Constant Leaking That Can Never Be Pinpointed

[dwembley]

We inherited our leaking pool from the previous owner. Since we bought the house almost a year ago, we've been constantly battling the leak issues.

We hired American Leak Detection in May. After spending hours (2 days), they found a small leak in the pipe and fixed it. The pool kept leaking after the repair.

They came back in July and found no loss of pressure. They dove and epoxied a crack. The pool is still leaking.

They just came back and now say there's a small leak in the return--exactly the same area they dug in May. And they aren't even sure if it's the cause of the leak! (We're totally frustrated by their "expensive guesses".)

We lose about 3/4" of water a day, but the leak always stops at the bottom of the skimmer box (and therefore we never thought the crack was the cause of the leak).

Does anyone have any idea why the water stops leak at the bottom of the skimmer box, and if the leak is in the return line? Does that seem logical?

[RavenNS]

I have no idea ( I'm a newbie),
but whilst browsing pool stuff, I came accross a product called fix-a-leak.
Now I'm sceptical about whether this would actually work, but it's manufactured in Canada, so generlly a product can't get licensed here unless it works...

I don't know where you live, so here is a web site that sells to the USA...
( & has some "opinon" letters posted as well)
http://www.askalanaquestion.com/the_...leak_store.htm

I've certainly seen numerous hot tub stores selling this product...

I think this is the main manufactor's web site:

http://www.fixaleak.com/main.html


Perhaps others here have used this product & could say if it does what they claim it'll do.....

[Poconos]

Does it stop leaking when the level is at the bottom of the skimmer opening or the housing (box)? If it stops at the bottom of the skimmer opening it could be the skimmer housing itself or the pipe from the skimmer. If it continues leaking below the opening then that rules out the pipe. Could also be a coincidence and the leak may be somewhere else in the pool at that level. In any case the leak is at or close to the level when leaking stops.
Al

[huskyrider]

When chasing nuisance leaks like these I'll always dose the pool with a good amount of chlorine (5+ppm) and turn the pump off for a few days to let the pool stabilize at the level of the leak.
When they stop at the bottom of the tile line or the skimmer you'll usually find the leak in the skimmer throat or in a lamp conduit.
I've found quite a few nuisance leaks in the conduit of the lamptail below the JB of the switch or the switch leg at a coupling that had a near equal elevation as the leak in the pool. This can be a long way away from the pool itself.
I'm really shocked that American hasn't had any luck locating your leak, I've found our guys there to be awesome in finding leaks I couldn't find myself.

See Ya,
Kelly

[dwembley]

Thanks for the reponses.

The leak stops at the bottom of the skimmer opening.

>I'll always dose the pool with a good amount of chlorine (5+ppm) and turn the pump off for a few days to let the pool stabilize at the level of the leak.<

We'll try that.

American Leak Detection is a franchise, so the quality of service probably depends on the franchisee and its employees. When the technician first came out, he spent 4-5 hours and couldn't find where the leak was. He had to come back with his boss (owner?) the following day and the boss found it.

[Poconos]

More thoughts. Since it stops at the bottom of the opening, and seems to drain to that level relatively fast, my guess is either the pipe or the pipe attachment point at the skimmer bottom. Reason...as the water level approaches the leak level the leak rate slows because the water pressure due to depth drops. This seems to keep going until water doesn't flow into the skimmer and the pipe is still at some depth therefore I suspect the leak is lower than where the water level stops dropping. Make sense? Hope I explained it. Once the water stops flowing into the skimmer does the water already in the skimmer continue to drop? If you can inject dye at the bottom of the skimmer that should prove it.
Al

[tribe_fan]

Can you put a "gizmo" in the skimmer and return- the would tell you if the leak is internal or external to the pool.

[dwembley]

We did some testing and we've found the same pipe is leaking. We see the water dripping and it drips more when we turn on the pump.

Is there any question that American Leak Detection should come back and repair it for free? They're trying to charge us ANOTHER $400 for the repair!

[huskyrider]

Is there any question that American Leak Detection should come back and repair it for free?

This is a question only you can answer.

I'm curious, did they repair the leak that's still leaking or did they simply locate the leak itself. in my position I only pay them to locate the leak, not perform the repair. This would have the utmost bearing on which way I'd answer your question.

See Ya,
Kelly

[dwembley]

They did the repair, too. We didn't know they would do the repair. We wanted to hire another company for the repair because of the obvious conflict of interest, but other companies were reluctant to repair the leak another company found.

We were just thinking of having other companies look at the leak since the pipe in question is exposed right now.