Need suggestions on a skimmer leak repair

[tangte]

My pool has been losing 1/2 inch water every day. After weeks of troubleshooting, I believe I found where the leak is. Now the water level is below the skimmer, the water loss started to slow down. I believe the leak spot is on the inside of the skimmer face plate (where my arrows point to in picture 1). It should hold about 1/4" of water behind the skimmer face place. I put some water in there and the water disappeared in 15 minutes. The other skimmer holds the 1/4" water just fine. I am not sure about the exact location of the leak. Could be somewhere along the gasket. Or it could be the spot I circled in picture 2. There seems a crack (not very clear in the picutre), maybe caused by one of the face plate screws.
I am wondering if there is a quick temparory fix. If the water leaks through the gasket, can I put something there to seal it up, like caulk, silicone glue, epoxy or some kind of putty? If the leak is cause by that little crack in the plastic, what would you suggest? Any suggestion is appreciated! Thank you in advance.

 

[Wntrequinx]

I had a leak in like 3 places on my skimmer when I installed it. I ended up going with A+B epoxy putty (pool putty).

Not too difficult to work with in small amounts (gotta really mix the parts, and get fairly equal chunks to combine) and I ended up using a lot. The final fix was a little lumpy and not like the nice caulking look I tried for... but my skimmer was new and pure white like the putty I got. Not sure how much it will annoy me if the skimmer discolors at a different rate than the putty, but that's a problem for future me.

Having said, that in addition to color issues, my repair was on an above ground pool... I am fairly certain that in-ground pool skimmers aren't as easy to fix since the back is inaccessible.

Maybe @ajw22 or @Newdude would have a better idea (or would know who on here is the right expert to actually tag)

 

[Newdude]

While it certainly appears the inside of the faceplate is leaking, it also appears that the front is too. Notice the dry corner above the water level. (Unless that's overnight evaporation after it stopped at the opening height)



Let's see if @wireform or @1poolman1 have ideas.

 

[tangte]

I had a leak in like 3 places on my skimmer when I installed it. I ended up going with A+B epoxy putty (pool putty).

Not too difficult to work with in small amounts (gotta really mix the parts, and get fairly equal chunks to combine) and I ended up using a lot. The final fix was a little lumpy and not like the nice caulking look I tried for... but my skimmer was new and pure white like the putty I got. Not sure how much it will annoy me if the skimmer discolors at a different rate than the putty, but that's a problem for future me.

Having said, that in addition to color issues, my repair was on an above ground pool... I am fairly certain that in-ground pool skimmers aren't as easy to fix since the back is inaccessible.

Maybe @ajw22 or @Newdude would have a better idea (or would know who on here is the right expert to actually tag)

Thank you for the suggestion. I will give pool putty a try.

 

[tangte]

While it certainly appears the inside of the faceplate is leaking, it also appears that the front is too. Notice the dry corner above the water level. (Unless that's overnight evaporation after it stopped at the opening height)

View attachment 490348

Let's see if @wireform or @1poolman1 have ideas.

Thank you for your observation. The water level has been below the skimmer like this for 2 days.

 

[wireform]

I think that's the level where the leak is actually at so now the pool needs to be checked out all around that level. Remember there's the step area that's gasketed to the liner and may be leaking which is common enough. I'd raise the level a bit and due a dye test at any suspected area around the entire pool especially in the step area.

 

[Wntrequinx]

You can find instructions for the dye test at the end of this article:

Leak Detection

A number of things can cause leaks in your pool. You can learn tricks for leak detection and how to pinpoint where your pool is losing water.

www.troublefreepool.com