I've got my new pump in , I got my new SWG in (not turned on yet, but at least installed!), and re-did the piping at the pump/heater/filter area because the original set up was shoddy. My hopes in re-doing the pipes around to pump was that I would get rid of a suction leak...but that didn't correct the issue. To make sure it wasn't my rework at fault I did some tests:
- Poured water over all the joins.
- Submersed, as best I could, the joints under water
- Then I tried a different test method by getting soapy water (I mean really soapy, bubbly water - I used about a cup of water and a generous amount of soap in a Vitamix on high). This created almost a paste of soap bubbles that I could put on all the joints. If there was a section leak, I would expect to see the bubbles get sucked in. Still didn't find the leak.
- So...after that, I dug up the pipes leading from the pump area to the pool (my thinking was that since I knew the previous owner did major renovations, there could be splices that are leaking). It wasn't until I finished digging from the pump to the pool cement pad edge without finding splices that I thought about putting my ear to the pipe to see if I could hear air flowing by......and yes I did!
So now I knew the leak was some place between the skimmer/drain (yes, both have leaks) and the edge of the pool deck. To further verify this, I tried blocking the skimmer whole (at the bottom of the skimmer) to see if more air was sucked in. The interesting thing that happened was that now I could even hear the suction coming out of the skimmer
So....my question now is, should I dig down under the cement pad (it is only about 2.5 feet wide at the skimmer) and fix the leak? There isn't enough of a leak to cause the pump to lose prime, but are there other problems by leaving this leak? I don't think there is anything I could do about the drain leak.
(I told my long story in case it gives others ideas in their search for suction leaks)
- Poured water over all the joins.
- Submersed, as best I could, the joints under water
- Then I tried a different test method by getting soapy water (I mean really soapy, bubbly water - I used about a cup of water and a generous amount of soap in a Vitamix on high). This created almost a paste of soap bubbles that I could put on all the joints. If there was a section leak, I would expect to see the bubbles get sucked in. Still didn't find the leak.
- So...after that, I dug up the pipes leading from the pump area to the pool (my thinking was that since I knew the previous owner did major renovations, there could be splices that are leaking). It wasn't until I finished digging from the pump to the pool cement pad edge without finding splices that I thought about putting my ear to the pipe to see if I could hear air flowing by......and yes I did!
So now I knew the leak was some place between the skimmer/drain (yes, both have leaks) and the edge of the pool deck. To further verify this, I tried blocking the skimmer whole (at the bottom of the skimmer) to see if more air was sucked in. The interesting thing that happened was that now I could even hear the suction coming out of the skimmer
So....my question now is, should I dig down under the cement pad (it is only about 2.5 feet wide at the skimmer) and fix the leak? There isn't enough of a leak to cause the pump to lose prime, but are there other problems by leaving this leak? I don't think there is anything I could do about the drain leak.
(I told my long story in case it gives others ideas in their search for suction leaks)