Indoor, inground, lined, some loss, heres what I plan.

[newbie2715]

OK,

Heres the necessary info, let me know if I missed something.
It is inground, indoor, 12 x 24, four foot deep, no deep end, vinyl lined pool. The liner must be 7 years or so old.

In the winter we shut it down and drain it just below the jets. Its been at basically that level all winter long. We had a couple of cold weeks move through up here in Michigan and I have yet to open the pool. I started filling it two days ago, and did a fair amount each day. Last night I finished filling it up and took a good look at where the water level was on compared to the liner design.

This morning on my way out the door to work it appears to have dropped 3-4 inches! At this point the pump and filter are not even in line as they are shut off from the jets and drains by valves outside.

My assumption is that the leak must not be in the deep end or I would have lost water all winter long, this also seems to rule out the bottom drain to me.

I am assuming its a pin hole or maybe the jets, stairs, skimmer. Reading over this site Al (poconos), and others seem to have all the right ideas... I am probably going to go the route of beets and report back on how that will work.

I will also start to take measurements on the hour after I top it off tonight.

Anything else I should do besides the measurements?

If it is say a jet or skimmer plate are those costly repairs?

Lastly should I open the pump & filter etc before using the dye? At this point my chlorine levels are 0 due to it sitting. I am worried about the potential of staining.

Thanks in advance.