Should the intake to the skimmer on an inground pool be equal to the force of the outtake from the jet?

Answer 1

By this I mean... the jet on the pool is very strong, but the intake is no where near as strong, when cleaning the basket I can feel suction there, but I assumed that you would see the suction on the water surface (yes I'm a newbie, grew up on a lake)

AnswerNot necessarily. The force is really a function of the diameter of the respective tubes. I suspect your outtake jets are from 25-30% the size of the intake. With a constant movement in volume, the water will most likely come out of the outtakes with more force...unless you have many more outtakes than is normal.

Answ:: You may also have two skimmers. Or your skimmer may be adjusted so that more water is pulled in by the main drain at the bottom of the pool. The "outtakes" are called the "returns" or "wall fittings" these are almost always reduced in size at the "eyeball" wall fitting or return. k

Answer So long as you are not sucking air in to the static skimmer/s the intake is fine. The jets or pressure side cleaners will have some effect on the circulation of the water reducing circulation by restricting it