Liner Pulled Out Under Fitting

by Emmy
(Fair Lawn, New Jersey)

When I removed the winter cover on my 18' above ground pool, I discovered that the liner dropped about 1/2 of an inch directly under the intake or circulation nozzle in the pool.

How can this be fixed, will the pool leak, should I fill the pool? Also, does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to close a pool for the winter? Every time I close the pool, the winter cover sinks in and is always loaded with leaves and a lot of water, this year about 2' deep.

When I close up for the winter I usually drain the water below the skimmer, put an inflated pillow in the center and cover, I secure the cover with the cable and hang gallon milk jugs filled with water suspended from the cable to weigh the cover down, but by March the cover is sunk into the pool and I get very discouraged. Any help and advice about the liner dropping and how to repair this so I can open the pool for the season will be most appreciated.

Hi Emmy.

I'm going to have to do some guessing here based on the information given. Let's say the pool is half full and has not been lowered beyond this point. The gap is an area where the liner is pulled out of the fitting and you can see sidewall behind the liner.

If that's correct, this would be my advice. You could take off a few top rails, remove the return, and try to pull the liner back up into place. This may not be possible, but worth a try. The next step would be to slip a patch in behind the liner. This would go between the liner and the wall and should be big enough to cover the entire return opening. When the glue is dry, you just cut a new hole and reinstall the return.

Maybe others that have had more experience wit winter covers could help out with your other questions. I have never used one, not here in sunny Arizona. I know they have small pumps that are used to keep the water off of pool covers, that might help.

Liner Pulled Away From Pool Return

by Ashley
(South catolina)

My pool liner seems to have shrunk a bit. The hole in the liner for the return jet is now below the actual return jet and gasket. It is only about 3/4 of an inch below where it should be but this is plenty enough for water to go where it shouldn't.

My first thought is replace the jet with one that has a larger O D, thus covering everything that needs to be covered. My existing jet rubber gasket dimension is 3 1/2". Do you know of a larger diameter one that I can purchase? Thanks in advance.

Hi Ashley.

I do not know of any larger return fittings. The best way to deal with this will probably be to patch the liner. For a patch to work it will need to be placed on the backside of the liner.

You would need to drain the pool water down to about six inches below the return. A few top rails need to be remove and the liner let loose from the wall. If you use boxer glue and a piece of actual pool vinyl you will probably have the best results.

You want to glue the patch onto the back side of the liner, plenty big enough to cover the entire opening. The patch can be held in place for a few minutes so the glue can start to set. The liner can then be put back into place and more pressure can be put on the patched area by forcing it up against the wall of the pool.

I would give this a day to dry and then cut a new return hole in the liner. When the return is installed it will hold the patch in place very securely.