T1B

We've got one of those Intex 18 foot pools with the inflatable ring up top. Great for hanging out in with a floating recliner and a glass o' Scotch. It was also great for getting the baby used to pools in general. No problems whatsoever.

Thing worked great last year. Deflated it and emptied it as per instructions, stored it in the basement, and pulled the sucker out a few weeks ago for this summer. Set it up, filled the inflatable ring, filled the pool up with water, added chemicals...

...and sonufabitch if the damned inflatable ring doesn't have a slow leak in it somewhere!!! The damned thing needs to be reinflated every damned day!!

Trying to find the leak with soapy water is a bitch b/c the pool is now filled with thousands of gallons of water. I tested the parts I could reach (top and outer edge of ring) without turning the pool into a gigantic bubble bath, but no luck yet.

Any suggestions? Worst case scenario, I figure, is having to refill the damned thing every day until I take it down again this fall and then check the ring completely when the pool is empty. I'm hoping one of you twisted and/or resourceful folks might have a few suggestions. I've googled for answers and have gotten useless crap - how much worse could it be from here?

Never seen one of these things or even heard of them before, but I assume that you pump up the inflatable ring and its buoyancy keeps the sides of the pool up?

You've gone over the whole exposed area with a soap solution and haven't found any leaks.

Did you try this: Get a mask and snorkle. Have somebody to make sure there's plenty of pressure in the ring. Go around the whole ring and check underwater very carefully for any air bubbles. If any air is leaking and it's not coming from the exposed areas then there will have to be bubbles.

The only other thing I can think of would be using some kind of dye, but that would take a hell of a lot of food coloring.

Go out in your backyard at about 3:00 a.m. when it's quiet and listen for the hiss of air leaking out of it. Use your flashlight and go over every inch of that sucker.

You might let you neighbors know in advance to prevent those annoying questions by the police.

One of two things is happening --

You didn't do a very good job of checking for leaks, or

It's the valve.


One of these two statements is true. It's up to you to figure out which one.

If you find a leak, there's this stuff called Barge Cement, which is often used /purchased in shoe repair stores, and it bonds well to most surfaces that they make inflatables out of(in this case, I'd assume vinyl). nI've floated many a river on craft that were repaired with Barge Cement.

Mikey wrote:The only other thing I can think of would be using some kind of dye, but that would take a hell of a lot of food coloring.

Ahhh, but the imagery of a ton of red oozing into the water....

Bobby42 wrote:Go out in your backyard at about 3:00 a.m. when it's quiet and listen for the hiss of air leaking out of it. Use your flashlight and go over every inch of that sucker.

You might let you neighbors know in advance to prevent those annoying questions by the police.

...especially if there's red dye oozing into the pool....

They sell this stuff you can inject into a bicycle tire inner tube that is a liquid. It coats the inside of the tube and seals small leaks.

Might be worth a shot, not sure how big we're talking here.

Either that or you could buy a real pool. :)

Mike, next time you might instruct your guests to remove their boots before they jump in. Spurs and vinyl pools don't work well together.

One of the physics students living next door just suggested I "blow smoke into the ring" and watch for where it comes out.

The John Popper clone didn't specify the origin or type of smoke to be used. He just smiled.

I'm guessing that there's a lot of rolled-up towels under a lot of doors in his college career....

Mikey wrote:The only other thing I can think of would be using some kind of dye, but that would take a hell of a lot of food coloring.

Maybe if he drinks lots of beer and eats some asparagus he can just pee in it.

- Adelpiero

check edmunds.com

Dinsdale wrote:One of two things is happening --

You didn't do a very good job of checking for leaks, or

It's the valve.


One of these two statements is true. It's up to you to figure out which one.

If you find a leak, there's this stuff called Barge Cement, which is often used /purchased in shoe repair stores, and it bonds well to most surfaces that they make inflatables out of(in this case, I'd assume vinyl). nI've floated many a river on craft that were repaired with Barge Cement.

And I suppose you should know about this stuff. You need a barge to float your fine catches down the river.