So this is my first post as I am looking for some advice on how to deal with what I believe will now be a major repair.
So I have had air leaking into the pool pump ever since we purchased the house 3 years ago. Not knowing anything about pools, I've had to familiarize myself with air leaks, why they occur, and how to get rid of them. While the pool pump air has been relatively intermittent since owning the pool, it seems this year it is progressively getting more pronounced. Perhaps using a kreepy krauly suction side cleaner all this time has finally opened up leak to something bigger.
I've been able to isolate an air leak in the suction line, by doing a pressure test and sure enough it wont hold. I've dug up the piping and elbows beside the pump, filled the hole with water to test if air disappears from the pump but it did not. As a final resort I've tried fix-a-leak liquid sealant but it did not hold. Fix-a-leak worked will when circulated it through a closed look system on the suction pipes, and held 30psi for 48 hours, but once the pump was turned on and pressure turned to vacuum, the seal was lost.
I now truly believe the leak is below the skimmer. All signs point to it and most evidently is the collapsing concrete pad around the skimmer and the concrete drop by expansion joint. (see picture)
So my question is, is it safe to try and dig below the concrete pad (which I can, see interlocking brick to the right) and find the leak, fix, and then try to compact the soil back in or do I need to get a pro in to break up the concrete, remove the skimmer, install a new skimmer while in turn fixing all connections to the suction side lines from the skimmer. A new concrete pad and skimmer will be pricey and labour intensive but my fear is that digging below the pad will only cause it to sink more over time.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but there's a lot of troubleshooting behind this post to finally nail it down to a skimmer problem. Never knew how much fun pool ownership could be.
Thanks
Karl.
So I have had air leaking into the pool pump ever since we purchased the house 3 years ago. Not knowing anything about pools, I've had to familiarize myself with air leaks, why they occur, and how to get rid of them. While the pool pump air has been relatively intermittent since owning the pool, it seems this year it is progressively getting more pronounced. Perhaps using a kreepy krauly suction side cleaner all this time has finally opened up leak to something bigger.
I've been able to isolate an air leak in the suction line, by doing a pressure test and sure enough it wont hold. I've dug up the piping and elbows beside the pump, filled the hole with water to test if air disappears from the pump but it did not. As a final resort I've tried fix-a-leak liquid sealant but it did not hold. Fix-a-leak worked will when circulated it through a closed look system on the suction pipes, and held 30psi for 48 hours, but once the pump was turned on and pressure turned to vacuum, the seal was lost.
I now truly believe the leak is below the skimmer. All signs point to it and most evidently is the collapsing concrete pad around the skimmer and the concrete drop by expansion joint. (see picture)
So my question is, is it safe to try and dig below the concrete pad (which I can, see interlocking brick to the right) and find the leak, fix, and then try to compact the soil back in or do I need to get a pro in to break up the concrete, remove the skimmer, install a new skimmer while in turn fixing all connections to the suction side lines from the skimmer. A new concrete pad and skimmer will be pricey and labour intensive but my fear is that digging below the pad will only cause it to sink more over time.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but there's a lot of troubleshooting behind this post to finally nail it down to a skimmer problem. Never knew how much fun pool ownership could be.
Thanks
Karl.
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