How to find a hole in the liner?

[MaxxFusion]

I have a small hole somewhere in my liner. It must be very small as I lose water very slowly. Is there any way to find the hole in the liner without replacing it?

[waste]

There are ways, I'm having to borrow a computer since mine is unusable right now:( You can use dye to check any suspect areas, if the dye gets sucked in, you've found the leak.

However, I'd double check the filter system first, especially a backwash line leak or something at the pump or filter!

I know others here can help, but it will be a few days before I can get my computer back on line (if I can:rolleyes: ) and find the info I've written on this - I'll check in as I can, but feel 'handicapped' by not having my computer.

[b2001]

My neighbor has gone through two incidents of leaks in his liner. The first time, he could never find it; had to replace the entire liner.

He had the same issue this summer - losing several inches of water every day. He hired a pool leak service provider. I don't know the specifics, but something similiar to the following equipment was used:

http://www.leaktools.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SP&Product_Code=LT2200&Category_Code=VLD

My understanding is that a continuous connection to ground is established where ever there is a hole and the operator can hear it and zero in on the leak through sound and headphones. In my neighbor's case, there were about 8 different holes; the operator also found a couple that were real close.

I believe that my neighbor paid $200 to $300 for the locating of and patching of the leaks - a lot better alternative than replacing the liner.

You might check into this in your area.

[vanman2501]

My daughter discovered that if you lay swimming goggles on the surface of the water it magnifies the bottom of the pool. She walked around looking at the bottom and sure enough she found a small slice in the bottom about 1/4" an inch long. we patched it and the water leak slowed down so she started looking again and found two more. No more leaks and to think I was going to replace the liner.

vanman2501

[Watermom]

Thanks for sharing that tip. Glad you got your liner repaired and didn't have to ($$$) replace it!

[britinusa]

Is this an above ground pool?
Do you see any wet spots on the ground?

[waste]

Ag pools will show their leaks if the leak is on the wall or close to the wall.

If your AG has a hole on the bottom of the liner, it's doubtful that you would be able to see the water puddling:(

If the leak is small, it's harder to find, but - once found, a patch can give you ~5 more years of use:)

If you have any questions about patching the liner or finding the leak - all you have to do is let us know :cool:

[ralph]

I have a 7 yr old liner( in a 40 yr old pool) that is leaking at the liner to skimmer faceplate gasket (the pool framing is steel). In addition I have a cracked skimmer that requires replacement. I do not want to replace the liner. The 3.5" concrete deck will be cut away to access the skimmer area and most likely dirt base to dig up to remove and replace skimmer and new faceplate & gaskets. The new faceplate & skimmer match identically the old. My questions are twofold- (1) while the liner is quite pliable what risk do I run of the liner being torn during disassemble of faceplate and gasket and what could be done to patch it? ( I have had a couple of pool companies come and look at it and they say "no problem"-However in their wriiten bid they claim no responsibility if they tear the liner!! (I find this hard to take!!). (2)- What's your opinion that the liner leak may have rusted badly enough to require patch of the steel and would the liner need to be replace to make the fix?

Thanks for your help

Ralph

[aylad]

Ralph,

This sticky is meant for how to find holes in the liner. You have a specific situation that you need advice for...therefore, I've split this post off into its own thread in this forum, here http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?14486-How-to-repair-an-IG-liner-leak-at-the-skimmer-interface-and-replace-skimmer. For those offering advice, please reply to the new thread.

Thanks!!

[wgregww]

I swim around with goggles and look, I have found everyone of my holes.

[glockshooter]

Just reading around with the dye method. So I'm clear, the pump will be off, and the water as calm as possible. Do I have to walk around and drip the dye in, looking for it to be sucked out, or do I put the dye in and look for it to settle out?

[PoolDoc]

Unless your leak is HUGE, you have to have the tip of the dye emitter (can be a bottle of phenol red) within 1/4" or less of the suspected leak location. I'm posting two short movies of me leak-testing a commercial kiddie pool. They illustrate (a) how to do it and (b) a NEGATIVE (no leak) result. I have to do some minimal editing on the POSITIVE test result before I can post it. I'll put the links in the following post, once YouTube has them live.

[PoolDoc]

http://youtu.be/Y90c7pYMgPc