Another pic, not much different.

I would change the drain cover for a newer, VGB compliant one. They tend to be a larger diameter which also slows the water velocity and makes them safer as well.

Paramount makes a universal model that fits just about every drain out there.

Scott

Thanks, Scott. Over the summer we felt on the drain with our hands and couldn't feel any suction at all, so I'm thinking we will wait until next summer (and warmer water) to replace - it doesn't appear to be pulling any leaves in or anything. We have a two-skimmer system and finally figured out we had to put a "biscuit"/"saucer" thing in one of the skimmers to get ANY suction from the second one, so I figure the main drain might only operate if we block both skimmers.

Perhaps sometime in the past there were valves on the plumbing to divert between skimmers and drains, but the exposed PVC plumbing had all been recently replaced before we bought the house last year so I cannot tell for sure - there are no valves for that now, just our sand filter's multiport valve. There is also the mystery of the dead return - out of 9 returns, 8 work well and we have balanced them with different sized fittings. One has absolutely nothing going on. Could have been a pressure vac return I supposed - the secrets of the "mature" pool!

I don't think it's the suction holding your cleaner but rather that it stands too high and that the concrete around it is a bit on the steep side.

I'll bet a couple drops of food coloring near the drain will show it to be working. Hands usually are not sensitive enough.

Without seeing the plumbing, I can't guess the configuration. I will say it would be unusual for the drain to be tied to a skimmer since the skimmers are already tied to each other.

Scott