Lost 3" of Water Overnight...

[zea3]

Hi! Good to see so much progress. I will answer each part of your post in .red

Do you believe the epoxy would work there? If so, I could try patching it with that before having to rework the plumbing. If it is the plumbing leading to the heater and not actually part of the heater then I would give the epoxy a try. If it is leaking from the heater itself then I will let one of the pool industry experts answer.

So we got the bottom sparkling clean today!! It has come a long way since we started the process and today I could see the results with the sparkling water in the sun!!! There is a questionable spot in the corner where I think there may be a hole. When you clean out the dirt there it looks a little dark still (the liner looks dark, all of the dirt has been vacuumed from there), unlike any other corners. Within 5 minutes it seems that dirt has accumulated there again in that exact same spot, but not anywhere else near it, so I am thinking that could be the culprit. What do you think? Sounds like a good spot to check out.

Also, I completed a full test of numbers since I know I probably need to start getting those back to normal since the water has been holding and I may need to get in to fix the pool. Below are the results. Where should I start with those? Thanks again!

FC: .5
CC: 0
pH: 7.2
T/A: 40
CH: 40
CYA: 0
Borates (I had these in there before the water drained so I would like to add back unless recommended otherwise): 0
Salt: ~250

Use the pool calculator to find out how much of each chemical to add. You will need to raise your FC, pH is good, leave TA alone if you plan to add borates. Adding borates will bring the TA up if you use 20 Mule Team Borax. Add enough CYA to get it up to 30 to start and you can fine tune the level from there.

Good luck finding that leak!

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

Thanks for all of the help so far! It felt SOOO good to see the pool sparkling today and be able to see the bottom all over!!

I just want to make sure I know what to get to add and that I understand what to do first. I have numbered what to adjust and what to add according to the pool calculator results:

1. FC: .5 (I am going to bring this as close to shock level as I can with the bleach I have on hand until tomorrow since I need to probably sanitize the water some from the unwelcomed critter that was found earlier in the week (the rat)! This is 12 according to the CYA/Chl chart.
CC: 0 (good to go)
pH: 7.2 (good to go)
T/A: 40 (leave alone since I am adding borax)
CH: 40 (good to go for a vinyl pool?)
2. CYA: 0 (I need to add 91oz by weight of stabalizer. Where can I get this and what is it labeled as?)
3. Borates (I had these in there before the water drained so I would like to add back unless recommended otherwise): 0 (I will add 1064oz by weight of 20 Mule Team Borax)
4. Salt: ~250 (I will add some more solar salt, 520lbs of it)

Does this sound correct except for the couple of questions?

 

[zea3]

Sorry, I missed the CH. It is not as critical for a vinyl pool, but it would be good to bring it up some, maybe to around 100. CYA can be found labled as stabilizer, conditioner or CYA at the pool stores. Sometimes you can find HTH brand stabilizer at Walmart or Target. It will take it about a week to show up on the tests after it is added to the pool, but go ahead and dose the pool as if you have already reached the target level once it has been added.

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

I will work on getting those items in there and getting that leak taken care of.

In regards to the leak at the heater, it is on a PVC piece inside of the heater, so if there are any recommendations about sealing that with epoxy just let me know.

Thanks!! I am ready to swim! The temp here tomorrow is supposed to be 82!!! :sun:

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

Overnight last night I lost VERY minimal water if any with the pump running, so that means that it has hardly lost any water since Friday night with the pump running and that could more than likely be contributed to the 20+ winds and high temps that I mentioned a few posts ago as well as the drip drip drip from the heater.

This morning I decided I would turn the pump off while I was at work to see how the water level looked when I got home. It has been 11 hours since it was turned off and no water loss other than maybe 1/8" due to 20+ mph winds and 80+ temps today. Soooo should I go ahead and put the chemicals (ie bleach, borax, stabilizer, salt) since the water level is holding with the pump on and off since Friday night?

Also, what should I put in the pool first and how long should I wait between adding each thing?

Thanks!!!!!

 

[lightingguy]

Does your pool happen to be elevated to the equipment pad?

Your leak is so bizarre. How does a leak big enough to drain an entire pool just stop?

If it were me I'd just put in a little CYA and some chlorine. No use worrying about the other stuff until you know the water is gonna stay in the pool. :?

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

Does your pool happen to be elevated to the equipment pad?

Your leak is so bizarre. How does a leak big enough to drain an entire pool just stop?

If it were me I'd just put in a little CYA and some chlorine. No use worrying about the other stuff until you know the water is gonna stay in the pool. :?

No, it sits pretty level. I don't quite understand it either other than a lot of prayers being answered!!

I put a picture below where you can see the pool in relation to the equipment. The equipment is at the other end of the pool across the yard some. This was pre-cleaning.

[attachment=0:1105yawg]Pool_1.jpg[/attachment:1105yawg]

 

[lightingguy]

That's pretty level all right. So much for that theory.

I'm curious about that 3 way valve at the pump. You have 3 lines on 1 side (Drain, Skimmers X2) and a mystery pipe on the other side - correct?

Was the valve in the position shown in the pics when the leak was occuring? Is it in that position now?

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

Correct, sort of. At first we did not know what the line on the right was, but the pool guy that came out last week said that he thought that was a line put in to drain water from around the pool when changing the liner, etc. He said he felt confident that was what it was used for and the other day I moved the valve so that it pulled from there and the water in the pump basket was very dirty and muddy, so I think that is correct.

Now for the position of the valve. It ran for about 2 weeks pulling from all 4 pipes because I did not know any better. I realized when vacuuming that I had more suction when I pulled only from the three, which makes sense, so I left it there when vacuuming and then turned it to half way between all and just the three. That is the position it was in the night I lost so much water. Then once I realized how much it was leaking, I turned off the pump and closed all valves at the equipment.

The valve now has the ground water line closed and pulling from the skimmers and main. We installed valves on each of those pipes Saturday so that I can now control them for vacuuming.

I thought that the leaking could have been because of valve placement too, but since it ran pulling from all 4 for 2 weeks and did not lose water and it continued to lose water even when the pump was off and the valves were closed it makes me think that was not the case. :?:

 

[lightingguy]

Got it.

What is strange to me - when it's in that middle position (all 4 as it were) - you might expect the pump to loose prime right?

Either way - sounds like my little theory is off base.

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

Got it.

What is strange to me - when it's in that middle position (all 4 as it were) - you might expect the pump to loose prime right?

Either way - sounds like my little theory is off base.

I would think it would lose prime too. It is a definite mystery...

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

I know I saw a link in one of the threads in the past couple of days to a website that sells tubs of CYA for a reasonable price (4lbs was about $8), but I cannot find the thread. Does anyone have a link to the thread and/or the site? Thanks!

 

[JasonLion]

Great CYA Price

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

Great CYA Price

Thanks! I plan on checking WallyWorld today to see how much there CYA is and if it is more, I will go ahead and get a few tubs from that site.

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

The water is still holding. It may have dropped 1/4" over night...maybe. It is really full now considering we got over 1.5" of rain in the past day or so. I plan to add my chlorine and stabilizer today or ASAP. I am going to order the stabilizer from the site mentioned above.

In regards to the borates, do I need to add Muriatic Acid with the 20 Mule Team Borax to counter the pH rise as indicated here http://www.troublefreepool.com/so-y...our-pool-why-and-how-t4921.html?hilit=gallons? I can get 1 gallon of Muriatic Acid for just over $2, but I just want to make sure that I should add that following that guide. Thanks!

 

[JasonLion]

There are two ways to add borates, either with a combination of borax and muriatic acid, or with boric acid. If you are going with borax and acid then you should follow the suggestions in the topic you linked to. Borax and acid is slightly less expensive and somewhat more annoying (because of handling all that muriatic acid). Boric acid is slightly more expensive, but you just toss it in without worries.

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

I have purchased 7 boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax from Walmart ($3 per box) last night and will try to find 7 more. Since I have already bought those, I will go that route and make sure I am extra careful with the acid. Thanks for the info! I will keep you all updated!! :-D

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

I turned the pump on yesterday evening after leaving it off and monitoring the water level since Monday morning. The water is still holding! I vacuumed some more yesterday and left the pump running and the water level was stable this morning.

I am still waiting on my stabilizer to be shipped so that I can get that in there, but should I go ahead and put salt in the pool and let my SWG start producing chlorine?

 

[JasonLion]

Since the water level is holding, you might as well go ahead and put in salt. Remember that you need to leave the SWG off and run the pump for 24 hours after adding salt.

 

[SPKNout4CHRIST]

Since the water level is holding, you might as well go ahead and put in salt. Remember that you need to leave the SWG off and run the pump for 24 hours after adding salt.

Ok, will do. If my FC is 0 will the SWG bring it up to the proper level with the adjusting of the sanitizer output or should I add some bleach to get it there first?