Protect your skimmer from winter freeze damage with a skimmer plug (referred to as a "skimmer guard" or a "gizmo")
The skimmer plug is one of the most popular pool products ever invented. Every pool has a skimmer. When water freezes it expands and that expansion breaks the skimmer. The skimmer plug absorbs the expansion. The water crushes the skimmer plug instead of destroying the skimmer. It's That Simple! The Large Skimmer plug is 16 inches long and installs in big deep skimmers of most in-ground swimming pools. It has both 1 1/2 and 2 inch threads.