Leak at skimmer / tile line of spa - been at this for over a year now
- Thread starter pgershon
- Start date
Pump ran 12 hours yesterday (intended for only 6 but I messed up) and it rained a bit so water loss hard to measure. Seems like I lost a bit less than 1/4 inch of water, out of it in the 12 hours including overnight after pump went off (as opposed to while pump running). Stirred water one last time and ran pump an hour but done with process now. Will let spa sit for 48 hours and get the fix-a-leak ut on Sunday. I'll report back midweek next week on the level of improvement. Certainly seems better but not 100% leak tight.
Filtering out the medium today. Spa lost 1/4 inch over 24 hours. Major improvement from 2 inches. Will see how I do in terms of salt loss PPM when I have everything up and running again, but I had been losing on average 200 PPM / day of salt.
Ran the robot in the spa for 2 hours and then restored cartridge to filter and rand for a few hours. Removed lots of gunk (I assume the particles of residual fix-a-leak). In the process, I noticed my pH increased from 7.6 or so before fix-a-leak addition to 9.7 on my pH meter. Took 28 ounces of 31.45% Muriatic Acid (over 4 applications) to get pH down to 7. I went further than I intended but will aerate in AM to bring back to 7.4 or so. I still have heater and chlorinator bypassed until teh chemistry is restored and stable.
I could not find anything in the instructions or on the internet to indicate that the fix-a-leak would have such an effect on pH, so I wanted to share my experience. I noticed my stabilizer level also dropped from 60 to 20 - I am guessing something bound to the fix-a-leak over the 5 days or so it was in the spa.
I could not find anything in the instructions or on the internet to indicate that the fix-a-leak would have such an effect on pH, so I wanted to share my experience. I noticed my stabilizer level also dropped from 60 to 20 - I am guessing something bound to the fix-a-leak over the 5 days or so it was in the spa.
Spa held salt concentration overnight. First time in two years (and maybe longer - first time since I started monitoring daily)
Treated pool (actually spa) with fix-a-leak for 5 days and all my chemistry went out of whack, with pH over 9.7 and CYA down to 20 (mainly because of leak). Added acid to bring pH down and it took many rounds to get it below 8. But I overshot the last round (and added boric acid and CYA simultaneously). Ended up with pH at 6.7. I am aerating to bring pH back up. I have my heater bypassed, and I am waiting to bring back in when pH comes back to an okay level. Is that okay level 7 or should I wait for higher? My spa naturally raises pH between the new Diamond Brite this season and my SWG.
Does 7.0 seem like a good place to resume full circulation through heater?
(and yes I know I should not have added CYA, boric acid and a bit of muriatic acid at the same time.
Does 7.0 seem like a good place to resume full circulation through heater?
(and yes I know I should not have added CYA, boric acid and a bit of muriatic acid at the same time.
Note that fix-a-leak use for five days ran many of my chemical level amok. pH rose to 9.6 (measured by pH meter) and took 28 oz of 31.45% muriatic acid to bring back into range. Also had to bring CYA back up, although I overshot and wonder if the fix-a-leak somehow gave me a falsely low CYA reading. I finally added boric acid to the spa as well (was waiting for leak to stop) and got pH down to 6.9. I will raise tomorrow with borax if it does not go up on its own from my SWG. Heater still bypassed pending pH>7.0.
Sad to report that leak came back, though not as bad as it was. I am not sure if the issue was time, pump agitation, or lowering pH. I sent an email to the manufacturer to see if they had thoughts on the pH. I read the in the product reviews on Amazon that others have seen the fix break down when pH is lowered to 7.5. I may try one more application, keeping pH in the 7-8 range throughout treatment. If the manufacturer given me useful further information, I will report back too.
JUST TO ADD: Fix-a-leak representive suggested adding acid may have broken down the seal. Going to try again this weekend, being sure to keep the pH in check throughout the process. If the leak is sealed and cured, better that should happen at pH 7.5 than pH 9.7. And if it wont cure at 7.5, it wasn't going to work anyway. Addicting two quarts to my spa was a mistake because hat really brought the pH up.
JUST TO ADD: Fix-a-leak representive suggested adding acid may have broken down the seal. Going to try again this weekend, being sure to keep the pH in check throughout the process. If the leak is sealed and cured, better that should happen at pH 7.5 than pH 9.7. And if it wont cure at 7.5, it wasn't going to work anyway. Addicting two quarts to my spa was a mistake because hat really brought the pH up.
Last edited:
- Sep 1, 2011
- 545
- Pool Size
- 21000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Universal40
Added a full bottle to a much smaller spa, has not stopped my leak. I'll know for sure in the morning. I Isolated my spa, bypassed my DE filter with the grids removed just in case. Added a Half bottle of Fix-A-Leak, and ran pump on high for approximately 12 hours. Turned pump off and let sit for 8 hours, lost about 4 inches. Refilled, added second half of bottle, ran pump for 12 hours, lost about 4 inches again. Going to let it sit overnight and see what my loss is.
Next step if this doesn't work is going to be abandoning the return lines and plugging them.
Next step if this doesn't work is going to be abandoning the return lines and plugging them.
A few things based on my discussions with manufacturer. Run pump only on low speed if possible. Too much agitation makes it hard to fill leak. Also watch the pH. Adding second bottle made pH too high for me.
I am about to retreat as my new shipment of product just arrived. I sealed the leak for two days the first time, but lost all seal a few days later. I will better control pH this time. Will report again when I have results
I am about to retreat as my new shipment of product just arrived. I sealed the leak for two days the first time, but lost all seal a few days later. I will better control pH this time. Will report again when I have results
On round two, leak stopped on second day after treatment. I am now going to let the pool sit until Wednesday to cure, and then filter out the medium. pH has been maintained at 7.5-7.6 this round. Hopefully it will make a difference.
After 5 days of running with autofill on, the salt concentration has remained constant at 2900. That is a victory in step one as the leak has been plugged. But I have let the sap step stay at its natural 80 degrees plus/minus. Will heat to 104 and turn on the jets over the next few days and see if the Fix-A-Leak seal remains. Either the heat could mess it up, or the motor (if I have a cracked pipe or loose fitting in the jets' line. Again, impossible to visualize as its buried under pavers and concrete.
Have used spa at 104 degrees with full jets and blower and no leaking for a week. Seems like the fix-a-leak took better this time. I believe maintaining pH in good range below 8 made a difference. The tricky part is that the fix-a-leak itself is pH 12.
Sorry to report that leak came back after about a week. Slower but the “fix” seems to break down when the jets get used. I am going to have to repair the piping this fall. I’ll report back with photos when done