Broken Pool Line by a Fence Post!

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E

enajdowski

0
Jun 28, 2012
2
Hi,

I had some fence installers install a chain link fence today and they drove one of the posts directly through the return line that goes from the drain at the bottom of the pool to the pump. The other two pipes were untouched. I dug down to pipes, and it's a 1 1/2" PVC. And the water keeps coming through due to the pressure from the pool water. I plugged the bottom of the pool w/ a raft to slow it, but it isn't stopping. My question is, when I go to hack saw this PVC pipe to fit in a new piece into two cleaner edges (currently semi-shattered), and water is gushing out of it, do I just use the blue and purple PVC glue or something else to fit in a new piece with a couple of PVC couplings?

Thanks for the advice in advance!!!!


Eric
Portage, MI
1) 18x36 inground pool.
2) DE filter
3) in ground
4) vinyl
5) 15+ year old pool.
 
I'd put the winter caps on your returns so you can get things clean and dry.

Patching a pipe like that can be tricky. Often, there won't be room to get the fittings in to repair with conventional fittings. There are sliding fittings made to do the job called repair couplings. Here's a source, but you can generally find them locally. http://www.dripworks.com/category/pvcrepair
 
I put the caps on the return line and that's not helping. I figure it must be from the bottom drain, b/c I have plugs on everything else. I tried to put a raft at the bottom of the pool, but that isn't stopping it... With water flowing during the repair, am I able to use these slip-ons? Also, what adhesive should I buy with water constantly flowing?
 
enajdowski said:
I put the caps on the return line and that's not helping. I figure it must be from the bottom drain, b/c I have plugs on everything else. I tried to put a raft at the bottom of the pool, but that isn't stopping it... With water flowing during the repair, am I able to use these slip-ons? Also, what adhesive should I buy with water constantly flowing?
Click to expand...

Set your filter to "closed" and/or close the valves on your drain and skimmer where they go to the pump.

I'd use the blue stuff for gluing it.
 
enajdowski said:
I put the caps on the return line and that's not helping. I figure it must be from the bottom drain, b/c I have plugs on everything else. I tried to put a raft at the bottom of the pool, but that isn't stopping it... With water flowing during the repair, am I able to use these slip-ons? Also, what adhesive should I buy with water constantly flowing?
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean. John, the plumbing mentioned is the main drain pipe, before it gets to the valve and pump. Nothing but a steady flow of water.

You'll need to stop the water in order to glue. When I redid my plumbing, I used a big black trash bag over the main drain. Thin enough to get sucked down from the pressure/suction, and tight enough to slow the water down to a trickle.

You might want to excavate a good length of the pipe if you can, just so you can flex either end up and down to allow for a tight fit on the coupling.

Hope this helps...
 
Let me elaborate, i was posting from my phone before. Do as suggested and try everything to get the water to stop flowing out of the pipe. If you think you've got it all pluged up you can put a shop vac on the pipe and suck any remaining water out of it.

If you get it down to a trickle or possible even more, take some regular bread and ball it up hard in your hand, shove it into the pipe, you may do a couple of these plugs. Fix your pipe. The bread will dissolve and break down and get filtered out.
 
Since you have a raft on the main drain you can take a bag of sand and lay over it to help seal the raft around the drain.

They also make glue that can be used on wet joints. I suggest using either that or a couple of compression couplings. I use compression couplings all the time and have never had a problem with them. They can be used completely submerged.
 

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Seems you have three options:

1. Use one of these:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ecodZ ... RRWidgetID

Supposed to work up to 300 psi, but one bad review makes me a bit skeptical.

2. Dive down to the drain, black plastic bag with a bag of sand (or pool salt!) sitting on top to plug the drain... if this doesn't work, hold your breath and remove the drain cover, then stick a potato into the drain pipe.

3. Pump the water out down to just below the level of the pipe. The flow will stop once the water line is below the pipe. Then you can dry it out and fix it properly.
 
Unless you are a diver with scuba it will be a stretch to plug the bottom drain to a point that will effectively stop the flow into the broken pipe. I would try #3 as posted before to be sure.

When I moved my pad about 25 feet I lowered the pool level and still had seepage in the pipes. I pluged them with various things until I was ready to glue them. I could not get the water to stop completely and the pipes totally dry. I used rain and shine glue and it worked and held for the past 14 years. There might now be a better pipe glue than what I used. Now we're replumbing the entire pool.
 
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