What is the bar in my swimming pool skimmer?

August 26, 2022

Do you have a vertical bar in your skimmer opening that looks like one of the photos below?

If so, it’s no longer needed in your pool.
The official name for it is the “Ray Vac Skimmer Guard”.

There used to be a pool sweep made by Jandy Industries called the Ray Vac. It was a cute cleaner that looked like a stingray. It had a propensity for its nose getting wedged in the skimmer opening so they came up with an adjustable guard to keep the Ray Vac from getting stuck. The guard is adjustable and could easily be installed in the skimmer opening to keep the Ray Vac out but allow leaves and other debris to still be sucked into the skimmer.

The Ray Vac is no longer made but I still run into pools that have the guard installed in the skimmer because homeowners don’t know what it’s for and just leave it in. It doesn’t hurt anything to leave it in the skimmer, as a matter of fact, in many instances it helps. Occasionally the concrete deck above the skimmer opening starts to sag and the opening shrinks. Leaving the bar/ guard in the opening helps prevent this issue from occurring.

Know you know!