Suction line leak from freeze damage?

[TurboME]

I purchased a home with a pool over the winter and had a pre-purchase pool inspection done when the pool was closed in the fall and the pool company said all was good. The same company just opened the pool and there is a air leak in one of the suction lines, big enough to prevent the pump from building pressure. The leaking line draws from the pool wall, not the skimmer. The opening tech plugged the port and shut off the line at the pump. He tells me the pool will be fine using just the skimmer suction.

I'm wondering if this leak could have been caused by freeze damage caused by improper winterization and if I should ask the pool company to fix it. It seems to me a leaking suction line should have been identified during the pre-close inspection if it was a preexisting problem.

What should I do?

 

[Bama Rambler]

If the pool company winterized the pool I would definitely bring it to thier attention that it's leaking and it wasn't when it was closed. You may have a hard time getting them to do anything about it but I'd try anyway.

 

[TurboME]

So I got push back from the Pool Company as expected. Said their "best guy" closed the pool so there is no way there was freeze damage. So much for standing behind their work....

Decided to investigate a little myself and found that the three port valve was set to 50/50 flow, even though the pool tech said he set it to 100% skimmer. Got me thinking that maybe he didn't know how to use the valve, so I unplugged the wall suction and the system built pressure almost immediately. Everything appears to be working perfectly fine. The only explanation I can think of is the tech had the valve in the off position and thought it was open, which would obviously make the pump angry.

Happy that I don't have a big problem but disappointed that I paid what I feel was a premium to have "professionals" do a simple job. It's so hard to find companies that provide good service!

 

[Bama Rambler]

It's much better to learn to do as much as you can. Even if you don't want to do it, you know when they're doing it correctly and that helps prevent any issues in the future.