I have the strangest rips in the bottom of my new bestway steel pro 12x36 that I just put up June 1 and noticed water loss by June 23 and then investigated further to find these rips of strange shape all same size also.
I did everythig right or so I thought. It's not my first pool in the spot. I sprayed round up then dug out my higher ground and leveled it out. Also compacted with tamper tool. Laid anti weed fabric and then a new heavy duty tarp prior to setting up. I have no help and I'm a single mom who's disabled with a special needs child and he needs this for water therapy. Put pool together then modified it so I could use 1500 gph pump and large pool fittings along with plunger valves and screw on hoses. I test my water daily with a 6 way kit plus 6 way strips. My ph was running high and I did use ph down by chlorox pools and spas. I don't know if this ate my liner or maybe this is due to it being manufactured 1/30/2014?
So i began using jb weld water weld to plug the spots but seemed like more I plugged the more rips I found. I've been waiting over a month on my warranty claim due to problems uploading photos and then I was told my pool was discontinued so no replacement liner available. I would get 12x30 steel pro max like the intex ultra frame pools. Well I had just given away a 10x30 when I found this 12x36 so I wasn't happy. Then they sent me the regular steel pro and I demanded I get a return label and the max I was promised so they asked me to send photos proving I received wrong pool so I did. Then Rec call stating they had a 12x36 liner to send. It's supp to arrive wed.
Ive drained the pool and then went to pump rest of water out but my submersible pump quit on me so ordered new one. Got it in finally so I pumped last night.
I dont see anything between the tarp and pool at all. I have a lot of nut grass so that was a concern despite the anti weed material. To be on the safe side regardless of what I do patch or use new liner, I ordered a gorilla pad and I am going to add more sand to the area and compact it over a couple days using tamper tool and sprinkler.
Any suggestions as to what the cause of this is? Dry rot liner due to age? The ph down treatment? Or the actual high ph level I was running which was the highest on the tests little over 8. If I can add photos I will try cause the rips look like crescent moon almost like a fingernail! It's also possible this was intentional damage from recent domestic violence or my evil next door neighbor.
Basicaly i would like to know the possible causes being such a short time less than a month and having over half dozen rips only in the floor of the pool liner. Would it be wise to patch both sides once it dries so I can save new liner coming wed for next season? If so what is recommended? I have pool liner material for patches and vinyl cement also flex tape and flex spray in clear and other options too. But if this is hopeless I don't want to waste my time. Obviously it wasn't losing as much water as I thought cause it's sat with couple inches of water for over a week. Makes no sense. Also I clean the pool with a pool blaster max li rechargeable vac so it really gets the job done. Also use brush regularly and hand skim with the skimmer sock over it. Never had any problems with algae or metals that I know of.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Heather
I did everythig right or so I thought. It's not my first pool in the spot. I sprayed round up then dug out my higher ground and leveled it out. Also compacted with tamper tool. Laid anti weed fabric and then a new heavy duty tarp prior to setting up. I have no help and I'm a single mom who's disabled with a special needs child and he needs this for water therapy. Put pool together then modified it so I could use 1500 gph pump and large pool fittings along with plunger valves and screw on hoses. I test my water daily with a 6 way kit plus 6 way strips. My ph was running high and I did use ph down by chlorox pools and spas. I don't know if this ate my liner or maybe this is due to it being manufactured 1/30/2014?
So i began using jb weld water weld to plug the spots but seemed like more I plugged the more rips I found. I've been waiting over a month on my warranty claim due to problems uploading photos and then I was told my pool was discontinued so no replacement liner available. I would get 12x30 steel pro max like the intex ultra frame pools. Well I had just given away a 10x30 when I found this 12x36 so I wasn't happy. Then they sent me the regular steel pro and I demanded I get a return label and the max I was promised so they asked me to send photos proving I received wrong pool so I did. Then Rec call stating they had a 12x36 liner to send. It's supp to arrive wed.
Ive drained the pool and then went to pump rest of water out but my submersible pump quit on me so ordered new one. Got it in finally so I pumped last night.
I dont see anything between the tarp and pool at all. I have a lot of nut grass so that was a concern despite the anti weed material. To be on the safe side regardless of what I do patch or use new liner, I ordered a gorilla pad and I am going to add more sand to the area and compact it over a couple days using tamper tool and sprinkler.
Any suggestions as to what the cause of this is? Dry rot liner due to age? The ph down treatment? Or the actual high ph level I was running which was the highest on the tests little over 8. If I can add photos I will try cause the rips look like crescent moon almost like a fingernail! It's also possible this was intentional damage from recent domestic violence or my evil next door neighbor.
Basicaly i would like to know the possible causes being such a short time less than a month and having over half dozen rips only in the floor of the pool liner. Would it be wise to patch both sides once it dries so I can save new liner coming wed for next season? If so what is recommended? I have pool liner material for patches and vinyl cement also flex tape and flex spray in clear and other options too. But if this is hopeless I don't want to waste my time. Obviously it wasn't losing as much water as I thought cause it's sat with couple inches of water for over a week. Makes no sense. Also I clean the pool with a pool blaster max li rechargeable vac so it really gets the job done. Also use brush regularly and hand skim with the skimmer sock over it. Never had any problems with algae or metals that I know of.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Heather
Well, your situation stinks to say the least. Sounds like you've had a rough time at it. It's not uncommon for vinyl pools to get a leak, maybe a small puncture hole or small tear here or there. In scenarios where nutgrass, rocks, sticks, etc tear the liner on the floor below, you would expect a hole or small tear perhaps, then maybe even feel the item poking through. But to have several tears in the bottom sounds suspicious to me. I lived in the area while stationed at Barksdale for a couple years, so I know there are critters everywhere with claws, but I can't imagine one getting to the bottom. I sure hope it's not from someone's intentional actions. You might want to consider an simple surveillance camera if so. Pool stores and online supply centers sell a variety of vinyl repair kits, but those have their limitations depending on the amount of tears and location. I doubt the chemical balance really had much to do with your situation. Sometimes a liner can become a bit brittle if not managed properly, and age can begin to take its toll, but that's about it.
If you think you can salvage the old liner for a few months, I would give that a shot for now. If nothing else, just to make sure if anything suspicious should happen again, it's not to your new liner. That is IF you can seal the old liner tears well enough to get you through oh, ….. Nov/Dec I suppose? Then "hopefully" whatever caused the tears will be old news and you can install the new replacement liner next season. As for the reliability of that liner that was folded and in storage, I really couldn't say. As long as it wasn't subjected to extreme temperature conditions or left in the sun I would be optimistic. It's good you got one anyways. As for the chemicals, I would encourage you to take a few minutes each day just to get familiar with those links below in my signature. Those will keep your water clear and when the water is tested properly, will save you some $$$ as well. One of the recommended test kits is a one-time investment of about $70 or so, but over the season it pays for itself in accuracy and the money you save from trips to the pool store, getting suckered into buying their ridiculously priced products, and lack of results in the water. Home water testing is one of those things we can all do on our own (properly) without a laptop or Masters Degree. The Gorilla pad is a good choice. Very popular here as well. If you do some searches here at TFP for Gorilla Pad or above ground base prep, you'll see tons of great discussions, advice, and my favorite …. pictures. 
