Leak/Skimmer problem, I think

[Dosry5]

so filled the new pond on Sunday. By yesterday afternoon with the pump and biofalls running the water was crystal clear (too clear, the folds in liner showed too much and were unsightly)! This morning I see my water level is down a few inches. By this after noon I’m down several more (after adding some water). It seems to have leveled off several inches below the water line mark on the skimmer. I’m looking at the skimmer I see what looks like the liner has popped out at the bottom of the faceplate on the skimmer (see pic, it’s the half moon spot close to the middle). That’s gotta be my problem, right? Do I need to drain the pond down below the face plate and take off and re-attach? It looks as if the liner pulled out right there. Or is there another solution?

 

[Dosry5]

I think that’s my problem because behind the liner right there to the right of the skimmer a void is filling up with water. I suck it out with shopvac and it comes right back.
In the pic the void is to the right of the skimmer. I’m obviously not done with landscaping, haven’t trimmed or folded any excess liner back yet...

 

[poconojoe]

Try not to trim any liner. Fold it, tuck it, hide it etc. You never know when you need or want a little extra liner especially if your pond is new. We're always fussing around making wider shelves, adding plants etc. and it's a plus to have a little extra liner.

 

[Dosry5]

So this morning the water level seems to have settled right at the point where the liner came out of the skimmer faceplate.

What do I do? I can pull the faceplate off and scrape/remove the silicone there and reapply, but what about the liner? Won’t doing that hurt the liner there?

 

[EricV]

So this morning the water level seems to have settled right at the point where the liner came out of the skimmer faceplate.

What do I do? I can pull the faceplate off and scrape/remove the silicone there and reapply, but what about the liner? Won’t doing that hurt the liner there?

I did this because when I first put my skimmer together I didn't get enough silicone on there. It was fine the first season, then ice must have forced a winter leak. Pump some water out until the level is well below the skimmer line. Take everything apart. Don't scrape anything off, just peel off what silicone you can and reapply liberally.

This may sound stupid, but you did apply silicone between the back side of the liner and the skimmer body, right? Not between the pond side and the faceplate.

 

[Dosry5]

Thanks Eric, you’re like my personal pond consultant!

Yes, I put the silicone on the skimmer body between it and the back side of the liner. But likely not enough. I’m going to pull off what I can and then silicone the crap out of it this time.

 

[Lisak1]

Try not to trim any liner. Fold it, tuck it, hide it etc. You never know when you need or want a little extra liner especially if your pond is new

That's true - up to a point. At some point you have to cut away extra liner. Having an extra foot of liner is one thing - in some spots we had an extra 5 feet. (We like to go big!) I would recommend hiding as much as you realistically can, but I don't recommend you make yourself crazy trying to conceal yards of excess liner.

 

[EricV]

Thanks Eric, you’re like my personal pond consultant!

Only because I've made a number of mistakes.