’ll have to be careful with it. I do highly recommend this skimmer, but suggest waiting for a reasonable price. Unrelated tip for your pool: Add some Dawn dish soap to the water. You will never have any kind of bug living in your pool and wasps/yellow jackets can’t land on the surface of the water. They either give up and fly away or drown and get sucked into the skimmer.

I bought this skimmer kit for my Intex 18ftx9ftx52in Ultra XTR Pool Kit. I did not like how this pool had two under water inlets for the filter pump and no surface skimmer intake. I was having to net out a lot of surface debris like bugs and leaves that the under water inlets would not pull in. So I eliminated one of the under water inlets and plumbed that line to this skimmer and there has been a huge improvement. The basket was full of water beetles and leaves/debris within the first couple hours of running. Fairly easy to install, just take your time and double check everything before cutting a fairly large rectangular hole in your pool liner! There are some good youtube installation videos out there that are a big help if you watch first. I am also impressed with the overall quality/build of this kit. Hopefully it holds up in the harsh environment of sunlight and chlorine, time will tell...

After spending 5 hours trying to get the screws to go all the way in, I do not understand the reviews that say they just "screwed it on" like it was easy. The holes the screws went in on the skimmer were not a match or not threaded. I used so much energy trying to get the screws tight enough to keep our pool from leaking that I was sore a few days after. My husband tried too and the screws did not go in far enough to tighten the plastic square around the gasket to keep it from leaking. We had many screws get stripped before we could get them tightened enough. The other difficult thing was the screws they sent were flat, so trying to screw a flat end through a tight plastic liner was awful. I got so worried I had ruined our pool until my husband suggested we try different screws. He made a trip to the hardware store and got some that were the same thickness, better material, and had points on them. See picture. We replaced all the screws we received and they tightened much better and stopped the leaks. Thank goodness! If the manufacturer of this can improve the screws that come with it, this product would be so much better. The skimmer is great and comes with a lot of attachments and does work. It was a good value too. Just replace the screws if you receive flat ones and you will love this product.

Super easy to install. Helped a lot during the pool time

Great product and service

If I HAVE to find one gripe about this product, it would be that the gaskets are a bit hard to line up during installation. I had the bottom side of the outside gasket not seat properly and cause a leak. However, I easily fixed it by loosening the screws and lining it up again. No leaks since! Otherwise, this is a great product. I have an 18’x4’ Bestway vinyl pool. The liner cut like butter for installation and the hose that came with my pump fit right onto the outlet that screws into the bottom of the skimmer. I went several days without manually skimming my pool before installing. It’s been running now for almost two days and as of this morning, there are literally only two small flecks sitting on the surface of the water. Before this I tried one of the smaller coffee-can style “skimmers” that attaches to the top rail of the pool. It worked OK for catching bigger things that floated right over it. Smaller bugs and things did not stay captured in the skimmer, not to mention, when you pushed the floater down to empty the bucket, all of the bugs sitting inside would pop out and go right back into the water anyway. Lastly, during my son’s birthday party we had enough people in the pool that the movement caused the clamp to detach from the top rail of the pool which rendered it useless. TLDR: highly recommend, make sure the gaskets are lined up properly during installation, don’t waste your time with the cylindrical skimmers that attach to the top rail of the pool.

I was a little scared of cutting a hole in my pool like most. I did install it when the pool was full. If you install it when it's full use an ice pic to make the holes for the screws. Start by separating the two gaskets. Put one gasket on the inside frame and line it up on the inside of the pool where ever you wish so long as there will be water flow into the skimmer. I pushed the ice pic from the inside out. Please make sure YOU are not near the end of the pic or anyone else when piercing the pool. Install a screw so that you can move to the next corner making sure that the frame is level. Continue till all screws are installed. Once you have the frame screwed to the pool ,bring the skimmer to the outside of the pool. Back the screws out about half way. Match the the skimmer holes with the screws and start screwing them in loosely all the way around and the final tighten all the way around. Be careful as to not over tighten them and break the frame. There are two gaskets that will seal the water. Once you have completed the skimmer install, pipe up your skimmer back to to the pump. I used a 2" X 1 1/2" rubber coupling available at your choice of hardware store. You will need a valve to be able to work on the pump or remove for maintenance. Nows the time cut out that square you've been dreading to do. If it is leaking a little just tighten up around the frame until it stops. Periodically check to make sure all connection are tight. Good luck on your install, and happy swimming.