Main drain valve cracked-now how do I blow out lines?

[EzriJax]

So…I figured out in August that my return lines are leaking somewhere. I was losing water and found a leak at one of my skimmers, but even after I had it repaired I was losing a lot of water. Long story short, I had to quit using the filter/pump because we’d just lose too much water.

I called the pool co to do a leak detection test with the equipment that located leaks underground. I thought about doing it myself but I have some serious family issues at the moment and don’t have time nor energy to dive into something like that. Pool co was busy closing so put me off for a few weeks. Then their device broke and they never returned another one of my calls.

I called the guy that rebuilt my pool, hoping he is still alive. (See my initial post for explanation.) He is alive, but when I talked to him (mid October) he was just recovering from another near fatal episode and too busy catching up to help. He said he’d call me in a month (mid November) to schedule a time to come by.

He never did, and his vm is full. My life is living heck right now (family issues) and I have zero time to even shower sometimes (not kidding) so here we are in December and I’m panicking about the still open pool.

I was told by the pool builder guy that all I had to do was open the drain plugs on the filter and pump so let the water run out and I’d be ok for a while (till we have consistently freezing/cold weather) so I did that, but it seems there must have been water in the valve because it’s cracked.

So, I was going to attempt to clean the swamp and then blow out the lines myself but now I have no idea what to do.

I still have the leak in the return lines somewhere too.

If I cut the (main drain) valve out (cuz that’s what needs to happen now to replace it) can I use that point in the line to blow out the lines?

The water level is quite high, so I will have to siphon the water out or use a sump pump. Or, should I get those duck valve things that I’ve seen mentioned elsewhere on this site? What’s easiest. It’s just me, some freezing cold swamp water, and not a lot of time.

Is there a way I could suction/siphon/pump the water out of the lines instead of blowing it out? I already have my winter plugs in the returns. Maybe just enough to get some antifreeze in?

I await any advice you guys and gals have for me. We have about a week of milder weather coming up so I have a window of opportunity to save my pool from total destruction.

 

[ajw22]

Yup, that valve is cracked and needs to be replaced.

I can't tell more about how you blow out your plumbing without seeing the entire equipment pad.

You need a submersible pump to lower the water level and a blower to clear the lines.

Closing an In Ground Pool

Winterizing a pool is essential for keeping your in-ground pool protected during cold-weather months. This Pool Repair guide will show you how to do it.

www.troublefreepool.com

Closing Pool for Winter - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[JoyfulNoise]

As for leak detection, leave it until the spring opening and don’t bother with pool builders and pool service companies. They rarely have the equipment to do the right job. Look up American Leak Detection and get a hold of them if there’s one in your area. They do cost a lot and they charge you no matter if they find the leak or not. But they know what they are doing and they have all the proper equipment to do it with.

 

[EzriJax]

As for leak detection, leave it until the spring opening and don’t bother with pool builders and pool service companies. They rarely have the equipment to do the right job. Look up American Leak Detection and get a hold of them if there’s one in your area. They do cost a lot and they charge you no matter if they find the leak or not. But they know what they are doing and they have all the proper equipment to do it with.

I called ALD in the spring and boy they do cost a lot! And- they require a clean, full pool so I had a REALLY hard time getting my pool clear w/o the help of my filter.

Turns out my leak was NOT in my plumbing. Good thing I blew out my lines!

My pool is leaking at the stairs. The liner is folded over itself/not installed correctly so there is a small gap between the faceplate and gasket (?) at the bottom of the stairs. It’s a 12” section that’s leaking. It didn’t pull any dye in, but it was explained that that’s bc the ground is so saturated behind the steps from the leak and the rain that the pool most likely wasn’t leaking at the moment. In fact, it didn’t leak hardly at all this season bc we got so much dang rain.

Anyway, thanks for the referral. If anyone else reads this, and has an elusive leak (or wants to confirm before jackhammering a brand newish very expensive patio for NO REASON) then I def concur: call American Leak Detection.

 

[EzriJax]

Is there an award for latest reply to one’s own thread?

In case anyone is wondering how you blow your lines out without proper equipment, time, skill, or an intact complete plumbing system, I’ll elaborate.

First, Disclaimer: I work at a utility co, as an office worker, but my storm role puts me outside for 16hr shifts, and I had to “close” my pool 3 hrs before midnight the night before my first 6am-10pm shift. It was also 3 hrs AFTER the storm rolled in, after the sun went down. So, pouring rain, dark, and COLD (December in New England). Plus, I have no lights at my equip pad. This is not a tale of woe tho. More like a comedy of errors.

Anyway. I’ve heard many people ask if you can use a shop vac to blow out lines. The answer is YES. You can. It’s not ideal however. It helps if you know where it is too. I had to fish mine out the brush behind the barn where my dang kids left it. Then I rustled up a bunch of Crud from here and there: several different vacuum hoses and attachments, some pieces of an irrigation system, gizmos from last season that I found in the barn, some duct tape, rubber plugs of various sizes, pool noodles, pipe cutters, a wrench, and some other junk. I wasn’t sure what I’d need to create an air-tight connection to the system. What I worked out almost defies description. I still have it, and have thought of mounting it on the wall, like a trophy, to honor its sacrifice.

MacGyver would be proud: I cut the smaller threaded end off the gizmo and removed the wide upper part with a dull, rusty hack saw and some rage. Then I cut a perpendicular slit in a wimpy piece of irrigation pipe to increase its end diameter and slid it over the “waist” of the gizmo. I used about 6 ft of duct tape to attach it and then jammed the other end in the vacuum’s hose to form a sort of adapter between the gizmo and the vacuum. I tested it several times for air leaks by submerging it in a bucket of filthy, freezing water and looking for bubbles while it was running. There were a few at the seam but if I put my hand over it it stopped so it was good enough. And my hand was frozen so it was go time.

I had drained the pool with a sump pump during the day while I was at work, so at least that was done. I had no friggin idea what I was supposed to do next. even though I read the post on this site about winterizing about 80 times and had the page open on my phone, I had entered panic mode and couldn’t read or remember anything. Plus it’s hard to read when the phone is drenched in a freezing sheet of relentless rain. I started by sticking the gizmo in the shallow end skimmer and turning the vacuum on. Some water came out somewhere. I could hear it but not see it bc it was more than 1” away, so was beyond visibility in the frozen monsoon. Then I tried the other skimmer. Same. The vacuum was getting kinda warm, which I appreciated, but knew was a sign of strain, and potential failure.

I eventually worked out that I had to block up the one end to compensate for the weak vacuum. I had this faint memory from reading that I should put a plug somewhere. So, at the equip pad, I tried to use the crappy hack saw to cut the busted valve out of my way, but it broke, so I used the pipe cutter thingy and some vibrant cursing to SHATTER the pipe. But, valve DID come out. In pieces but who cares bc it was doomed anyway. Then, I jammed one of the rubber plugs into the jagged end of the exposed pipe. Nice! Too bad it was raining so hard bc it was some Pintrest material if I’ve ever seen it.

My little shop vac was still struggling. I still had pretty low flow from the skimmer. I got the idea to reduce the diameter of the skimmer’s pipe. I jammed a noodle as far down as I could in the deep end skimmer and then turned the vacuum back on and viola! A skinny little stream of water shot out like 5’ in the air! I was able to see it bc my son found my headlamp AND batteries and ran it out to me. Yay! A minute later fine spray was all that was coming out of the noodle.

I didn’t have any antifreeze so I put my unscathed gizmos in the skimmers and figured that I’d done as much as I could, and moved on to the main drain.

I employed the same method with the noodle jammed in the exposed, shattered main drain pipe and after a minute I saw like 2 little bubbles emerge from the swamp. I very quickly shoved the rubber stopper in but the jagged ends got in the way. I grabbed the remnant of the broken hacksaw blade, wrapped it in duct tape, sort of, and cut away the pointy ends to make the pipe kinda sorta flush. Noodle, vacuum, blub blub, stopper, done.

I went in the house then, soaked thru, with cut up hands and maybe hypothermia. But I WON. I blew out those pipes with nothing but a bunch of Crud duct taped to a haggard shop vac literally hours before the first deep freeze. In the spring, to my amazement and girlish delight, my pipes passed a pressure test (leak wasn’t there after all!)

The biggest lesson learned is that I need lights out by my pool, and the second lesson is that I need to put one of those Apple ID tags on my shop vac bc I just never know where it’ll end up.