Leak Help

[TarponTF]

Greetings,
We moved into a new home 6 months ago. They let the pool go. Heavy reading here has enabled me to bring this back to a great pool again. I have some stain issues but I have a plan of attack based on all of the great reading here!
Before I start the stain removal, I need to deal with a leak. At one point the water did get down well below returns and skimmer to just above pool light at which point I refilled it. I have done quite a bit of dye testing trying to find the leak. Tomorrow I am going to plug the pool light niche cord with Butyl tape but I do not suspect the pool light. I have two drains at the bottom at the deep end. I removed both covers and dye tested those as well. These two drains actually connect together and there is probably a tee in the middle between the two. I used a GoPro underwater to verify this and it is a straight shot from one drain to the other. I am pretty discouraged at this point as I think the leak is in the drain line to the pump. Tomorrow I will plug both drains and shut off the line going to the pump from the drains in the hopes of verifying the leak. This will leave only my skimmer running. Now for my question. Will this vacuum be too much for the skimmer by itself? I do also have a line in the pool for an automatic pool vacuum, but I do not use that and the flapper cover is closed with valve shut off. My apologies for being wordy but wanted to provide as much info as possible. Your time is appreciated.

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum! :handshake:

There should be no issue in only having suction from the skimmer. Many pools are now being built without main drains.

I suggest you read Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Trouble Free Pool School book.

 

[TarponTF]

mknauss, Thank you. Have read those a few times now but it may not be sinking in 100% yet.

 

[kimkats]

You are correct in that the main drains are connected to each other. This is code to stop entrapment from the main drain. Some main drains go back to the skimmer and some run back to the equipment pad/pump and have their own valves.

Look in your skimmer. How man holes does it have in the bottom?

Let us see a pic of your equipment pad if there is only one hole in the skimmer.

Kim

 

[TarponTF]

Hi Kim,
skimmer has a single hole with a small flapper to apparently be able to control suction amount shared with drains. I noticed I also do not have a valve for skimmer. Pic attached.

 

[kimkats]

Why in the world did they not put a valve on the skimmer? Hummmmm oh well it is what it is until such time as you replumb. I think you have a solid plan for finding the leak. Let us know know what you find.

Kim

 

[Jimrahbe]

T,

"Most" pool water leaks are at the Skimmer or at the back of the pool light. Did the leak stop above the pool light, or did you just get tired and did not let it get below the light?

I suggest you let it leak and see where it stops, or at least slows way, way down..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[TarponTF]

Hi Jimrahbe,
I did get a bit nervous when it headed towards the pool light. It was well below skimmer and returns. I might also add that pump had been off for a week while the level dropped as I wanted to eliminate the pump causing the leak. When this did start to get close to pool light I started getting concerned about floating the shell so I did decide to refill. I had 8 possible suspects for the leak. Dropping it down to that level eliminated 5 suspects. Now it is the light niche, or the two drains that are left to check. The other day when I removed the drain covers, I was able to see that the drain buckets for the two drains have what looks to be 1.5" threaded plugs in the bottom for hydro-static pressure is my guess. I had the idea to plug the drains and butyl tape the niche cord today but that wont tell me the true culprit. I should break this into 2 plans so that I can know for sure. This water is getting a bit chilly though. After removing drain covers and dye testing, I thought I did see some dye getting sucked into the drain pipe from the drain bucket with pump off, but it is so hard to tell for sure as the leak seems to be about an inch a day.