First a little background on my pool:
We have an above ground pool that was installed 7 years ago with a walkway deck all the way around. About 3-4 years ago the wall needed replaced as it was about to cave out so they had to also replace the beaded liner. It was installed by a company Crown Pools in MD, that I learned is now closed/out of business, when I went looking for a phone number this time I had a problem. So i came across this site when looking for help and figured by the posts and responses I read that it would be a helpful site. I found an old post with pictures very similar to my pool and skimmer but figured I should start a new topic as that one was 3 years old. http://www.troublefreepool.com/skim...-the-pool-t23316.html?hilit=widemouth skimmer My pool has the same type of skimmer installed the same way but the cutout is a lot tighter fit. However they also cut the top brace of the deck as in the picture (never noticed until I went to remove the skimmer)
My Skimmer diagram
from aqua-man replacement parts site)
Now my problem:
I just recently filled my pool and noticed that water was leaking from around the skimmer on the outside of the pool. The skimmer is a Hayward SP1090 and the faceplate appeared to be beginning to crack around the screws. I lowered the water and removed the faceplate and gasket on the water side. The gasket was in really bad condition, so I decided to replace the gasket on the other side of the liner also. The beaded liner was already popped out right above the skimmer. So i removed that section of bead to be able to see the other gasket and how everything is attached. Well the skimmer drops in a cutout in the metal wall and the wings(?) on the skimmer attach it to the wall. From inside out there was faceplate(starting to crack), gasket (beginning to deteriorate), metal spacer (caked with chlorine, and badly pitted), another gasket (worse shape), and then skimmer housing attached inside the wall with the wings by six machine screws and nuts.
The skimmer body appears to be in good shape, but I don't know for sure. The pitted metal I assume was used for support and it held the gasket to the skimmer body if you removed the face plate as it is behind the liner and would fall off otherwise. However according to some parts sites it says the spacer is obsolete. I assume I cannot use the one that is badly pitted unless I use some sort of silicone adhesive to fill the pitted metal? If I don't use the metal how would I get the skimmer behind the liner to stay in place? We are going to replace the liner as we would need to drain the pool to reinstall the beaded section of liner anyways. We figure that since our liner has a couple spots where the bead has torn from the liner by the ladder that now would be the best time to replace the liner. Therefore we want to make sure that the skimmer does not leak when we are done.
I thought about a new skimmer but most the ones I have found mount on the outside of the wall and not the inside like ours. I have found a couple sites sell exactly what I have but I was thinking that the skimmer in between the wall and liner is likely what made the bead pop loose right above the skimmer? Also after seeing the picture on the old post I linked to, I am wondering if the weight(or something?) of the skimmer caused the bottom to crack and bend like that? If I got a new skimmer I would either have to cut a new hole somewhere else or patch and recut a hole where my skimmer was since my hole now is cut about 7 1/2 inch square at the very top of the wall and the holes of a new skimmer would not catch any metal.
I thought about replacing it with a widemouth skimmer as suggested in the other post. If I positioned it just right then I would be able to have 3 of the 4 holes that mount to the wall go through metal and all but 3 of the top faceplate screws go through metal. Would that work to hold the skimmer in place. Would I have any problems with the metal cut away in the middle portion above my skimmer? What about the gaskets and liner, would they seal properly around a hole in the wall that did not have that metal along the top edge. I would have metal and liner in between the gaskets most the way around the skimmer except for 7 inches along the top edge where all that would be there is liner. Would the difference in width between the gaskets cause problems sealing or would it be more likely to tear my new liner? I am leaning towards the new widemouth skimmer as it would not push the liner out from the wall as it does now, but want to make sure I understand all the possible problems because if I do decide on that and cut the hole larger there is no easy way to go back, without patching the wall.
Sorry for the long winded post, but I wanted to give as much detail as possible, and look forward to any suggestions/comments as to whether I am thinking correctly about how to go about fixing this.
We have an above ground pool that was installed 7 years ago with a walkway deck all the way around. About 3-4 years ago the wall needed replaced as it was about to cave out so they had to also replace the beaded liner. It was installed by a company Crown Pools in MD, that I learned is now closed/out of business, when I went looking for a phone number this time I had a problem. So i came across this site when looking for help and figured by the posts and responses I read that it would be a helpful site. I found an old post with pictures very similar to my pool and skimmer but figured I should start a new topic as that one was 3 years old. http://www.troublefreepool.com/skim...-the-pool-t23316.html?hilit=widemouth skimmer My pool has the same type of skimmer installed the same way but the cutout is a lot tighter fit. However they also cut the top brace of the deck as in the picture (never noticed until I went to remove the skimmer)
My Skimmer diagram
from aqua-man replacement parts site)
Now my problem:
I just recently filled my pool and noticed that water was leaking from around the skimmer on the outside of the pool. The skimmer is a Hayward SP1090 and the faceplate appeared to be beginning to crack around the screws. I lowered the water and removed the faceplate and gasket on the water side. The gasket was in really bad condition, so I decided to replace the gasket on the other side of the liner also. The beaded liner was already popped out right above the skimmer. So i removed that section of bead to be able to see the other gasket and how everything is attached. Well the skimmer drops in a cutout in the metal wall and the wings(?) on the skimmer attach it to the wall. From inside out there was faceplate(starting to crack), gasket (beginning to deteriorate), metal spacer (caked with chlorine, and badly pitted), another gasket (worse shape), and then skimmer housing attached inside the wall with the wings by six machine screws and nuts.
The skimmer body appears to be in good shape, but I don't know for sure. The pitted metal I assume was used for support and it held the gasket to the skimmer body if you removed the face plate as it is behind the liner and would fall off otherwise. However according to some parts sites it says the spacer is obsolete. I assume I cannot use the one that is badly pitted unless I use some sort of silicone adhesive to fill the pitted metal? If I don't use the metal how would I get the skimmer behind the liner to stay in place? We are going to replace the liner as we would need to drain the pool to reinstall the beaded section of liner anyways. We figure that since our liner has a couple spots where the bead has torn from the liner by the ladder that now would be the best time to replace the liner. Therefore we want to make sure that the skimmer does not leak when we are done.
I thought about a new skimmer but most the ones I have found mount on the outside of the wall and not the inside like ours. I have found a couple sites sell exactly what I have but I was thinking that the skimmer in between the wall and liner is likely what made the bead pop loose right above the skimmer? Also after seeing the picture on the old post I linked to, I am wondering if the weight(or something?) of the skimmer caused the bottom to crack and bend like that? If I got a new skimmer I would either have to cut a new hole somewhere else or patch and recut a hole where my skimmer was since my hole now is cut about 7 1/2 inch square at the very top of the wall and the holes of a new skimmer would not catch any metal.
I thought about replacing it with a widemouth skimmer as suggested in the other post. If I positioned it just right then I would be able to have 3 of the 4 holes that mount to the wall go through metal and all but 3 of the top faceplate screws go through metal. Would that work to hold the skimmer in place. Would I have any problems with the metal cut away in the middle portion above my skimmer? What about the gaskets and liner, would they seal properly around a hole in the wall that did not have that metal along the top edge. I would have metal and liner in between the gaskets most the way around the skimmer except for 7 inches along the top edge where all that would be there is liner. Would the difference in width between the gaskets cause problems sealing or would it be more likely to tear my new liner? I am leaning towards the new widemouth skimmer as it would not push the liner out from the wall as it does now, but want to make sure I understand all the possible problems because if I do decide on that and cut the hole larger there is no easy way to go back, without patching the wall.
Sorry for the long winded post, but I wanted to give as much detail as possible, and look forward to any suggestions/comments as to whether I am thinking correctly about how to go about fixing this.