HELP! Chasing down leak. UPDATE: I FOUND THE LEAK(S)...now how do I fix it/them

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M

Magus

0
May 23, 2014
45
Ann Arbor Michigan
At the outset, I would like to apologize for starting another thread about the same topic...I did not know how to update the title of the last one.

After digging up the ground to get under the concrete to get to the skimmer (no leak found)
Digging up the ground to replace a suspect return line (where the leak was not)
After doing the dye test and not finding the leak...I was pretty ticked off

I also build a pressure tester to try to find the leak and that did not work...but something else happened...as I put water pressure on the skimmer (after dropping the water down below the light to caulk it again) Water came OUT from between the light niche and the light itself...which I thought it odd...
What would he skimmer line have to do with light niche....THIS IS SILL UNKNOWN.

I plugged one return ...thinking if it was a return, it would suck he dye in...it did not. I then plugged both of them.

I went back to the skimmer and dropped dye from the top...away from the hole...it took about 3.5 min for it to get to the bottom...but sure enough the dye tendrils started to get sucked into the hole....but there is no visual or physical dampness under the skimmer or connections.

I plugged the skimmer up (thinking if water came OUT of the light fixture, it might be going back in.

And sure enough
dye1.jpg

So...This seems to be happening at two locations...which might be part of the same suction line... I dont know...Any ideas on how to fix this.

This is what I do know.
The housing is probably either brass or copper...Im thinking brass.
There is only one port hole...where the wire goes through...
Any thoughts?
Could the light also be plumbed to allow water to move behind the light.
 
I don't see any way for the skimmer to leak into the light fixture, that's just weird. The only thing I can think of is that there is an equalizer line from the skimmer to the light niche (usually a equalizer, if present, is plumbed from the skimmer directly to the pool wall below the skimmer). Try taking out the light and looking behind it and using the dye test with the light out and see what you see. A picture of behind the light may be helpful if you can take one.

If there is an equalizer line (again, not expected, just the only guess I could come up with) you can block it on both ends or pressure test it and see if the leak is there.

-- Update --

I misread the above and thought the dye was going from the skimmer to the light - I still suggest pulling the light and seeing what the dye does specifically in the niche.
 
Well...the moment I feared. I went and spoke to the original poll builder...of some 40 years ago.

Turns out that the Light fixture is in no way shape or form connected to the skimmer line. There were two separate issues. The leak from the light fixture and the leak in the skimmer line. It turns out that the pipes either went below the light or above...he could not remember. The issue is...the light is right under a concrete slab which is where the diving board is...which means that I will have to tunnel dig from the grass area under the concrete slab area....which I am not looking forward to
 
I had a leak in my light niche and used some two part epoxy on the leak and it has held for two summers. I knew I was going to have to drain and re-gelcoat the FB in a couple of three years and would do a more permanent fix then.
 
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