leaking pin holes in metal frame

[xfilegirl]

So i went under my pool deck to retrieve my son's water gun and I found this happening.

Oddly enough when i went back about an hour later the water had stopped coming out of that particular hole, but I then found another one just the same that is still going strong. So we bought an under water patch kit but for the life of me I CANNOT find this hole when i am actually in the pool with goggles on. I see no hole. Just an old wrinkly liner that needs replacing. I tried food coloring in a syringe but that got me nowhere. How am i supposed to find this hole?? And how did the other one just stop leaking?

The second part of my question is that I notice that there are a ton of these little pinholes throughout the entire metal frame of the pool. But i only see water coming out of one of them at the moment. My husband has repaired previous holes throughout the years, but this is the first time we saw a leak through one of them. We were planning on replacing the liner at the end of this season anyway, but my concern is, if i put a new liner in, will the same thing happen to it? I'm assuming the hole in the metal tore the vinyl. If we miss any of the pin holes this could happen again, no? The pool is over 20 years old at this point. How do we know when we have to cut our losses and say bye bye to it? How many pinholes are too many pinholes? :--(

 

[OTPirate]

One pinhole is too many pinholes. The leak won't happen again if the new vinyl liner stops it, but once you get a hole in the vinyl liner it is going to leak through these pinholes. Leaks are very hard to find. If you are soon going to splurge for a new liner maybe look at a whole new set up.?

 

[xfilegirl]

We are definitely getting a new liner. We were planning on getting rid of this one at the end of the season anyway. It's not old, maybe about 5 years...but 5 years of pool-store chemicals in incorrect amounts with messed up levels certainly took it's toll. Then i found this site - what a difference!

So the liner was getting replaced before we even saw this leak. We can't afford an in-ground as much as we'd like one, but an above ground like we have will run us at least $5000 I'm guessing. That's a big difference from $300-$500 for a liner.

Also, if i can't find this leak to patch, what do i do? Can we use the pool the rest of the season and just deal with the water loss and refilling to compensate? Or will that cause other issues I'm not foreseeing?

 

[OTPirate]

Leaks don't go away. I'm not as familiar with AG pools but you could try to locate the leak by letting it drain and then the water will stop at the point of the leak (this is bad if the leak is at the bottom of the pool). Keep in mind that water often holds the liner against the sides.

 

[scootchu]

I have a 27' round pool. All aluminum and about 25 years old. Are you sure it's a leak and not condensation? My pool, woodgrain and all looks like that with extreme temp differences. I know your liner is in now, but I put the 1/4" insulation in between the liner and the pool wall, just in case I had pinholes in the pool wall. Maybe get a magnifying glass and look at the steel. Maybe there's no hole at all.

 

[xfilegirl]

Good news - found the tear! Oddly enough the poor condition of the liner helped me find it. It was so bleached out white that the tear showed black on one of the wrinkles. I could see it while looking down into the pool from the pool deck. It was about an eighth of an inch long. I patched it up and the leak stopped. I was looking in the wrong spot. Yesterday I looked for it in the pool towards where the pin hole was. I envisioned the hold in the liner was adjacent to the hole in the metal. In reality the tear was higher up, the water was just flowing down towards it in that direction. Which also explains why it was coming out of a different pin hole at first and then stopped and took a permanent spot out the other pin hole. Lesson learned!

And scootchu we will definitely look into the insulation. I just mentioned that to my husband yesterday (more for a "protection" against the wall than insulation - but insulation is helpful too! lol)

Hopefully this liner will now last us until September. We're just debating if we should replace the liner at the end of the season or wait until the start of next season? Opinions are appreciated!

- - - Updated - - -

I see what you mean, scootchu, but it was definitley a leak and hole. i know you're looking at the bottom of the pool which looks like condensation...but bring your eye up towards the top of the pic - you can actually see the water squirting out of the pin hole above the highlight from the sunlight

 

[PAGirl]

Good news - found the tear! Oddly enough the poor condition of the liner helped me find it. It was so bleached out white that the tear showed black on one of the wrinkles. I could see it while looking down into the pool from the pool deck. It was about an eighth of an inch long. I patched it up and the leak stopped. I was looking in the wrong spot. Yesterday I looked for it in the pool towards where the pin hole was. I envisioned the hold in the liner was adjacent to the hole in the metal. In reality the tear was higher up, the water was just flowing down towards it in that direction. Which also explains why it was coming out of a different pin hole at first and then stopped and took a permanent spot out the other pin hole. Lesson learned!

And scootchu we will definitely look into the insulation. I just mentioned that to my husband yesterday (more for a "protection" against the wall than insulation - but insulation is helpful too! lol)

Hopefully this liner will now last us until September. We're just debating if we should replace the liner at the end of the season or wait until the start of next season? Opinions are appreciated!

- - - Updated - - -

I see what you mean, scootchu, but it was definitley a leak and hole. i know you're looking at the bottom of the pool which looks like condensation...but bring your eye up towards the top of the pic - you can actually see the water squirting out of the pin hole above the highlight from the sunlight

I'd suggest at the end of this season. If the liner fails over the winter and all the water drains out, you run the risk of the walls collapsing. It happened to my sister a few years ago.

 

[xfilegirl]

Good point. I didn't think of that - makes total sense. Thanks!