Newly installed skimmer leaking!

[jbeal9]

I just installed a through the wall, wide mouth skimmer (Hydro Tools 8939G) on my 26' x 52" Intex pool. I haven't cut the vinyl for the opening yet because I have quite a few leaks around the face plate assembly. Installed in this order beginning with water side: Face plate, gasket, liner, gasket, housing assembly. I've tightened every screw as tightly as I can, still several trickles. Did i do something wrong or do I need to do something differently?

 

[linen]

It is possible (and common) that you have overtightened your screws and temporarily distorted the plastic enough to cause leaks. You could loosen them and then slowly move around re-tightening a small turn at a time and observe if your leaking stops. It that doesn't work, some people use a good water contacting silicone caulk.

 

[jbeal9]

Oddly enough, over the past couple days, the leaks have mostly resolved themselves. Still a couple tiny trickles but not nearly as bad. I guess the gaskets have expanded or conformed enough to seal most of the screw holes. I will probably wait until it's time to winterize, then go ahead and add silicon if i feel it's needed. Thanks everyone for your input!

 

[rclifton]

I installed the exact same skimmer on my Intex, After going around several times each time tightening a bit more I had no leaks on the part that actually connects to the pool. I did continue to have a small drip type leak in one corner where the basket box attached to the skimmer body for about 2 weeks after the intial install. It started out filling a 2QT measuring cup every 24 hours and slowly went down until I have seen not a drop in the last 5 days. I assume that it just takes awhile sometime for everything to go through the expansion/contraction/swelling phase. I did get in the pool 2 or 3 times during this period and tighten the screw in that corner each time.

 

[jbeal9]

All in all, I'm really glad we upgraded to the thru the wall skimmer. So much better than that wall attached skimmer that came with the pool. Worth the headache for sure.