New liner and still leaking

[autospec26]

Last year my son put a hole in our 15 year old liner so I patched it up. It still leaked so I was just going to deal with it when I opened it in June. When I opened the pool the water level was below all skimmers, jets, 6” below the lights and below the last stair in the low end. Last week I had a new liner installed with 2 new lights. After 4 loads of water my family was ready to enjoy the pool again. 4 days later the water is almost below the skimmers and I think it leaks more when the pump is off. I’m so done with this pool but my kids love it, just out of patience and between the new liner, water and chemicals I’m out of money. Have the pool company coming in 5 days but by then the water may be below the jets. I noticed big air bubble in pump basket also notice little air bubble near the jets.
Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated and ask me any questions. Oh and my salt machine has low flow so that won’t even kick on to generate chlorine to keep the pool clean so I may need a new Pentair IC40 which is $1500

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Low flow is not a reason to replace the cell. Did you have Low Flow before the water dropped below the skimmer? You may just have a bad flow switch which is replaceable.

See where the water stops dropping. You may have a leak around the skimmer that is repairable.

 

[autospec26]

Welcome to TFP.

Low flow is not a reason to replace the cell. Did you have Low Flow before the water dropped below the skimmer? You may just have a bad flow switch which is replaceable.

See where the water stops dropping. You may have a leak around the skimmer that is repairable.

I've had low flow since they put the new liner in and filled the pool, I'm just going to replace the switch tonight and hope that fixes that problem.
Biggest issue is figuring out ASAP why I'm still leaking water after a new liner & lights, we thought the liner was the issue of the leak since it dropped all the way down past every skimmer/jet/light as you can see in 1st picture. I turn the filter & pump off for 1 day and it drops fast, I leave the filter & pump on for a day and it doesn't drop. I'd rather not just let it keep dropping and ruin the new liner, as you can see in the pic when it was opened a few weeks ago it dropped all winter really low, I'm sure it will do the same now if I leave the pump off and just let it go.

 

[Lanzz]

autospec, I had a nasty, 3/4" a day leak in my liner over the winter. (We do not close pools in NC, so I got to see it leak daily and fill it with about $100 of water a month to keep it full until I could get the liner changed.) In my case, it was around the steps and in the picture of the pool after winter it looks like the leak stopped just under the steps. Even though you have a new liner, I would really have then check closely around the steps - in my case, the dye test did not confirm the leak around the steps, it was actually the listening device where they could hear it. Based on where is stopped over the winter - with the pump off presumably - it feels like either steps or main drain if you have one...

 

[autospec26]

autospec, I had a nasty, 3/4" a day leak in my liner over the winter. (We do not close pools in NC, so I got to see it leak daily and fill it with about $100 of water a month to keep it full until I could get the liner changed.) In my case, it was around the steps and in the picture of the pool after winter it looks like the leak stopped just under the steps. Even though you have a new liner, I would really have then check closely around the steps - in my case, the dye test did not confirm the leak around the steps, it was actually the listening device where they could hear it. Based on where is stopped over the winter - with the pump off presumably - it feels like either steps or main drain if you have one...

What you are saying makes a lot of sense. I'm also losing about 3/4 a day with the pump off, I do have a main drain but wouldn't it all have leaked out I had a lot of water in the deep end , but maybe the leaves stopped the MD from draining it out not sure?
As far as the steps, I do have some new stress cracks this year on my pool deck around the steps area. I did the dye test last year around the steps but nothing happened so I assumed it wasn't that, I did it where the liner meets the steps and no dye moved, but like you said it's possible even if the dye test didn't show anything. I guess I'll call my local pool company and point them in this direction, I dont think it could be a skimmer, jet or light since the water leaks below them.

 

[sktn77a]

First order of business is to get the pool company that installed the liner back. They need to leak test (dye test) all of the returns, skimmer, light, etc.

It sounds like you may have a leak somewhere in the return plumbing but you need to exclude the new liner first.

 

[autospec26]

First order of business is to get the pool company that installed the liner back. They need to leak test (dye test) all of the returns, skimmer, light, etc.

It sounds like you may have a leak somewhere in the return plumbing but you need to exclude the new liner first.

First order of business is to get the pool company that installed the liner back. They need to leak test (dye test) all of the returns, skimmer, light, etc.

It sounds like you may have a leak somewhere in the return plumbing but you need to exclude the new liner first

They just left my house. Tested all of the pipes, stairs, light fixtures, jets and skimmers. Cant find anything wrong, they are leaning towards my main drain. Have to hire a diver to come out, check the MD and most likely plug it which will be ok since I have 2 skimmers. I really thought it was going to be the stairs since you can see in my 1st picture the water leaked out right to the bottom of them, but there was still 6 feet of water in the pool which I was thinking if it was the main drain the water would have leaked mostly out and not left 6 feet of water in it.

 

[Bill1974]

If it leaks more when the pump is off I would suspect a line between the skimmer and pump. All other lines would leak faster with the pump on.

With the pump off and the water calm, you can do a dye test to see if any dye is getting sucked in to any of the skimmer lines or return lines to identify what line may be leaking. If you can isolate each line it would make it easier and you should be able to determine which one is the culprit. Also check the light conduits.

 

[autospec26]

**Update** 6/13/2022
They recently left my house. Tested all of the pipes, stairs, light fixtures, jets and skimmers. All working properly and cant find anything wrong, they are leaning towards my main drain.
Have to hire a diver to come out, check the MD and most likely plug it which will be ok since I have 2 skimmers.
I really thought it was going to be the stairs since you can see in my 1st picture the water leaked out right to the bottom of them, but there was still 6 feet of water in the pool which I was thinking if it was the main drain the water would have leaked mostly out and not left 6 feet of water in it, but maybe the leaves plugged it, who knows?

 

[ajw22]

I doubt your main drain suddenly sprung a leak. And as you observe if it was the main drain it would not stop leaking with 6 feet of water left.