What's the Leak Peeker?

The white shoe polish sounds like a good idea. In a pinch you can also use milk in the dye tester for dark areas.

ALD...

The Leek Peeker is a clear plexiglass plate that fits a Hayward, Swimquip, and some other model skimmers and it's used to tell you if the skimmer or main drain line is leaking.
It's made by Black Bottom Products and advertised in Service Industry News and Pool and Spa News...both great publications that you should subscribe to if you are in the pool or spa leak detection business. Can anyone recommend any other magazines?

Thanks Sdewolfe

I subscribe to Aqua magazine. It's another industry publication.

If you carry some liquid dish soap on your truck, you can squirt couple of drops on the pool and notice that it changes the surface tension and calms the water so you can see much more clearly to the bottom. If the customer is standing there, you can tell them it's your secret formula...

Have any of you heard of an internal pipe repair system... a way to repair broken plumbing pipes without busting open a deck?

Hey ALD...
Try this URL http://www.nuflowtech.com/content/res_pipe.php

Nice. Thanks Sdewolfe. Have you or anyone tried it?

Alot of us work with PVC for repairs and this stuff is real easy to work with. The downside is we usually do repairs in a tight spot underground with a bunch of other pipes in the way.
The industry has given us many great products like insiders and all those speciaty fittings.
If you are in a tight spot you can make your repair by using a torch or heat gun to soften the pipe and make a difficult angle work for you. It helps to wrap a wet cloth at the ends of your pipe so your glued socket joints aren't compromised by the heat.
Now I see that this page has been viewed by many more of you than have posted. So step in he pool and get wet by posting your own tips and tricks, OK?

Here's something that I sometimes do when I run a 24 hour loss test on a pool and the customer is not there. I'll leave this note in a plastic sleeve and tie it to the test bucket handle...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


PLEASE READ PLEASE READ

Bull's Eye Leak Detection is conducting a test on your pool or spa.

Please Do Not..........

Swim
Add water
Remove water
Backwash
Turn pump on
Turn pump off
Turn or adjust any valve
Disturb any testing tools

Please inform Hap if you have done any of the above at 602------- or please leave a note.

Thanks
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sometimes I'll leave one on the equipment too. I've got a few positive feedback comments from service techs that found one and knew to leave things alone. If I could just get the dogs to read it and stop drinking from my test bucket.

Competition...

You all probably face competition in your markets which is good for everyone; consumers, your competitors, and you.
Costs to provide service are all rising fast! Use technology to your benefit by encouraging customers to email pictures of their pool so you don't have to make any more trips than necessary.
If pool is dirty have them clean it before you get there, etc.

Also, be the guy who does more than customers expect and ALWAYS do what you say you will do.

Good advice. I find it pays to always have a digital camera on the job to take pictures of unusual situations, dumb installations and any equipment that you don't recognize. I use Olympus cameras rated for underwater use to 30 feet deep so that I can record unusual liner leaks etc. Sometimes it even comes in handy to show the customer the hole in the liner or the dye being sucked into a crack or main drain.

We used to use epoxy to plug up a leaking light conduit, but recently started using the butyl tape. It has been a great change. You can reinsert the light on the same day.

Plus I wanted to see the Tips and Tricks post back at the top.

What other tips and tricks do you guys have?

Remember - your competition could be reading this also so don't give away the farm!!! By the way, if you are my competition and you're looking for some new ideas, we've also found it very helpful to cuss at customers and perform all work in a speedo. You can crank up the professionalism by getting your company logo right on the front of the uniform and pinning a name tag on your waist band. Again, only try these if you're my competition.

Thanks!

I'm not worried about giving the farm away in Maricopa County. Many times I have stood on a diving board, looked over the fences and could see 3 more pools in all the adjacent back yards. It's a swimming pool Mecca here. We had about 70 days of mandatory wet/drysuit water temps. I only had to put one on 2 times last winter.

Here's my tip for this post.....
Get a hydrophone if you don't have one and use it. You'll save a lot of time. I've had mine for about a month, it's indispensable now. This week I quickly found leaks on three pools. All structure leaks and fixable with 5 min epoxy.
hap

Here's one I learned from Hap...

Say you've left your favorite Anderson inducer on your last job and you need to test a pipe.
Drill and tap a 1/4" hole into a 90, coupling or any other fitting and then you can thread in an air fitting for your test. After you're done, you can twist in a 1/4" threaded plug which are cheap and plentiful or you can install a gauge and let the customer know you've UPGRADED their system!

Genius!

Here's a tip that works great.

If you like cash payment, ask. You can say: "Yes Ma'am I'll finish loading up my tools and fill out an invoice for you. Will that be cash or check?"

Does not work all the time but it will work.
hap

Okay here's a tip that most of us can do and not spend any money on a new tool. Put your binoculars on your truck and use them to inspect tile, skimmer throats, anything that has some light on it. Even low light areas can be inspected. Use a hand mirror to reflect sunlight into a pipe or whatever from a distance. It's better than standing on your head trying to see something upside down while your glasses are falling in the water.
hap

Steve gave me this technique idea about 1-1/2 years ago.

I had a weird one today. It was a 40 year old pool with two returns that are separate and have separate valves at the manifold. One of my remodel customers just finished new everything on this job and was hoping I would find something simple to put some 5 minute epoxy on. A quick dye test revealed that one of the returns is leaking fast. Now it gets more complicated, elevation changes and different deck and slabs and different concrete thickness' are making the this one difficult to pin point for my good customer(this guy gives me lots of preventive work). This return is 3" going into the ground at the equipment and 1-1/2" at the pool wall fitting. The transition to 1-1/2" is inside the pool wall so I know the line is 3" up to the transition. Steve D. said to carry some latex tubing on the truck so I tried using that and discovered the it explodes after about 2-1/4" of inflation. Next we tried party balloons. They worked great. We moved it down the line, inflated, check for leaking, deflate, moved it over and over again until we had a pretty good idea where to saw cut the deck. This technique works good on static leaks but don't think you can pressure up on a balloon. We had the 3" line sawed off at the equipment and could see if the water was dropping. I cut off an inflation hose so I could zip tie the balloon onto it and added a 10' hose to get down the line. Anderson sells long hoses but screwing several together works okay too. After I finished the homeowner walks up and says "That's right where my plumber dug a ditch and installed a new drain pipe.

hap

Hap, there are rubber "blow-ups" you can buy fr Anderson that work very well. You can also buy theese at most plumbing supply houses.

Hoping that puting this thread back on top of the list might inspire some of the 2893 members.
Cold, dirty, ugly pool water season is upon us here in the northeast, thank god for drysuits
Bruce

Good advice hap on leaving a note. I have left information for people and call me back the next day to tell me the water loss in the bucket only. Or they had 1/4 inch of water loss over three days and that seems "excessive" Or their pool company or someone told them 1/4 loss over three days is definately a leak. We could go on and on for a long time on those. But at any rate, education to the pool owner who otherwise doesnt do much with it other than swim is the key. Hopefully they can absorb and assimilate the information.

Good to see this subject back up. What are some of the tricks that are used to get a drain grate screw back on without getting wet?

cloudy water is a pita when doing underwater repairs on gunite pools.

ask around and pick up a use but good cartridge filer and a used pump.

plumb and wire them together on a hand truck, use vac hose for suction and return.

this way you can have a clear pool and happy customers, no more 24 hr. waits to swim, and no real cleanup

Following on from drilling into pipes for testing we carry 1/4 and 1/2 inch taps to thread the holes.

Talked to Lance today. Suggested he start selling some devices I've been making and using for a few years. First up is some soft silicone taper plugs I made from this stuff.....

http://www.smooth-on.com/Silicone-Rubber-an/c2_1115_1129/index.html

Roll a cone shaped form and pore it in. Make one with a plastic straw so you can dye test returns or any pipe in few minutes. Works great if the pool is leaking fast with the EQ off. I made several in various sizes.

You can also save a ton of time on infloor systems and flat drain grates by making some Pool Pattys with the same stuff in a disk. Pour two layers, on the second layer add some lead shot from your local firearm shop. They're very hard to remove with a pole unless you do this....
Make them so there is small half radius on the side that you can thread a string through. Before you tie it on the pattty thread the string through a short piece of vinyl tubing. The tubing will trap air and float so you can hook it with a bolt through a pole.

In use, pick one infloor station, cover all but one infloor head with the pattys, cover the last head leaving a small gap. Tape a 16' length of syringe tube to your pole and dye test. Don't forget to remove the actuator dome at the EQ area to prevent siphoning. I've isloated several dozen infloor leaks this way and never got wet when it was burrrrr.....cold. Drain pool and fix.

When I dye test a structure of a pool I use syringes with needles, You can get them at a feed store for about 50 cents a piece. They can last several weeks and when they get hard to push just replace. The needle alows you to put a very tiny amount of dye in a hole or crack were as using it without a needle can put to much dye and give you a false result.It also allows you to put the needle up in the hole or crack cause sometime if you put dye on the outside it will not suck in but will when you stick needle in, just fan the area with your hand afterward and if no dye come out LEAK,
also especially around skimmer throats if needle goes all they way in but takes no dye I call it leaking, There may be to much water in ground to suck dye. Of course I explain to customer and least them know if they want to repair. 9 time out of ten it is a yes. Also if you want to make a little more money. If you see a skimmer throat that looks like it is going to leak soon but not leaking tell the customer, give a discount they will usually go for it
example: I tell them my regular price is 225 but if they want to prevent it from leaking and get a one year warranty I will do it for 50 since I am there. It prevents go backs the customer is real happy cause you just saved them 175!

LOL ROFL

i've posted this before but it works so well that it needs repeat.

when trying to locate suction and return lines i use coated aircraft cable or electric fence string (nylon string with wire woven into it), you don't have to unwind the whole roll of cable if you expose both wire ends.

another trick is to drill a hole in a golfball for (2-1/2" or larger pipe) and run the pull wire or fishtape through it, keeps wires from hanging up on fittings.

hard to get a good ground due to sandy soil, cut a 5 gal bucket down (just under the bail) dig a hole deeper than the bucket is, bury the bucket so that there's 3-4" of soil above the top. fill the bucket up with water and soak the surrounding area with water, insert the ground rod inside of the bucket. this has helped me before when i couldn't get a ground. the soil over the wet bucket will allow a better ground for locates