I haven't installed the new pump yet. This old one actually started working yesterday... it was continuously priming previously.
I am crying. Pool leaks and Filtration problems.
- Thread starter tangoshoes
- Start date
I would use a threaded plug while you are in the troubleshooting phase, until you are sure the problem is isolated. With pictures of your pool area and equipment pad we can help you figure out how to repair the problem. Do not use fix a leak! It could cause more problems than it solves!
Getting screw in eyeballs would be a good thing to have, so you can direct the flow of water around the pool, however that is a low priority item right now.
EDIT: Thanks for the equipment pad photo. I can kind of see something written on the pipe with the valve on the right. Can you see what it says?
The 2 lines without valves are the return lines that go back to the pool. Are those black rubber hoses going into the ground, or painted flexible pvc? I know the couplings are black rubber. Since there is no valve you will have to plug them at the return fitting in the wall of the pool. Plug one at a time and see if you can isolate which return is leaking.
Getting screw in eyeballs would be a good thing to have, so you can direct the flow of water around the pool, however that is a low priority item right now.
EDIT: Thanks for the equipment pad photo. I can kind of see something written on the pipe with the valve on the right. Can you see what it says?
The 2 lines without valves are the return lines that go back to the pool. Are those black rubber hoses going into the ground, or painted flexible pvc? I know the couplings are black rubber. Since there is no valve you will have to plug them at the return fitting in the wall of the pool. Plug one at a time and see if you can isolate which return is leaking.
I'd go as far as undoing the return lines one at a time at the equipment pad, while also sealing off the corresponding return jet in the pool. If the return line has a leak, and is sealed at the pool but hooked to the pump output, the pump will still push water out that leak. Eliminating the return lines one at a time and watching for water level loss/air in returns will isolate the leak.
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,392
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
I don't think these two links have been pasted, but something in there will likely be helpful, good luck with the sleuthing
Pool School - Leak Detection
Pool School - Suction Side Air Leaks
Pool School - Leak Detection
Pool School - Suction Side Air Leaks
The writing on the pipe is "Skimmer" and the other is labeled "Main Drain". I had the skimmer closed for a test in this photo.
I'm 99% sure the majority of the water loss is coming from one return line. It has been hard to run tests because I am now having to run the filter to distribute chlorine for the SLAM. I keep spiking it and running the filter in between tests. I just ran a test plugging only one return line and leaving the filter off. No water loss for 2 hours... going on three (previously I would have noticed a drop in water after one hour... day or night, filter on or off). I will continue to do this test until I need to start the filter again should have a few more hours though I'm at FC 15 and a SLAM lvl of FC 10. Losing about 1FC an hour right now.
I'm not a plumbing expert but I would say Flex PVC. Yes the couplings are rubber.
Would love to figure out a way to only use the one return jet temporarily. I have tried and can't get a pool company out here nor do we really have the money to at the moment.
Thanks everyone for the help!
No water loss after 4 hours with 1 of 2 return jets plugged. Didn't lose too much FC this round so added enough to get me to morning and turned the pump back on. Not sure if I should keep adding water but I could get a valve or cap or something on that jet tomorrow if I knew that would be ok to put in a return line.
Others will chime in here. IMO removing one of the return lines from the pump temporarily will put more pressure on the single return, but as long as flow isn't impeded too much I can't see a problem. If there are eyeballs in the return jets, then you can remove the eyeball from the operational jet to reduce back pressure on the pump. Someone already suggested replacing with a larger sized eyeball which would have a similar effect. Too much back-pressure on the system might open up new problems yet haven't yet seen.
Those rubber couplings on the return lines at the pump are easy enough to remove, but you'd have to cap the pump side of that return line somehow--obviously plug the pool side of that return line too[emoji6]. Threaded plugs can be found at most any hardware store, or there are more specialized rubber compression-type plugs available too.
If I was in your shoes, I'd run the pool with one return to reduce loss. Finish the slam, then start tackling other problems one at a time.
Those rubber couplings on the return lines at the pump are easy enough to remove, but you'd have to cap the pump side of that return line somehow--obviously plug the pool side of that return line too[emoji6]. Threaded plugs can be found at most any hardware store, or there are more specialized rubber compression-type plugs available too.
If I was in your shoes, I'd run the pool with one return to reduce loss. Finish the slam, then start tackling other problems one at a time.
How far away from the pool is your equipment pad? If it's not too bad you could always plumb a temporary "above-ground" return into the bad line until you get some relief with the other issues. I'm not a plumbing expert so there might be something wrong in my idea, but as long as the height works out to prevent siphoning it would be a way to prevent pressure issues by only running a single return.
So I decided this wasn't a bad idea... like you I'm definitely not a plumbing expert but I figured this solution would be better than putting more strain on an old pump. Plus it was an excuse to buy more tools! So I'm not even sure I got the correct type of pipes but this was the only one kind I could find at Lowe's that had a PSI rating on it (330PSI I think it said). I'm waiting cure time on the pipes before starting it up. It said 2 hours or more... trying to wait the more part but I had to dump chlorine in without a running filter already. My FC dropped to 7 during the repair. I'm pretty sad about that... after 2 full days of keeping it at 10+. Please excuse the leaves in my pool it was super windy out today and with the filter of... well you know. I'll probably have to put in an eyeball jet to try and get more of a flow in the pool. Unfortunately the easiest route to the pool was almost exactly over the working return jet so I won't be getting the benefit of water moving in two different locations. Anyways here's some pictures of what I did... sry more pictures soon! Became a supporter so I could upload more pictures : ) Also because I appreciate the help!!!
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Awesome, glad it worked! No need to figure out how put a jet on there, you could literally just keep adding on to the pipe, even split it so one part keeps surface movement and another goes deeper into the water to circulate there. Possibilities are endless! 
Awesome, glad it worked! No need to figure out how put a jet on there, you could literally just keep adding on to the pipe, even split it so one part keeps surface movement and another goes deeper into the water to circulate there. Possibilities are endless!
Kind of want to put a little fountain on it or something
Thought about piping it down into the water but honestly just didn't have the time. It's working great so far ... no leaks!Just added 4lbs of CYA. My test only went down to 30 and it never registered so I though 4lbs is a good place to start. I'm guesstimating it will raise it around 17 points. Still not sure about my gallon size but calc says around 25k. Not sure exactly how deep it is anywhere as I've never seen the bottom. I didn't want to dump it in like container says as my filter is already stressed from cleaning and I can't see the bottom to see where it needs to be sucked up so I opted for the sock method which I modified too. We didn't have 10 used socks to put all the CYA into so I used an old pair of yoga pants. 2lbs in each leg with a knot on the bottom. Tied it to a pool pole and set it in front of the return jets Not even going to say what it looked like when I tied it to the post... safe to say I had trouble keeping my giggles in!
Not even going to say what it looked like when I tied it to the post... safe to say I had trouble keeping my giggles in!
PoolMath will tell you how much CYA to add to reach whatever number you want to aim for. There is a link at the top of each page. There is also a section in PoolMath called Effects of Adding Chems that will tell you how many ppm 4lbs of CYA will add to your pool. Put the gallons in at the top first.
I switched to some knee highs last time I added CYA. Yoga pants sounds good!
I switched to some knee highs last time I added CYA. Yoga pants sounds good!
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,392
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
It's great to hear your sense of haha
Learning PoolMath will save you an enormous amount of time. It's a very powerful tool.
Learning PoolMath will save you an enormous amount of time. It's a very powerful tool.
I used the pool calculator before adding cya the trouble was in not knowing where I was to start. If the test only registers to above 30 is it safe to assume I'm at 0 with no test result registered? Pool calculator says add 4 lbs to go up 20 points but the container says use entire container to raise 30ppm in 16k gallons. I'll test in a week to see if I need more. Should I slowly up my target FC as the cya is added? The chlorine has been flying out of the pool during sunny day time but pretty slow loss at night now.
Someone mentioned getting some 12% chlorine from the pool store. I did have some from when I went in but I'm going to continue buying from wall Mart. I've bought out the store twice in a week. Buying 2 "cleaning bleach" bottles = 1 pool store bottle and is $0.5 less money at $0.23/oz of chlorine. Not sure if that is a national price.
Someone mentioned getting some 12% chlorine from the pool store. I did have some from when I went in but I'm going to continue buying from wall Mart. I've bought out the store twice in a week. Buying 2 "cleaning bleach" bottles = 1 pool store bottle and is $0.5 less money at $0.23/oz of chlorine. Not sure if that is a national price.
CYA can only be in the pool if you added it, there isn't any CYA in tap water. CYA is added by adding stabilizer, trichlor or dichlor. If you haven't added any of those then it is safe to assume it is 0. Go ahead and assume your CYA is 20 for setting your chlorine level.
Some pictures of the above ground return jet fix. 
We spent nearly all day scrubbing the pool and using the Jandy Leaf Master. The leaf master is only like a week old and already has about 20 holes in the bag. There could be branches in the pool but I haven't pulled any up yet. I don't know how it's getting so many holes! I tried to vacuum the pool. With the main drain turned off and only skimmer on. I am having trouble keep the hose in the skimmer. Any tips? I was pushing water to waste... I wanted to try again but we stirred up the water so much with the leaf master and brush.... I didn't think it would do much good. The water return dropped really low 3 times. Once when the pump basket filled with leaves... Once when the skimmer basket filled and then a third time... The water in the pump even dropped... Nither skimmer or pump basket was full... I did the only thing I could think of which was to backwash... I got a new pressure gauge of the filter any ways so I figured it would be a good time to pop it on and find out what clean pressure was like. I'm at about 8 on the gauge. Not sure what is normal lol. Seemed to fix the pump issue though.
We spent nearly all day scrubbing the pool and using the Jandy Leaf Master. The leaf master is only like a week old and already has about 20 holes in the bag. There could be branches in the pool but I haven't pulled any up yet. I don't know how it's getting so many holes! I tried to vacuum the pool. With the main drain turned off and only skimmer on. I am having trouble keep the hose in the skimmer. Any tips? I was pushing water to waste... I wanted to try again but we stirred up the water so much with the leaf master and brush.... I didn't think it would do much good. The water return dropped really low 3 times. Once when the pump basket filled with leaves... Once when the skimmer basket filled and then a third time... The water in the pump even dropped... Nither skimmer or pump basket was full... I did the only thing I could think of which was to backwash... I got a new pressure gauge of the filter any ways so I figured it would be a good time to pop it on and find out what clean pressure was like. I'm at about 8 on the gauge. Not sure what is normal lol. Seemed to fix the pump issue though.
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,392
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
If there's still debris on the bottom, you might want to try a leaf rake. I'll post a video, but the way they work is that you slide it along the bottom, with the net down and the leading edge of the rake scraping along the bottom of the pool. You push it as far as you can, and then simply pull back. The net seals off, holding whatever has been picked up, which you then dump somewhere, and go again. You kinda cover the bottom (somewhat blindly) the same way you would cover a floor with a vacuum cleaner. Leaf rakes are quite inexpensive and fit on your regular telescoping pool pole.
How To Scoop/Remove Debris From Bottom Of Swimming Pool - YouTube
How To Scoop/Remove Debris From Bottom Of Swimming Pool - YouTube
We have one. I was using it yesterday but it also got holes after a few uses. Ty for the video though that was very helpful.
I'm not as optimistic today. My chlorine levels should be around 25 right now. Holding off on a test because I'm running out of regents but I ordered a refill from tftestkits. After all the cleaning yesterday the pool turned back to green. I was hoping to go out this morning and find things had settled so I could attempt another vacuum session. It hasn't and it's back to green... See these pictures... One before cleaning taken on the 30th... Then the 31st we did a mad cleaning ... Today's picture... I think the white stuff is from high chlorine levels. It seems to come and go. View attachment 62508
Taken before cleaning... You can almost see the bottom.View attachment 62509
Taken this morning after yesterday's cleaning session.
Should I dare utter the forbidden "f" word? Is it time for Flock?! Or am I just impatient lol? No idea if my sand filter even works properly. I've been guessing on backwash times as I just got the new pressure gauge installed yesterday. If it's working the pressure should just slowly go up until backwashed?
.... So recently I've noticed a jet of green water coming from returns whenever the pump is turned off then back on. Is that normal to get a little backwash when turning off and on the pump? After a few seconds it runs clean.
Found a few dead animals today with the leaf rake... Now the rake is full of even more holes. What could be causing that? My only guess can be branches in the pool but I haven't pulled any up yet.
Should I start thinking about pH? I know the Traditional SLAM says you should fix it before you start with the chlorine. Unfortunately I came here from another site that said shock first and pH later. I know the high chlorine levels can mess with your pH reading. So I might be locked in at the moment?
Found a few dead animals today with the leaf rake... Now the rake is full of even more holes. What could be causing that? My only guess can be branches in the pool but I haven't pulled any up yet.
Should I start thinking about pH? I know the Traditional SLAM says you should fix it before you start with the chlorine. Unfortunately I came here from another site that said shock first and pH later. I know the high chlorine levels can mess with your pH reading. So I might be locked in at the moment?