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skimmer connection break in inground vinyl pool

14 years ago

I have a vinyl inground pool that has two Jacuzzi skimmers and no drain, and at the skimmer closest to the pump, it appears that at the skimmer connection to the suction line, has broken, actually snapped and displaced approx 1 cm.

Now I keep losing prime and pressure when the filter runs, and cannot vaccum longer than a few minutes until I lose pressure, but worst of all, red dirt keeps going into the pool.

I think the concrete on top goes four inches or so. If I dig out the side, down to the connection, can I access it? Or is the connection primarily encased in concrete ? I bought this house and with the existing pool and am not familiar with the pool structure. I thought about simply epoxying it, accessing it from the top of the skimmer, but this won't work b/c I dont think I could get and reach the inner displaced radius.

I want to dig and fix it but before I do, can someone explain to me what the connection is sitting in (I presume red dirt or fill, because that is what is getting put back in), and if it is accessible. And... what should I use to fix it, such as the new flex pipe and what type of epoxy. THANK YOU.

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Comments (5)

cascade
14 years ago
If your pool has 2 separate lines back to the pump you should be able to close the valve for the broken skimmer and eliminate the problem of losing prime and sucking in dirt.

Whether you can do this or not does not change the fact that you need to fix this.

You will need to break up the deck around the skimmer, excavate to expose the bottom of the skimmer and the broken pipe leading to it. I am not a vinyl liner builder but in my experience most liner pool skimmers are not encased in concrete. You will need to replace the broken piece of pipe and probably the fitting on the bottom of the skimmer, use the appropriate pipe and glue,depending on what you find, do not attempt a repair with any sort of epoxy.You should be able to purchase whatever you will need, after you get it exposed, at your local pool supplier.

Good luck.
diclemeg
Original Author
14 years ago
thanks cascade..
yes, it does have two skimmer lines..and i closed the cracked one and pool works fine. but i wonder if i really need to break the cement. it is a 16 x 32 pool and deck surrounding it is 3ft of concrete, and looks approx 5 inches thick. i presume it is sitting on the red/brown dirt fill, which the skimmer must be sitting in, for i hope its not concrete all the way down, otherwise it would not have shifted like that. the equipment pad where the suction line runs to is on grass, but on few portable blocks.

so i would think i could dig on the edge of the concrete, down to the level where the skimmer connection is, no ? i saw a video on youtube of when they install a diy vinyl pool and i couldnt tell if the concrete goes all the way down.

what do u think ?
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One hole is to the pump (probably the one that had the gizzmo in it)and the other is for an equalizer to the pool wall that is almost never used on residential pools, but required on commercial pools. On residential pools it is usually either capped under the skimmer, plugged, or some builders used to connected it to the main drain. We sometimes use the second hole for a water feature pump suction, but if you don't have a second pump I would start the pool and see which one sucks water. That is the filter pump line. Good luck.
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diclemeg
Original Author
14 years ago
i apologize, for i should have mentioned the 3ft pool deck then grass, first.
linerrestoguy
14 years ago
Our company regularly "tunnels" under decks. 3' isn't that bad. It's a pain, but it can be fixed without tearing up the deck.
cascade
14 years ago
Sure, you can give it a try. We "tunnel" under decks all the time too, doing it on a re-pipe job right now. It's one thing to tunnel to stick a pipe through, another to dig a tunnel to crawl into and work. Maybe post a picture?

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