Stopping tear in deep end

[LisaM]

I have a 20x40 in ground pool with a tear in the corner of the vinyl liner in the deep end. I have placed a vinyl liner patch over the tear but now it has started to tear again. I need this corner to just hold out through the season/winter. I cannot afford to replace the liner till the spring. Would placing another patch over the current patch be helpful or am I just kidding myself? They seem to be starting out as dime sized tears and then just spreading. It spread past the patch this time. Would a larger patch be helpful or would it just tear behind it? Any suggestions would be very helpful. thanks.

[aylad]

Hi Lisa,

I am not the person that can answer your question, but I can get Waste, our resident liner expert, to check in on this thread and I bet he can answer it for you.
I would think that the more untorn area you can cover with a patch, the better--but again, I'm just guessing. I'll shoot Waste a message and ask him to check in.

Good luck with it!

[waste]

I'm sorry you're having this trouble! I've seen it a number of times. I've seen the tear get worsened when I applied the small patches.

The things that seem to cause/ exacerbate this issue are:

1) Direct sun most of the day.

2) An auto cleaner that climes up into that corner.

3) Floater, tri-chlor feeders that sit in that corner.

4) Fluctuating water height - try your best to keep the water level in the pool ~ consistent, any rise or fall will put more pressure on that area. This includes prohibiting jumping into the pool and especially doing 'cannonballs or jack-knives'.

About your only hope of keeping this liner going until you can replace it next spring is to slap a large enough patch on the corner to be well past the weakened area. Here (http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?13118-Patching-a-leak-in-a-vinyl-liner) is some advice on applying a patch.

I'd go at least 2" past any damaged area and perhaps even glue onto the bead. The liner is literally rotting out in that corner and you need to get the patch secured to good liner to have any hope of it holding :sad:

If I've been unclear or you want a little more info on what I've said, I'll be back tomorrow or Thursday and will elaborate.

[LisaM]

Thanks! I think my mistake was not making the patch big enough. I will try going over the entire corner. Should I just go over the existing patch/patches? Im afraid trying to take them off at this point would tear the whole thing. That corner is the corner of course that gets full sun all day which is probably why it failed first. It is also the corner I used to always poor my chlorine in. I now move around.

[waste]

Patch right over the existing ones! You'd only rip the liner more by trying to remove the old ones.

Sounds like you're going to be doing the right things to keep your liner viable till next spring :)

If you need us, just ask.