Leak in the Skimmer

[sucanushie]

Hi everyone. First off I just want to say how great this site is. Anytime a newb as myself asks a questions seems the mods are very helpfull. A lot of forums people grill people for asking question that might have been covered. A++

My pool has been leaking for a bit now. The bottom drain was closed off when we bought the house so that has never been used since we have had the pool.

To test to see if there was a leak in my return lines I made my own lines and the pool was still looseing water so I know it's not there.

What's the best way to test the skimmer line for a leak?

Sorry if this has already been covered I did search and did not find anything.

Thanks

 

[waste]

Welcome to TFP!!

There is an article in Pool School on 'leak detection' which may help clarify what I'm about to say

First of all, how much water do you loose each day? Do you loose more with the pump on? Any chance that something at the pump and filter is leaking (backwash lines are always one of the 'usual suspects') ?

The easiest way to confirm or rule out any individual line is to pressure test it. "How", you ask, "does one pressure test a line?" The theory is simple but having the right equipment isn't What you need to do is plug one end of the line and force a known amount of air or water pressure into the other end, of course your air or water delivery attachment has to be sealed to the pipe and you need use a valve to keep it sealed ... AND you need a pressure gauge after the valve so you can see if you loose pressure I'll assume that you don't have ready access to the materials to make your own, so let's be sure it's the line before you go out and buy all the material you'd need to build your own pressure tester

This is as easy as turning off the pump and plugging all the returns and the skimmer. Mark the water level and see if the water drops after ~ 12 hours, if it does the leak isn't (only) in the plumbing. Doing the bucket thing from the Pool School article will take water lost to evaporation out of the equation

Two other things that could be going on - you say the main drain is plugged off - the plug could have failed or there may still be a hydrostatic valve in the bottom of it that has either failed or popped open and some debris is keeping it from fully resealling - or - your intuition could be right in pointing you to the skimmer, pop the lid and visually inspect for cracks in the body, bottom and mouth.

I'll gladly stick with you through this, but since I can't be there, you'll have to do the work - I'll just sit here advise you, tell you what and how to do things and help you interpret what you find

Good luck with finding the leak - once you've nailed down the cause, we can roll up our sleeves and help you fix it

 

[sucanushie]

Thanks for your response.

I am finding that I'm only loseing water after I backwash. I thought it might be a pressure issue as I only had 1 return set up. So I hooked the other one up and it is still leaking.

What should I look for in the backwash lines?

 

[waste]

If your backwash line is hard-plumbed and you can't see if any water is escaping - you can unscrew the little glass/ plastic 'sightglass' and see if any water is coming out.

It kind -o- sounds like there may be a problem with the gasket inside the multiport (however, this is an easier fix than a broken line )

If you have an easy way to disconnect the backwash line, do so and see if you don't have a trickle of water coming out