AG leak; help!!

[CarlD]

Don't laugh:
I consider one of my most important tools for my pool to be a full-length wet-suit, with boots, gloves and a hood. When you have a leak and the water is 58 degrees, it's the only way you can fix the leak under water safely--you can actually WORK in the water. A full length wet suit can be as little as $100 from West Marine--it doesn't have to be expedition quality.

There ARE underwater patch kits--they are a pain to use but they work. I find it helps to have a little rolller like the tile guys use. Plan on AT LEAST 2 layers--a first patch over the hole, then a much larger patch to cover, protect, and seal the first patch better. Bad holes can require 4.

Look around your pool for signs of leakage--a tell-tale trail of sand is a good one for example. This narrows your search for the hole enormously.

Good luck!

[SandyDittmer]

Thank you all for your replies. We are taking into consideration everybody's suggestions to figure this out.

We are not actually certain the water has stopped leaking; therefore, the leak may or may not be at the current water level.

We use a Dolphin Diagnostic "robotic" pool cleaner to clean the pool with. The only place I've ever noticed it spending too much time is when it gets stuck at the skimmer or return line (it climbs the walls). The water level right now is way below that.

Dennis, were you kidding about getting UNDER the liner? How in the world do you do that?

The water in the pool right now is so nasty and green (even though I put it away for the winter spotless). This is due to the fact that a couple months ago, the accumulation of ice and snow on the top of the cover was so heavy that the cover started ripping at the seams because of the shortage of water in the pool below. We cut the cover off and let it sink in to save the pool walls. Anyway, now we have to somehow get the pool floor and 14" of water cleaned up so we can even begin to see a leak. The pool cleaner won't work unless we add about another foot of water, so that is what we have to do right now. There's no way to find a pinhole or a small cut with algae and junk floating all over and stuck on the floor.

Thank God the liner seems alright and did not shrink up due to lack of water.

I will be purchasing a wetsuit. I guess that is the only way we will be able to find the hole. Since it may, indeed, still be leaking, it could still be the plumbing underground connected to the main drain. We are really hoping that is NOT the case. We do winterize the main drain per Doughboy's directions (antifreeze).

There is no evidence of a leak outside the pool. No sand, no water, nothing.

If anything else comes to any of you, give a shout. I was in so much pain (literally!) from going in yesterday (only up to my knees), I am afraid to even attempt it again without waders or a wetsuit or something. I suppose we could really just fill it up and look for the leak when it warms up to swimming temp. But then we would be wasting a lot of water, not to mention that if for whatever reason we should have to DRAIN the pool, that would really stink!

Thanks again,

Joe and Sandy

[hrsdennis]

Hi again, a few more things to add.

As the water level drops so does the pressure on the holes and they tend to plug themselves back up. A pool with pin holes at the bottom could easily stop leaking at the half way point or so.

As for going under the liner, it is a last resort. You would pump the water down at about ten in the morning, do the repair and start refilling ASAP. You must leave the deep end full or it will shrink bigtime. The rest should be OK for a few hours if the liner is not to old.

I remove two top rails, rods, coping and all. I slip in behind the liner while my helper pulls the liner up over the wall again. It is now very dark and a hole is easy to find.

At this time you have the best plan. Refill the pool and clean it up. The pool needs to be very clean in order to find a hole. A wetsuit and goggles are very helpful.

If the pool is on top of the ground and you cannot find a wet spot around the outside the hole is probably not in the cove area. Hopefully it will be something that just jumps out at you when the pool is cleaned up. If not be thinking cleaner.

Good Luck, Dennis

[matt4x4]

Many times, holes get into the liner because someone was not careful with removing the steps in the fall - look there FIRST since it sounds like the hole was caused when the pool was closed and not discovered until after closing.
Get the water left in the pool clean by adding some bleach and stirring it around with a broom, the algae should fall out within a couple of days giving you relatively clear water to look around in.
Check at or just above the current water line first (you may have had some evaporation allready) - especially if it's not dropping any more.
You can also add a few inches of water to the pool, this should start the leak going again, so you can look for teh wet spot and narrow down the location.

[SandyDittmer]

I got brave today and went in to try and locate the leak. The water was clean and clear with the help of our Dolphin cleaner. I don't know how I would have gotten it that clean short of completely refilling the pool first so the skimmer and filter would be working. The Dolphin acted as a stand-alone filter, so I didn't have to add much water at all. Just enough so the Dolphin could work properly.

Anyway, after about 15 or 20 minutes of looking (and freezing), I found a hole!!! It was located near the bottom of the cove, about 1" above floor level (on the wall). It is between 1/16" and 1/8" in diameter (a hole, not a cut or rip). When you drip the red dye by the hole, it definitely sucks the dye out. But, now I have a concern. I am so paranoid at this point that I find it hard to believe we could lose that much water over the winter from such a tiny hole. I would estimate we lost about 7,000 gallons of water.

I guess my question is......should I continue looking for more leaks, or do you think that could be the whole problem? I don't plan on refilling and "opening" the pool for our use for about 3 weeks. I need to get the deck cleaned and sealed (an annual project) first. So I thought I would repair the hole, add some chlorine, and put the cover back on for a few more weeks.

What type of patch kit works best? Are there any brands that work better than others? I did do one repair a couple years ago, and it is now ugly and yellow. I would prefer it be blue to match the liner.

Thanks again for all you who gave suggestions. They REALLY helped.

Sandy

[matt4x4]

That's probably it, you would not believe how much water you can lose out of a tiny hole, patch it, fill pool and monitor level, likely something did drop onto the liner and puncture it.

[matt4x4]

Use the clear kits - there are two types - adhesive backed and separate adhesive - I prefer the separate adhesive - thicker patch, better quality - patches are clear - will likely yellow, that's due to glue drying up - simply remove old patch and clean the yellow spot (can be done underwater) and reapply new patch.

[hrsdennis]

I prefer the Boxer brand glue with a 1" circle of an actual liner. The piece cut out for skimmer is perfect for making patches. Some times the pool stores will sell 1' square pieces of vinyl to be used as patches. There is always the excess overhang if the liner is an overlap.

That small of a hole in that location could easily leak that much water.

Best of luck, Dennis