Got a pool leak? Then you need some serious pool leak detection skills. We'll show you how to detect if you have a pool leak, then find it, and patch it fast!
💦 Download our pool maintenance video course and get 10% off by using the promo code VIDEO: https://www.swimuniversity.com/pool-care-handbook/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description'>https://www.swimuniversity.com/pool-care-handbook/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description
⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction To How To Patch A Pool Leak
01:01 - How To Tell If You Have A Pool Leak
02:54 - How To Find The Leak In Your Pool
04:53 - How To Stop The Leak In Your Pool
05:34 - How To Patch Your Pool Liner
09:52 - Pool Care Video Course
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📡 Subscribe to our channel if you want more information on swimming pool and hot tub maintenance: https://www.youtube.com/swimuniversity
Swim University has made swimming pool and hot tub care easy for more than 10 million homeowners. And each year, we continue to help more people with water chemistry, cleaning, and troubleshooting. We know taking care of a swimming pool or spa can be difficult. And it’s hard to find a trusted source of information. We get it! This is the reason we created Swim University.
😎 Visit our website for more in-depth information on swimming pool maintenance: https://www.swimuniversity.com/
💦 Download our pool maintenance video course and get 10% off by using the promo code VIDEO: https://www.swimuniversity.com/pool-care-handbook/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description'>https://www.swimuniversity.com/pool-care-handbook/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description
⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction To How To Patch A Pool Leak
01:01 - How To Tell If You Have A Pool Leak
02:54 - How To Find The Leak In Your Pool
04:53 - How To Stop The Leak In Your Pool
05:34 - How To Patch Your Pool Liner
09:52 - Pool Care Video Course
🏊♂️ Our Favorite Pool Maintenance Gear: https://www.swimuniversity.com/pool-maintenance/'>https://www.swimuniversity.com/pool-maintenance/
📡 Subscribe to our channel if you want more information on swimming pool and hot tub maintenance: https://www.youtube.com/swimuniversity
Swim University has made swimming pool and hot tub care easy for more than 10 million homeowners. And each year, we continue to help more people with water chemistry, cleaning, and troubleshooting. We know taking care of a swimming pool or spa can be difficult. And it’s hard to find a trusted source of information. We get it! This is the reason we created Swim University.
😎 Visit our website for more in-depth information on swimming pool maintenance: https://www.swimuniversity.com/
Okay, so you head out into the backyard all set to take a nice cool swim, but just as you're about to dive in you notice, the water level is just a couple of inches lower than it should be. Well, okay, it's been hot out there, so it's probably just evaporation or is it there's a chance that your pool has sprung a leak? Can we add, like dun, dun dun music, like really dramatic stuff, that'd, be cool well crap. Now what you need to keep calm? You need a patch that leak and I'm gon na explain how, right after this, alright quick disclaimer, everyone has their own way to maintain a pool. But in the end, we all just want to make sure that your pool is clean and clear, and the information in this video is based on my personal experience in the pool industry and the research that we've done here at swim.
University comm. If I miss anything or if you've discovered a more efficient way to patch your pool liner, please leave a comment to let me know and to help your fellow pool owners. If your pool is losing water, it is most likely due to evaporation, especially if temperatures have been high and more especially if it's hot out and you don't cover your pool when you're swimming I mean who covers their pool while they're swimming a loss of about a Quarter of an inch to a half of an inch of water every single day is fine, but more than an inch of water a day. Well so before you start lining your pool with duct tape, and I actually don't recommend that you ever do that, you need to confirm that you actually have a leak in your pool and to do this, you need to use the bucket test and, by the way, Everything I'm about to tell you applies to both in-ground & above-ground pools, but if you have an in-text pool I'll get to that a little bit later in the video.
So let's talk about the bucket test. You're gon na need a 5 gallon plastic bucket that you can find at your local hardware, store and either a king size, black marker or a roll of duct tape, and don't worry, like I said, before, we're not gon na use, duct tape to patch your pool. Liner, you want to place a five-gallon bucket in the water on the second step of your pool, and if you don't have steps you just want to make sure that the bucket isn't fully underwater. At this point, you want to fill the bucket with water until the water level inside the bucket matches the pool water level, and this is where you can use the marker or a duct tape to mark the inside level and the outside level.
So you want to make sure that both the inside of the bucket and the outside of the pool are the same water level at this point, turn off the pump, wait 24 hours and then compare the pools water level to the water in the bucket. If both the pool and the bucket have gone down but remain even well, then your pool is just losing water due to evaporation and that's great. However, if the pool level is now lower than the level inside the bucket, I'm sorry to say that you probably have a leak so to narrow down the possible source of the leak, you want to repeat the test for another 24 hour period, but this time with The pump on if the water level in the pool is even less than the first test, then the leak is most likely somewhere in your pools, filter system or plumbing. Now, if you found that your pool does have a leak, the next step is to locate it. So you can patch it good news is fixing the leak and the filter system is pretty easy. You just find the leak and replace the parts if needed. If it's not in your filter system, inspect the area around your pool. If the ground is wet, where it shouldn't be well, then your pool is likely leaking somewhere near that area and the water is seeping into the ground.
Once you know the general area of the leak you can pinpoint it now, you'll either need a leak, finder dye or really dark food coloring, and if you use food coloring instead of dye make sure that it's liquid food coloring and not that paste, you want to Save the pace for making cakes I'm a rapper. You can find an old video of me rapping about pool care. Yes, that is. That is a thing that exists.
Yes, also, food coloring isn't going to be as accurate as a leak finder dye because it will dissipate in the water so leak. Finder dye is actually made to stay together in the water. So if you have time to get it, it's definitely the better option and I highly recommend it or you can just keep some on hand just in case now to find the leak the water needs to be as still as possible, so turn off anything. That's moving! The water around, like you know your pump or any water features a slide of fountain anything go to the edge of the pool.
Don't get in the pool just go to the edge of the pool in the area where the ground was wet, holding the die or the food coloring container, whichever you decide to use as close to the water as possible, without touching it slowly begin to pour the Dye into the pool watch it closely. If you found the general area of the leak from testing the outside of the pool, you should see the dye float right towards the hole, that's causing the leak, and you want to mark that spot. So you can come back inside the pool to patch it now before you actually fix the leak. You need to stop the water from leaking out of your pool and turning your yard into a marsh.
Stopping the leak will give you time to gather the materials you need to patch the leak and you can use waterproof tape or a peel and stick vinyl patch. Both of these can be used underwater. So, there's no need to drain your pool any more water than you're already losing, speaking of which you want to avoid draining a vinyl liner pool anyway, even a little bit. If the liner dries and it is exposed to the sun's UV rays, it can wrinkle and become brittle, and you don't want to have to fix that because you may actually just need to replace it at that point.
However, if the water has already leaked out to the level the leak, then it's okay to patch it dry. Now, let's patch this sucker up, you're gon na need a vinyl patch kit or vinyl adhesive, a Dobler applicator or a craft. Stick if you're using adhesive a pair of scissors, a non abrasive scouring pad like a scotch brite pad, will be fine, I'll wait. You can use sand an airtight ziplock bag that should work well or a brick in an airtight ziplock bag. You don't want to just add brick to your vinyl liner. Just make sure it's wrapped in plastic. You want to use goggles if the leak is below the waterline and patching vinyl, if you're not using a patching kit, any algae, sunscreen or other stuff. That's stuck to the pool wall will make it hard for the patch to adhere so use the non abrasive scouring pad to gently clean around the leak.
Now I need to stress this: you need to be gentle if you're, using that scotch brite pad, because you don't want to make the hole any bigger. That would be. That would be bad if you're not using peel and stick patches cut the patching vinyl into a circle at least 2 inches larger in diameter than the hole for example. If the RIP is three inches long, the patch needs to be at least five inches in diameter and, if you're, using a peel and stick patch, you want to remove the paper backing and place the adhesive side over the tear, otherwise make sure the patching vinyl is Free of debris and then use the dollar or the craft stick to apply a generous amount of adhesive to the entire surface, so that's completely covered all the way out to the edges of the patch.
Now this is very important. Here's how we're gon na patch the pool you're gon na, take your patch right. You got the adhesive all on one side and you're gon na fold it in half - and I don't know if you can hear me: you're gon na fold it in half like a taco and then you're gon na submerge it under water and then you're gon na Hold the patch over the tear and you're gon na slowly and gently open it up, while smoothing it on to the liner right. You want to press out any air bubbles then get comfortable, because you're gon na need to hold that patch there for at least two minutes to let that adhesive cure and don't pull on it to check to see.
If it is, you know actually stuck to the vinyl, because then you're gon na have to start all over again. Okay, now this won't work if the patch is on the pool wall, but if it's in a spot where you can place a weight on top, you can leave it there for 24 hours, and that way you won't have to stand there. Okay, hopefully that was helpful in patching your pool liner, but, like I said earlier in the video, what if you have an int X or an other soft sided pool, you can find special patch kits for these types of pools. They include three types of patch material, either clear vinyl, four top ring repairs, blue vinyl, four.
You know the interior, repairs and laminated PVC for exterior repairs, but Intex also makes peel and stick patches which might be easier to use patching a soft sided pool uses pretty much the same procedure. I've already explained, but the one difference is patching the top ring. If you have one of those blowup pools and to do this, you need to fully inflate that top ring, and you want to mark the hole, apply, adhesive around the hole and then use the clear, vinyl patch or just the peel and stick patch and apply it Right on there and just make sure that you hold it there for a few seconds to make sure that it actually sticks then deflate the ring so that the adhesive can cure just a little bit longer without all of that pressure. And then you can reinflates. Okay. At this point, you should feel pretty proud of yourself after you patch, your vinyl liner, but don't get too comfy cause patches are only a temporary fix. Some of them will last for years, but only a few years, and if you get a decade out of a patch well then you are tempting fate. You are tempting fate, plus the bigger the tear is the more likely the edges of the patch will get snagged up and curled up and just pull away eventually.
So when that happens, you can get meta and repair the repair by following the same procedures. But the thing is, you will eventually have to get a new liner, so start saving up for that as soon as you start seeing the first signs of a leak now, you should also know that the bucket test and the dye tests are well not the most Scientific methods to find a pool leak, they may be perfectly fine, but depending on where you live in how bad your leak is, you may want to find another alternative, and at this point I would recommend calling a pro. I think it's better to call a pro than to have your backyard declared a wetlands habitat. So if you want to learn more about taking care of your pool with in-depth tutorials and guides, you should check out the pool care handbook and video course you'll get over.
Thirty-One video lessons, plus a fully Illustrated guide covering everything you need to know about taking care of a pool, it's packed with money-saving tips, so you don't have to break the bank on your swimming pool. This is the ultimate manual for every type of pool and it's always up to date, which is pretty awesome and because you watch this entire video, you can get 10 % off by using the promo code. Video just go to swim University, comm, pull care handbook or click the link below. If you missed anything or if you have any questions, please leave a comment and if you want to learn more about pool maintenance, troubleshooting product reviews or even taking care of a hot tub subscribe to our channel for more videos like this, alright, that's it and, as Always happy swimming.
We have a above ground pool 10,000 to 14,000 gallons. We woke up one morning to find the pool half empty? I decided to relax and not worry about it… wrong decision I guess. Anyway it took awhile, but now our pool is empty, or mostly empty. The deep end still has water. Not knowing what to do I got in the pool and walked the edges… I also thought with all that water if there was a leak there would be some sort of evidence in my yard? Nothing. One side of the pool is next to a hill, and one side is exposed to the flat land. We have a deck built around, so I thought if there was going to be any water it would be to the flat end? Still no water or wet ground that I could see. Anyway today I got in pool and discovered a rip in the seams near the deep end (on the ridge or side) before dipping down a few more feet. Not sure what to do? Now there are wrinkles all around the edges of the pool. Should I be concerned about under the pool, or can I just fix the rip in the seams and wait until spring? We did buy the Swim University package for our pool and spa. Thanks for any help 🙂
My above ground pool had a leak few years ago so I tried diving to find it and couldn't so what I did was pump out water down to about one foot above where the side liner seam is bonded to the bottom liner (as long as your water level stays ABOVE that CRITICAL SEAM JUNCTION while you do this you will not harm a vinyl liner) Then I was able to go around on my hands and knees and found the hole easily! I patched it with Water Bed Repair patch kit I got at pool supply store then refilled pool and balanced chemicals, all good to go then! You just don't want to hit the patch with Vacuum or anything it was a foot away from the side in area I don't go by so I don't walk on patch either. Service area Kanata??
ESPECIALLY for the larger patches on the lower submerged side walls or the bottom, place one of those small rollers used to smooth edges on wallpaper next to where you’re going to place the patch. Once you initially place the parch down & smooth the edges with your hands, grab the roller & roll from the center to the edges all around the patch. This should equally distribute the vinyl glue & reinforce the bond between the patch & the liner. Don’t forget to use the brick or a another weighted object over the patch for 24-48 hrs. ( I just wrap a brick in a towel)
Same for the floor Are you in Nepean ?
I have a question..what if your pool is semi-ingroud? How do I inspect a leak from the outside?
How do I know if the leak is in the filter? I added water at the screws where the filter opening is 3 times this week. I try to keep the water half way up the skimmer. When the water is below the screws, I know its a leak or the humidity. I have an inground pool and the ground is not soaked. Could it be a leak in the filter system?
My pool is surrounded by tiles by cement blocks. So I cannot detect any wet area around the pool. How can I get around this difficulty?
Keep calm..I'm LIVID, I just had my pool shipped to me and straight out of the box and it has an almost 2" tear in my liner. It appears the who ever picked my pool up with a forklift punctured through the box and tore my liner. The place that I purchased my pool from has a severe lack of communication along with a language barrier. I'm not sure if they are going to replace my liner it's 2021 and pool's and liners are still hard to fine. I don't know what I'm going to do at this point. It's already the end of June and not sure long and if this company will respond to my pool that arrived damaged. I have been promising my kids that their pool will be set up soon. The Liner is still rolled up so I really don't know the extent to the tear. I may have to patch this pool up, What a disaster!
I got a brand new above ground pool installed. Somehow our cat got in it with about 9” of water in the pool. The next day we had a leak and found a few small pin holes 😩. We are trying to locate now. Really sucks on a brand new liner!! Hopefully just a few small holes are the only damage. Service area Nepean??
Awesome video!
These are all great tips, but we can’t even shock, clean, etc. our pool because the leak causes the water to go below the skimmer, so we can’t even run the pump. Would the dye test work in froggy water or does it have to be clear and clean in order to be effective?
You got any product advice
Thank you but why not show us
How long does a patch usually hold for? We have about 6 holes in our liner so I don't want to patch those holes and waste my time and energy if the patches don't hold up for a long time.
You talk to much.
TL;DR : Flex Seal.
What about the side of a vinyl pool? Our sunroom door was ripped off the hinges and it fell against the outter side middle of our 18 foot round pool! It poked a hole with the metal broken corner hinge…and we movec the door away to see a tiny stream of water coming from a small indented poke mark where the force of the door stretched the point of pressue…so how to fix it we heard flex seal clear tape is a bust.? Its on the side no way to keep patch compressed. Are you in Ottawa ?
This guy doesn’t even swim.
I have a pool pump that came with my 10' x 30" pool. It is junk! I want to cover the 5" x5" hole where the pump is attached to the pool and reinstall a better pump. The new pump only requires 2 , 2" round holes. My question is if I cut the vinyl a couple of inches wider on all sides and install a sheet to the inside AND the outside original hole, will that work for enclosing the old opening.
I picked up some Oatey All Purpose Leak Detector to find a leak in my Intex pool. The video specifically showed this product, so I assumed this was a good dye to use. However, I'm reading the Oatey APLD directions, and it appears to be for tubes, valves, cylinders, and pressure tanks but not pools. It also says, "Do no dilute." Please advise if this is, indeed, okay to use inside an above ground pool that's got water in it. Thanks.
i suspect that the pool leak is in the light housing. how can i patch this up? Are you in Kanata ?
my pool started leaking after a major storm and lightning, then i noticed cracks. thoughts?
how about detect a leak at the top? Where the air is?
You can use a $10 Automotive Stethoscope to hear even tiny leaks in your Jets, Skimmer.
I have a pool that has a tear in the liner that pushed the sand out from the the leak. Now I have a huge dip where the sand used to be. Will I be able to level out the sand without replacing the liner?
Very clever!
Helpful video. I have a intex pool and I had a few foot section area where it could be leaking. I put a pair of goggles on and looked for a hole then took the food coloring under water and put near the home and you could see it get sucked out. Put a piece of water proof tape and it fixed it. Gonna get something to do a more permanent repair
I have a 15 foot above ground pool. I had a 15 foot long rip along the wall that went from the skimmer to the return and way past. I have successfully repaired the liner and have the pool up and running now. Best adhesive to use is HH-66. Also don't use the clear patches that come with patch kits they garbage AF. I went to my local pool store and they had patches of vinyl from the previous years patterns that they give away for FREE. Unless your entire liner is dry and is deteriorating you can always fix any size rips if you got the patience
Hi, my pool has about a foot long rip where the sides of the liner meets the bottom. Can it be patched?
Now I need to learn how to fix a leaking bucket
The Oatey All Purpose Leak Detector IS NOT for detecting a pool leak and will not help you. I wish I had know that before watching this video and buying it. It is for detecting leaks on tubing, valves, cyclinders, pressure tanks or other systems under air, gas or oxygen pressure.
So we ended up with quite a few small rips and tears on the bottom of our liner. I went ahead and got most if not all so I thought patched up. I went out this morning and the level of the water still seemed to be down even further. It was about 2 squares worth of the design of the liner… However there wasn't much water around the outside of the pool like it was prior to the patching. I guess I don't get how that much water could come out from little tiny tears that I may have missed?!
I can't find anything called Oatey Dye… only Leak Detector and it seems to not be for pouring into a pool.
Thank you for the clear instructions! Really helped a lot. So I have an messy issue. I have an above ground pool, it rained and one of the sides of the pool started sinking. We dug a hole and placed bricks to keep it leveled but the liner stretched and now there's a bubble hanging on the edge where the wall and bottom of pool meet. We patched it but not sure if it would work. We put a patch bigger than the stretched bubble. Should we drained the pool completely and try to patch it dry from the outside? Replace the liner? Leave the bad patching job i did and keep using the pool? A little help please!
Which way are you folding the “taco”? Glue inside or out?
Great info but I have a question I started filling my pool up and got it up to the frist ladder step and noticed the sand was wet on the one corner so I drained it until it was a couple of inches deep and can not find the hole tried food coloring do I have to totally fill the pool up to work its definitely the bottom of the liner of a intex pool
Thanks for the help 🙌
Hi, should you use the leak dye you showed on the video? Also, if the pool only goes down to a certain level, does that mean its on the pool wall? It goes down pass the skimmer and returns on our above ground pool but only about 4”.
My pool water level was 22” from the top. So the leak is somewhere 22” below water. Will the dye test still work without touching the water? Or do I need to reach down into the water and apply dye at that depth? Thank you
I have a leak on the stitch seam of the floor to wall on my intex. I can’t figure out how to patch it?
Is the 1/4-1/2 inch loss a day for any climate? Seems like a lot and approx what I was losing last year but thought there was no way I was losing that much in a day (in eastern Canada). Love your videos! Are you in Barrhaven ?
Any tips on an above ground spa leak? Mines leaking slowly but i want to fix it asap! Thanks in advance. Service area Orleans??
We have a hole but I dont know that it is leaking
Has your pool ever sprung a leak? Or does you water evaporate a lot?
Hy from Portugal ! I am a fan of your channel , it's abfab! This said , I have a question maybe you could answer: I think my pool has a leak, but it is an old-fashioned tilled underground pool. Of course , I understand that the diagnosis is equal to all types of pools, but the mending of the problem might not be (it would also look very innestetical … So if – after doing your diagnosis – I find out there is a real leak, how should I proceed to repair it , in my case in a tile pool ? Best regards and keep up with your awsome job !!!
Thank you very much for the wonderful video and information. A question, if find your pools leaks and the water levels goes below than the marked. How do you find out how much water is lost in total volume? Thanks. little math will be helpful to find it out the total water loss in 24 hours.
What about finding the leak in an inground pool? Service area Ottawa??
Hey bro how r u? I wana ask u something about pool shock treatment…what kind chemicals i have to add in pool after shock…??
I'm so glad I found this channel! helped me ALOT