Taking j hook liner off track and putting it back on

[ammie805]

Hi! I have a question. My above ground pool has a leak. I let the water drain down to where the leak is and it stopped just under halfway up my pool wall (15x30x52). I figured great! I can find the hole. No such luck. I have been bouncing around the idea of replacing the liner instead of finding the leak but it's killing me to do that since the liner is only 3 years old. I can buy one and have it installed for just over $500 but really, my kids don't use the pool as often as I'd like them to and it's bugging me to spend that LOL

Anyway, my question is, is it possilbe to remove the liner from the track to see where it was leaking? It's obvious it was leaking behind the liner (up on the wall). I thought I could pull the liner away from the wall to see if I see a water line running down the pool wall (from behind the liner), then I would have an idea as to where on my liner the hole might be.

What do you think? I've been in that pool 4 times looking for a hole and I cannot find it. Thanks for your time.

PS: It's a J-hook liner

~Ammie

 

[Ohm_Boy]

You'd probably be better off bringing the water back up some, and doing a dye test around the perimeter of the pool. Turn the pump off and let the water get still. Put some food coloring (you can dilute it to get more) in a squeeze-bottle, and puff some small 'clouds' of coloring a few inches away from the liner, working your way around the pool. It's often easier to do this from inside the pool. When you get near the leak, the cloud will be sucked through the liner. Work slowly so as to disturb the water as little as possible.

 

[waste]

Ohm_boy has told you how to 'dye test' the liner, and it's great(!) info! If you think you know where the leak is, the 'J' bead can be removed by lifting it up and out of it's track. How much water are you loosing ( this indicates how big the hole is)? A larger hole is easier to find than a smaller (or a few smaller) holes. Check any place that is rough behind the liner. If you are able to find the leak, it's best to patch both the inside and outside of the leak.

Best of luck with this!! If you need more help, you know where to ask.

 

[ammie805]

Ohm_boy has told you how to 'dye test' the liner, and it's great(!) info! If you think you know where the leak is, the 'J' bead can be removed by lifting it up and out of it's track. How much water are you loosing ( this indicates how big the hole is)? A larger hole is easier to find than a smaller (or a few smaller) holes. Check any place that is rough behind the liner. If you are able to find the leak, it's best to patch both the inside and outside of the leak.

Best of luck with this!! If you need more help, you know where to ask.

There is one place that is very rough behind the liner. It's where my steps are inserted (I have the wedding cake steps that you drop in and hold down with a bag of sand) The handles attach right to the decking but the steps always "floated" alittle, even with the bag of sand. I was losing about 1" of water a day, but the weird thing is the water was seeping out of the far end of the pool, nowhere near where my steps were. Is it possible that the water traveled below/behind the liner down the whole length of the pool? My pool is dug down a few inches (the end where the steps are) and the area where the water was found is level with the ground. The ground/grass was saturated. It was disgusting.

 

[matt4x4]

if your pool is partially burried in the ground - the water will come out at the lowest spot, no matter where your leak is.
Your leak will be below where it stopped emptying - about 1-2 inches - there just isn't enough pressure left from "head" in the pool to continue the leak.

It's common to have the leak at the stairs - most amount of wear there.
the hole may be as small as a pin head (and look like one too - probably a few of them if that size to leak 1"/day) or it may be the size and shape of a finger nail sliver - that size would leak between 1/2 and 1"/day.
Bets way to find it is visually with goggles first inspecting every inch of the wall around the stairs and where they may rub/touch.
Roughness on the wall is a good sign - could also be sand that was stuck on it before liner install and fill though, but if it's one area only it could well have rusted there for a while now. Many leaks go undetected for a long time if they start with a needle head sized hole and there can be a high chance of rust building up.