Leaky Skimmer

[aylad]

Hi, djdasher,

I can't answer your question, but I'm betting someone on the forum can. Hopefully some of the installation-experienced guys will be along shortly to help you find a solution.


Welcome to the forum!!

[PoolDoc]

Well, you probably have two options:

1. You can try to patch it with something like silicone. OR
2. You can take it back apart and see what's wrong.

Since your pool is not full, I'd go for #2. If you patch it, you're likely to have to keep re-patching it every year or so.

[djdasher]

Pool Doc,

I went to a marina and picked up a product put out by "Boatlife". It's a marine grade silicone rubber caulk. I caulked the joint around the skimmer with a nice, even coat of thie stuff. It's made to be submerged in water, so we'll see. I'd prefer that the skimmer seal with the gaskets only, but the fact is that I have to do something to get the pool running (and clean). In the fall, I'll revisit the caulk to see whether I think that I need to do more. I'll let you know how this stuff works out. It will have 24 hours to cure before I fill the pool tonight. It looks good, hopefully it works just as well.

DJ

[PoolDoc]

If you would, post back about how well it works. All too often, good info gets lost because people don't post back. Info you post here today may help someone in 10 years, thanks to Google.

[djdasher]

Hello,

After installing the waterproof caulking around the seam of the skimmer, I let it sit for 24 hours. I began to bring the water level up this afternoon. As soon as the water reached the point where it would begin to flow into the skimmer (and into the pump) I noticed that the skimmer was still leaking. Not anywhere near as badly as before, but still a leak. This leads me to believe that the water is leaking in where the liner, sidewall and skimmer meet at the lower, front part of the skimmer. As soon as the water begins to flow over that point, the skimmer begins to leak. I guess that I'll have to put a layer of caulking over that seam. Does this sound like the answer to the problem? If it's not there, then it would have to be the screw holes that are used to secure the back and front pieces of the skimmer. Comments, observations???

Thank you,

DJ

[djdasher]

After caulking the interior portion of the skimmer assembly, I find that the skimmer is still leaking. I suspect that the leak is in the "sandwich" area where the two skimmer pieces (front and back) meet the pool liner and metal pool side. I caulked this area, so I'm at a loss. The leak woulddn't be through the screw holes??? Has anyone seen such a persistent leak?

[Watermom]

I'm going to ask Waste aka Ted to look at your problem. He is one of the PF Support Team members and is also a pool installer. If anybody can help, it would be him. He's a busy guy so you'll have to be a little patient til he gets time to look at your thread .......