Pool Drained Through Water Hose

I did just that, drained the pool, I left for the winter and the "pool man" took my return out. The liner pulled away about an inch, so I drained to readjust the liner.

After reading about pin holes, is there a way to tell if I ruined this liner? I bought it last summer.

Hi

I'm not sure at this point if your pool is full and leaking, or if it is empty and you want to check it first before filling. The way to find pin holes in the liner is to drain the pool and remove three top rails. You can then pull the liner back just enough to allow you to climb in and get behind the liner. Someone on the outside can then hold the liner back in place over the wall leaving you on the underside in complete darkness. Pinholes look like stars. They are little white lights. On the under side of a liner with a lot of pinholes it's like looking up at the milky way. This is an excellent way to find any hole in a vinyl liner.

If a hole is found it can be easily patched. I prefer patching from under the liner as the patches can never be seen from the top side. I have patched up to about twenty holes at a time this way, when there are more than that I usually recommend a new liner.

I had a customer once who had drained and refilled his pool, the liner shrank of course, they always do. Everything fit fine as the liner filled and stretched back out except the return. The liner pulled out of the return and there was no way for him to pull the liner up enough to fit the opening. I came out and pulled the liner back enough to get in behind it. I then patched the original hole, and the new tear, in the liner. I put the patch on the back side of the liner so the water pressure would keep it tight against the wall and there would be no chance of it coming off. It was then easy to cut a new opening for the return.

I had another customer who swore she had a leaky liner. She would fill it up every day. And every day she would leave the hose in the pool. We found out that the water would siphon out of the pool and come out onto the ground where a couple of hoses were connected. Be sure to always take the garden hose out of the pool when it is full.

Chlorine Tablets On Pool Liner

by Robert Payne
(Oklahoma City, OK)

My grandson undid the chlorine floater and three 3" brand new tablets and two 2" tablets entered the pool. They settled in the middle (the pool is about 6-1/2 ft deep in the center) for approximately 1 hour.

When I got home I saw the empty floater and got in the pool and removed the tablets. It's been almost 24 hours and the water is still at the same level as before.

The water is a little cloudy so we can't see any damage to the liner. I could not believe that we did not have any leaks. Are we very lucky? Shouldn't the tablets have burned a hole in the liner? Please advise.

If we do discover a small hole, can it be patched?

Hi Robert.

Most of the time when tablets sit on a vinyl liner for any length of time the liner will be permanently stained. The liner might even wrinkle in that area, but it should not leak. Burning a hole in the liner would be rare.

Holes of that type could easily be patched, even without draining the pool. It's best to use Boxer patch glue and a piece of actual liner for the patch. Most stores that deal with above ground pools would have both of these items.

Bulging Liner Above Water Line

by Net
(Jessup, MD, USA)

When filling up above ground pool, liner is bulging at top. We did have liner flat to pool wall while vacuum was running, but after turning vacuum off, liner stated bulging. Will liner flatten once pool fills up?

Hi

You did not mention what kind of liner you have. With a beaded liner there is not much you can do. With an overlap liner you could remove a few top rails at a time and pull the liner tight. This happens on occasion and is easy to fix.