Hi, I posted this a while back and got some very helpful advice here: first-post-liner-problems-help-please-t42783.html
So, here's the update. I called all around town trying to find a big vac to rent, but all anyone had was regular shop vacs. I went to another pool store in town (not the one that told me my liner was shot but they'd be happy to install a new one for $3,000) and asked the guy if I could rent his. He said he didn't rent his out. He came out and took a look at my pool and said he would stop by on a sunny day and hook his vac up. Well, he showed up yesterday, hooked up his vac and I starting filling the pool. I was able to get all the wrinkles out of the bottom by popping the liner with the back of my heels. I filled it to the bottom of the drain and he said that the liner is going to work for sure.
BTW when I first turned on the city water is was running very slow. We wanted to take advantage of the warm day, so I also used irrigation water to fill Not recommend, I know. As you can see it's kinda dirty. But I figured I can filter and shock it out.
Turned off the water last night and turned it back on around 11:30 today when the sun was high in the sky. My TF-100 and SpeedStir arrived on Friday, so once the water is half way up the skimmer I am looking forward to getting the pump going, taking my first sample, and adding the chemicals.
Can you please help me out with a few questions?
1. Last night I filled to bottom of the floor drain, water was about 4 inches in the shallow end. This morning the water level was down about 2 inches. This must be because I still have leaks in the bottom of the liner, right? I have patched about 7 of them now. Could have sworn I got them all. Any advice on this?
2. Do I need to prime the filter? If so do I hook a hose up to the "in" pipe (see photo in my photo bucket)? Of should I back wash the filter? Looks like the drain plugs on the bottom of the filter have been in all winter (luckily it was unusually mild here, they didn't blow out the irrigation lines either but none of them cracked).
3. The pool guy told me the main thing I need to keep an eye on now is that the top of the liner doesn't start pulling because there is a lot of tension on the walls and if the liner pulls out completely it will be next to impossible to get it back in without lowering the water level. I would say about 70% of the liner is now an inch or two from the wall. And there is one portion where I can see the top of the liner is coming out just a little (see photo in photo bucket). The pool guy said to shove it back in with a screwdriver, but I have not had success. I have heard that some people will shove some pennies in there to hold the liner? Is that a good/bad idea?
Thanks again for all your help! I'm going back out to the pool now. I will bring my iPad and be checking this thread and will keep updated.