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 away 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 shrunk 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.