underground leak?

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adrnmrnda

Member
Apr 28, 2019
8
ridgecrest ca
new to pools. filter will not prime. Looking down at my skimmer there are two lines, rear line is to filter (from online diagrams) forward line is to main drain. water line is well below skimmer (pool half empty). I fill the skimmer and the skimmer drains. The skimmer is not completly level, the water from the forward line emptys until dry, the rear line starys full of water. Fill up the skimmer again and it drains from the forward line. Any help is appreciated.
 
Sorry wasn't clear to begin with, the pool was full and during a cleaning after a wind storm the pump would not maintain suction. I could not get it to prime and it did not seem clogged. Short of getting a bore scope type of tool is there a test other than watching the water disappear from the drain line. Unless the drain line emptying is normal? I would imagine without a leak it would not drain empty?
 
I do not know what you mean by a 'drain line'. In a pool, there is a suction side (from skimmer(s) and main drain to pump) and return lines from pump back to pool.
 
looking at diagrams on line the rear line is identified as the suction line and the forward line has been called the drain, my only reference. is there a reason it the front line (closest to the pool) would completely drain dry? I filled the skimmer basked cavity (where the basket sets in at) and the cavity was drained all the way down to the elbow of the forward line in roughly 30 seconds. When draining was nearly done (20 seconds into it) there were air some large bubbles coming up as well.

Thanks
 
I assume you are looking into your skimmer and talking of the two inlets in the bottom?
 
If your pool level is to 1/2 way up the skimmer throat, then both pipes in the bottom of the skimmer have water over them all the time. I do not see how one can completely drain.

Sorry I am not catching on -- I am struggling to visualize what is going on!
 
first i want to thank you for hanging in there with me. the pool was full and would not hold prime it is is currently half empty well below the skimmer and that is how i can see the forward line drain till empty. I did not want to fill it up until this problem is solved unless there is no problem. If i need a picture i can try to get one on here.
 

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adrnmrnda said:
first i want to thank you for hanging in there with me. the pool was full and would not hold prime it is is currently half empty well below the skimmer and that is how i can see the forward line drain till empty. I did not want to fill it up until this problem is solved unless there is no problem. If i need a picture i can try to get one on here.
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If the skimmer port closest to the pool is connected to the main drain like you think it is, then any water you pour in the skimmer is just going to drain into the pool (until you pour enough in to fill it to the skimmer). Everything you've described is pretty much what would be expected. In order to troubleshoot a pump not priming, you really need your pool full of water.

Did you drain the pool halfway, and if so, why?
 
adrnmrnda said:
when i couldn't get the filter pump to prime the water did what water does, over winter water level dropped from evaporation. I didn't want to drain and leave it empty, had other priorities in the house besides pool.
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I don't close my pool in the winter, so I don't know for sure, but I don't think you should lose half a pool of water to evaporation. So maybe you do have a leak after all. What you described about the water draining from the skimmer is perfectly normal though, and doesn't really tell us anything.
 
adrnmrnda said:
unfortunately not at the moment, draining for cleaning this weekend. But i will keep an open eye.
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There is risk in draining any pool. You do not have a Signature so we do not know what type of pool you have. In your area, draining a plaster pool can lead to damage of your plaster. Vinyl and fiberglass pools should not be drained if at all possible due to more catastrphic risks like the liner shifting and the fiberglass walls bowing inward.

There really is no reason to drain a pool to clean it. Algae and other organics are managed by chlorine.
 
I've read 1000's of posts on TFP Forum, but cannot seem to get out of first gear on this one...we can't really tell anything until pool is filled and chemistry measurements are listed, along w a potential OCLT test too
 
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