How To Find a Pool Leak Like a PRO! (pt. 1)

[Music] hey guys mark here from home are cool supplies I'm here today to talk to you about finding a leak in your swimming pool regardless if you have vinyl concrete or fiberglass although the platform's are different the operation and the process of finding leaks in these pools are all going to be very much the same so let's go ahead and take a look at the three types of leaks that can occur in a swimming pool now the three types of leaks that can occur in a pool are pressure leak suction leaks and structural leaks the first thing we want to do is make sure we're not losing any water in the backwash if you've got water leaking out of your backwash line while it's in filter that's definitely a leak so let's determine that because that's definitely one of the more common leaks in a pool and if your backwash line is not leaking then we're good so the first thing we want to do is we want to go out mark the swimming pool with a pencil on the skimmer you can mark it on the step you can get a piece of tape it doesn't really matter but leave your pool running and we're gonna mark it make sure we come back in 24 hours and we're gonna remark the pool once we've done this turn the swimming pool off wait 24 hours and we're going to remark the pool again so at this point we have two marks we have 24 hours on and then we have 24 hours with the system off and you'll be able to record those marks and look at those marks and see how much water was lost if we leak more water when it was on and less water when it was off then we have a pressure leak such as a return line Dec jet slides etc so if it's a pressure leak the first thing we want to do is we want to turn off the swimming pool then what we want to do is we want to go to the returns in the pool every pool has returns this is where the water shoots back into the pool and this is definitely a pressure line we want to then remove all the eyeball fittings some pools have one return some pools have multiple returns but what you want to do is get an inch and a half threaded o-ring plug this is an SP 10 22 C plug that can easily be put in it has an o-ring and once we screw this in we are able to seal the return outlet we're just gonna put it in hand tight you want to do that with all of them this way you now sealed all your returns you mark the pool you come back in 24 hours if the pool is holding you've just discovered that you have a break in your return line at this point in time you'll be able to call a pool professional they can come out and now they can isolate it and dig it up and make the repair this is going to allow them to get to the problem and get it fixed much quicker than making multiple trips spending hours or days at your house looking for a leak in the pool if we determined that in 24 hours on or off that it leaked more when it was off and less when it was on then we have a suction leak if it's a suction leak it's gonna be pertaining to either skimmer or drain we're gonna start with the skimmer because that's a little bit easier and we'll talk about the drain later so what I have here is a display of a skimmer and I'm going to show you guys so the first thing you'd want to do is you want to turn off the pool open up the lid we're gonna remove the basket down on the bottom of the skimmer you're gonna have a hole and you're gonna use the same plug that we use to plug the returns and you're gonna plug the skimmer most pools have at least one skimmer some pools have more but you'll need to plug all of them now with your skimmers plugged we're going to mark the water and we're gonna wait 24 hours and we're gonna come back we're gonna check the water level let's just say you come back the next day and the water level is holding and that means we've got a break in the skimmer line and we'll be able to also call a pool professional and make that same type of repair as they did with the return line and now we don't even have to bother with the drain line because we already found it in the skimmer now after 24 hours if we determine after plugging the skimmers that were still losing water then at this point we know it's not coming through the skimmers we would want to check the drain now in order to get to the drain someone's gonna have to do some swimming they're gonna have to go dive down the bottom of the pool remove 2 screws remove the lid on the drain and if you'll note down in the drain on the side here this is where the drain line comes in you're gonna use the same plug that we use for the skimmers and the returns and we're going to plug the drain line now with that being plugged at this point we just tighten it because it's gonna be hand tight now you can check the pool in 24 hours later if we're not leaking then we know we have a break in the drain line once again you can call professional they can come out the link is now isolated and now we can fix the drain line if the cost or the repair to fix this train line because it's under the pool is too costly then you can leave the drain plug and omit it and now you just won't have a drain and you could always make that future repair when you do renovations on the pool at a later date if you record and in 24 hours running on and 24 hours off is exactly the same water loss then we have what's called a structural leak structural leaks can be anything such as a hole in the liner if you have a concrete or a fiberglass pool it could be a hole on the surface it could be a crack we could have a crack in the steps it could be pertaining to gaskets around lights skimmers drains etc or in the case of a concrete or fiberglass pool hydrostatic valves which are located in the drains a hydrostatic valve like I said before are pertaining to concrete or fiberglass pools these are valves that are located in the bottom of a drain and the reason they are put in is so that if in high water tables when a pool is installed if they're not used a pool could float out of the ground just like a boat by putting hydrostatics in the pressure in the pool is greater so it keeps the pool in the ground when a pool is drained or lowered if the water table in the ground is greater than what's in the pool because it's empty the pool can flow by having a hydrostatic valve it allows the ground water then to go into the pool which then will fill the pool as opposed to raising and floating the pool and if debris gets in those hydrostatic valves such as pine straw dirt what-have-you a leaf and they close then you have created a leak and you're not aware so you always want to make sure that those hydrostatic valves are closed they're sealed there's no trash in them and you also want to make sure that the hydrostatic valve is good and the o-ring and the seal is good and that they are closing because if you find that the hydrostatic valves are not working properly you can remove them and put new ones in structural leaks are always going to leak consistent regardless if the system is running on or off for an example some pools not all pools but Poole's today have lights and when we have a leak in the light then that is a structural leak because there is no suction there is no pressure so for an example water level in a pool is here and if you'll note the water level in the light line comes up to here before it reaches the junction box at this point in time if we had a break here in the light line the water level because water self levels would go down and leak to this point one now would come out and assume that because it's below the retardants below the skimmer but yet I'm above the light and I'm above the drain that the light in the drain must be okay in fact this case here the light line is broke and that's why the water level to this point some people think oh my drain is good because the water hasn't drained out of the pool but let's just say the drain is broke here well then water would self level to this point now at this point it's broke I still have water in the pool I'm above the drain but I'm now below the light on below the skimmer I'm a below the returned so at this point when we determine the leak then we'll know how to go about finding that leak and then fixing that leak and it just makes it easier so that you're not running around looking at a million places in the pool for a leak when you can pinpoint the type of leak that you're looking for if it's going to be structural suction or pressure so if you assume that possibly the light is a leak we have putty it's an underwater putty that the light can be taken out it can be sealed the light can be put back in and it will seal and fix the leak however the better way to fix it is to lower the water level below the light and seal it dry with a product called perma seal when we do new pool construction and we build pools we seal all lights brand new regardless of breaks this way we're assured that if we have a problem we can omit the light because we know it's sealed lights will be able to be taken out and be able to be replaced and removed even if you seal it but by sealing that light we're guaranteed that we don't have to worry about a break in the light line and having a leak in the future we do see a lot of light lines a lot of pools today fail they break they crack and then you have a sealing it dry is always better than sealing it with the underwater putty because it's more permanent hopefully you guys found this video to be helpful but it is important to keep in mind that every situation is different for an example we could have more than one leak in a pool but this is a basic guideline that is going to help us determine what type of leak we have and where it's located and we'll help you or your pool professional a little bit easier and finding that pool leak and fixing it for you but if you have any questions feel free to contact us at Hallmark pool supplies at gmail.com and if you guys have any questions that you'd like to see us make a video on make sure you comment down below and hit the subscribe button also be sure to check us out on home art pool supplies com for all your pool needs even if it's that hard to find part contact us we'll be glad to help you my name is Mark appreciate you watching have a good day see you on the next video

Channel: Hallmark Pool Supplies

Views: 182,530

Rating: 4.8862481 out of 5

Keywords: pool leaks, stuctural leak, pressure leak, suction leak, leak, swimming pool, swimming pool leaks, fiberglass pool leak, vinyl pool leak, concrete pool leak, above ground pool, hallmark pool supplies, DIY, pool tips, repairing a leak, inground pools, finding a leak, how-to, how to find a pool leak, hayward, pentair

Id: r2j3tsKFy_U

Length: 9min 43sec (583 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 26 2019