Leak Detection help needed - SOLVED!

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denisbaldwin

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Mar 23, 2010
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After cleaning and draining and refilling the pool, the leak still exists. I patched all around the light with 2 part marine grade epoxy. That didn't seem to help. I'm back to assuming the leak is somewhere else, as I lost another 4" overnight with the pump off. Bucket test lost 1/4". There's definitely a leak.

Anyone have a good how-to on doing leak detection yourself? if not, can anyone recommend a good service in the tampa/clearwater area? The few I called estimated $1000 plus. :\

Denis
 
Re: Leak Detection help needed

Bama Rambler said:
Does it ever leak down to where it stops leaking. If you can let it do that, that's the best way to figure out where you should start looking.
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It seems to vary. When it first started leaking, it would leak down to the light and then stop. Then, after a while it stopped leaking. Then, this last time, it leaked down a foot past the light. I sealed the light when I had the water out, so we'll see if it leaks back down again today.
 
Re: Leak Detection help needed

I've recently dealt with 2 leaks. One was around the drain in the spa and another around the main pool drain. 4 inches overnight is a big leak. If you've already seen it leak past the light, then you already know the leak is below that. And with 4" in such a short time, I'd be thinking its somewhere deep.

I also noticed that my leaks varied with the water table. Depending on how much rain we had or if I'd run the sprinkler recently - and temperature - all had an effect on how much water I loss in a given day.

If I were you, my next step would be to get on the bottom with some scuba gear, or just a mask and weight belt, and a syringe with red food coloring and see if you can find the leak. My pool was under warranty, so a leak guy did that. He used a pick to clean out the area around the drain where it was leaking, filled it with the epoxy, making sure to push it down into the crack, and then kept testing around for more leaks. He spent a good 20 minutes on the bottom using topside compressor to supply air.
 
Re: Leak Detection help needed

whoozer said:
I had a leak co come out on a pool in SC after a new build, but the pb refused to pay it cost me 325.00, why such a price difference?
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I apparently wasn't calling the right people. I have a leak company (who specializes in leaks, no general pool work) coming tomorrow morning for $250. That covers a full detection and repair of anything "in the pool". If it's pipe problems, the cost goes up from there.
 
Re: Leak Detection help needed

Leak probably fixed. It was a compound leak.

The main drain hydrostatic plug was missing. Before, when the pool was dirty, the filth kept it in check. Since I got it all clean and hosed out, it started leaking. This got progressively worse as the water was cleaner and the hole was more cleaned out. Leak guy installed a new plug, checked it and the leak there stopped.

I also had a leak in my return. It was cracked like a spiderweb and there were a series of small leaks all around the mouth. He puttied them all shut.

There were two leaks in my skimmer housing, one directly under and one to the left side. He puttied both of those and they're fine.

One of my steps had a crack in the corner. I hadn't even noticed it before. This was the cause of a small leak. Again, he patched it and the leak seems to have gone away.

Lastly, my light was all kinds of leaky. He ran a new seal all around with putty and smoothed it out. The dye immediately stopped flowing.

He scoped all of my pipes and he said everything there is solid, at least to the pad. Their standard check only covers the underground pipes and everything there was fine.

I have a 35 day warranty from these guys to check and see if he got them all. They'll come back for free if anything is still leaking.

While this was $250 I didn't plan on spending, I'll probably save that just in water! C'est la vie, I suppose.
 
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