I have the Intex 18 x 48 easy set from WalMart and experienced the same problem with the skimmer. Fortunately, I had found the debris screen by accident when unpacking the pump because they had not screwed the nozzle all the way down and upon removal, the screen fell out. I found a product update on their website under the intex store section for the Intex model 635 pump, and I assume other models may have it as well, which talks about low water flow through the pump and cleaning the screen is shown at the bottom. It is in a pdf and jpg format. It also states, the debris screen may be removed if an inlet strainer is used. Well, after having to remove that little screen every other day to wash out the little pile of dead bugs, I did exactly that. The holes in the skimmer basket seemed about the same size as the screw on inlet strainer so I just use the skimmer basket now. I saved the little screen and the spare one which came with the pool but two weeks later I have not had to remove the hoses and clean that little screen which is just one less maintenance item to deal with. The little ants, beetles, spiders, etc that can fit through the skimmer basket holes end up it seems in smaller pieces stuck in the filter which I just rinse out once or twice a week or replace.

The poster above mentioned having problems with their skimmer staying put. It does tend to move around a tiny bit especially if things like thermometers, rafts, or my floating solar lights get crowded around it but generally since I remove everything when not actually in the pool it's not a huge problem. I occasionally find it has slipped a small amount and need to straighten it a little but it always stays close enough to straight that it does its job. I inflated the top ring until it was firm in evening temperatures with no sun, compressed the ring clip one notch at a time until the skimmer stayed in place and I leave the pump running 24/7 with no problems now for the three weeks the pool has been up. Those pumps are such low power, the cost in electricity is not too big to just leave it running all of the time. I've tried monitoring the utility meter pretty closely and I can't tell that our average daily use has really been impacted much. I'm guessing no more than 20 or 30 dollars a month extra on the utility bill at the most and it saves me from having to manually clean it out with the net as the skimmer seems to do a great job keeping it clean. I come home from work and the pool surface is clean, no leaves, and it's ready to jump right in. I decided against using the cover which came with the pool, as I figured it was too much trouble to put on and take off all the time. I may add a two event timer and break it up to two 10 hour sessions on the pump and then gradually reduce as log as the pool continues to look great.

My routine at the moment:

1) Test water in the morning and make sure skimmer basket is straight and empty.
2) Test water when sun is setting, empty skimmer basket, check that it's straight, add 4-6 cups of bleach when pool use is over for the evening. This raises my chlorine to around 5 ppm from the 2 or 3 it is at when I get home from work each day. The pool seems to eat about 2 or 3 ppm on my chlorine here in NE Texas each day with CYA at 40, pH at 7.3-7.4, Alk at 110, hardness doesn't even register.
3) Vacuum once a week on the weekend. I use the vacuum which came with the pool and the extendable handle, not extended, and just get in with my goggles and snorkel and I'm done in a few minutes.
4) Sunday nights I shock the pool with bleach using the bleach calc and the best guess cya chart to figure out the amount to add.

So far, the pool sparkles, has never been slimy, has no chlorine smell, no burning eyes, or other physical problems. I am so glad I found this site. The BBB method has been working great so far, although I guess it's just the B method for me so far as I have only added the original dose of CYA and daily doses of bleach. The pH was 7.2 after the initial fill and the alk was 100 when I tested it a couple of days after adding the CYA. Those numbers haven't really changed since then except pH creeping up a tiny bit to the 7.3 or 7.4 range.

Overall, I am very happy with the Intex pool. I made sure my location was perfectly level using a laser level and a traditional string level for verification. I had to chop into the side of a slight hill so the grass was removed anyway as part of that process. I learned about that after seeing my sisters kids swimming in an Intex pool a few years ago with tons of grass growing through the liner in the bottom even with two layers of drop cloths underneath. I was amazed the pool even held water with that much grass growing through the bottom. I'm hoping to get two or three seasons out of the Intex while I cut a bigger area into the hill by the back patio for a 41 x 20 above ground pool. Not only do I have to remove alot of hill, I want to set it down about one foot so lots of work ahead which will be mostly done by hand.


Dave