LeakTronics is owned by Caltech Pools. For any pool leak detection service, please go to www.caltechpools.com or call 818-436-2953. Performing a Swimming Pool Leak Detection in Woodland Hills, CA

Posted on July 30, 2012 by LeakTronics

There are differences in performing swimming pool leak detections in different cities. For instance, in newer construction, PVC lines, plastic skimmers, and plastic main drain pots are usually the first places to look into.

In Woodland Hills however, we are usually dealing with old swimming pools with a whole set of  different swimming pool leaks.  The biggest challenge with these old swimming pools is the fact that many of them have been remodeled multiple times.  Many of these pools have plaster covering structural cracks which makes them very difficult to find.

Some other differences between swimming pools in Woodland Hills and other pools are the terrain on which they were built.  A problem with a retaining wall can usually cause major issues with both the swimming pool structure and plumbing as well.  For this reason, it is very important for a homeowner to address a leak issue immediately and not delay a leak detection for weeks or months.

Believe it or not, we find many multiport leaks in Woodland Hills. Because of the terrain, many people can’t see where their waste lines are running and cannot see water running to waste when the pool pump is running in regular filtration mode.  For this reason we recommend installing a ball valve on all waste lines to solve this problem.

If you are going to be purchasing a home with an existing swimming pool in Woodland Hills, we highly reccomend you call us to perform a complete swimming pool inspection and a swimming pool leak detection for an added fee. You don’t want to purchase a house and find out a week later that these problems exist.

Posted in Home Inspection, Pool Inspections, Pool Repair, Replastering, Structural Repairs, Swimming Pool Leak Detection, Swimming Pools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

If your pool has an autofill, you may not know you have a leak for months

Posted on July 27, 2012 by LeakTronics

When a typical swimming pool that does not have an autofill is leaking, it is pretty noticeable considering the water level will drop. Pools that have either manual or electronic type auto fill devices will keep filling the pool even though it may be leaking.

Because of water conservation issues, it is rumored that some cities and or water districts might ban the use of such autofill devices.  Cities in Ventura County including Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Camarillo and Simi Valley are just to name a few up there.

In the San Fernando Valley, specific water districts in cities like Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Canoga Park, Reseda, Tarzana, Encino and Northridge have been rumored to ponder the thought.

If consumers who have an autofill on their swimming pool would only shut the pool equipment down for 24 hours every 2 months,  many of these problems would not exist.

Normal evaporation rates vary from different areas and different terrains.  Example: a house high up on a hill in Woodland Hills will usually have more evaporation due to wind than a typical tract home in Chatsworth or Glendale. Either way a good rule of thumb is that a typical pool should not lose more than an inch of water max due to evaporation. If your pool is losing more than these rates you need to call a qualified swimming pool leak detection specialist who specializes in swimming pool water loss detection and repair.  A good company would be one that’s using LeakTronics Leak Detection Equipment such as Caltech Pools. That’s all they do.

Posted in Consumer Awareness, Home Inspection, LeakTronics, Pipe Repair, Pool Industry, Pool Inspections, Pool Repair, Replastering, Resurfacing, Structural Repairs, Swimming Pool Leak Detection, Swimming Pools, Uncategorized, Waterproofing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We answer our phones

Posted on July 24, 2012 by LeakTronics

Tired of calling a company, leaving a message and hearing back from them two days later or not receiving a call back at all?  It blows my mind to see contractors paying big money to advertise and not even returning your call.

Swimming pool contractors, especially pool builders, usually get a bad rap and are notorious for this practice. Customers that get burned by many of these contractors are usually very skeptical of us legitimate  companies who do the right thing.

Upon a recent leak detection performed in Woodland Hills, I could tell the tension was in the air as soon as I pulled up in my truck. After I listened to what the customer had to say, I pulled out my hi-tech equipment and reassured the customer that I lived, ate, and breathed leak detections, I put them at ease almost immediately. When I asked them why they chose Caltech Pools they said ” your phones were answered and your office staff was knowledgeable”.  They also were impressed  that swimming pool leak detection, swimming pool inspection and swimming pool repair is all we do. We do not service pools and we do not build them.

The customer went on to tell me about a terrible experience with a pool builder who was hired to build three pools for his family. One was the pool that I worked on in Woodland Hills and the other two were for his mother who lived in Reseda and his sister who lived in Encino.  After being left with three holes in the ground and no return phone call , the customer had to hire a new builder and take legal action.

To make a long story short, the customer said he would never deal with a voicemail company again.

At Caltech Pools we believe in person to person communication. Give us a call during business hours and see if we pick up.

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LeakTronics Welcomes Penguin Pool

Posted on July 3, 2012 by LeakTronics

Penguin Pool of MN has become one of the newest leak specialists utilizing our state of the art equipment.

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How LeakTronics units are different from the Fisher units.

Posted on December 27, 2010 by LeakTronics

We have spoken to many people in the pool leak detection business who still find most of their leaks by diving, doing dye tests and pressure tests. The main reasons seems to be that many people have tried electronic leak detection equipment with no success or with mixed results.

One of our main frustrations with the large manufacturers of leak detection equipment is the emphasis on probes and deck plates. These are nice for locating leaks in slabs, decks, grassy areas, etc. But they are no help in locating leaks in a pool. Probes and deck plates won’t help with locating leaks in main drains, pop-up floor heads, structural cracks, light niches, conduits, returns, cleaning lines, skimmers, to name and few.

For locating leaks in swimming pools, some leak equipment manufacturers do offer water resistant pool mics. We used this technology almost exclusively for many years to find pool leaks. In that time, we found two main draw backs with these mics. First, they lacked the sensitivity to hear many of the smaller leaks. Second, these units have a very finite life-span. Their construction is light duty. After taking one apart, we were surprised to see that the water-proofing consists of wrapping the element in thin plastic. Eventually, water gets to the element making the unit unusable. Doing leak work daily, we were ordering replacements just about every other month.

We have found that listening for leaks is by far the best way to do pool leak detections. It can save hours compared to traditional methods. Many common pool leaks can be detected in a matter of minutes. That’s why we focused on creating something that would be able to hear leaks where they happen most often.

The LeakTronics Pool Scope is specifically designed to allow you to hear even the smallest of leaks with more ease and clarity. The LeakTronics scopes employ an ultra-sensitive, sonar transducer that can hear the smallest leaks. LeakTronics units are hand made and built to last. They can withstand daily use, which includes dropping and dragging in gunite pools. LeakTronics has also developed a Pipe Mic which allows you to listen for leaks in return lines, skimmer lines, equalizer lines, spa jets, auto-fill lines, etc.

LeakTronics is the FIRST pool leak detection equipment truly designed and specifically built for finding pool leaks. Other leak detection equipment is marketed to plumbers and others. LeakTronics leak detection equipment we have put together is specifically designed for pools (including unite, fiberglass, and vinyl liner) and people in the pool industry.

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Make Sure The Price Is Right (Part One)

Posted on November 18, 2010 by LeakTronics

One mistake we commonly see from people who start up leak detection businesses in our neck of the woods is a temptation and tendency to adopt a strategy of advertising their services far below the going market rate.  They will often circulate ads promoting, for instance, a $300 flat fee to detect leaks in any pool. We hear about operations like this all the time, because we usually get called out to find leaks behind them.

One reason strategies like this are bound to fail is because eventually a leak scenario comes along that isn’t so straightforward. Some pool leaks may require many repeat visits and attempts, depending on the size and complexity of the pool. At other times, a pool may require further efforts many months after the initial leak detection was performed. These scenarios are not common or daily, but they happen often enough. In these situations, the person trying to do leak work for so much less than everyone else is highly likely to throw in the towel and walk away. On the other hand, the individual who is getting a good fee has more reason to hang in there and do what it takes.

The point being made here is: there is nothing wrong with being a capitalist. The hard work of running a pool leak detection business is hardly worth it if your not making money.  Getting good money for your work allows you to stand behind the jobs you do without losing money whenever warranty issues or other things beyond your control arise.
Standing behind your work is essential to running a responsible business, and doing so brings added value to your services. In our experience, many customers are willing to “pay a little more” in order to use someone who will always do the right thing.

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Understanding Customer Psychology

Posted on November 15, 2010 by LeakTronics

Our aim here is to offer useful information and answer commonly asked questions, as well as share some of our experiences in the pool leak detection business. Our hope is that this might become an interesting and useful forum where novice and veteran leak detectors can offer support as well as share tips and tricks of the trade.

Understanding Customer Psychology

Having a leak detection business consists of a lot more than finding leaks. The relationship with the customer is a key aspect to being successful, especially where it relates to customer psychology.

Here’s a common example. Suppose a leak detection has been booked with a home owner for an agreed upon fee of $500. Often,  many leaks can be pinpointed in 20-30 minutes by an experienced leak detector. Some leaks are found even faster, especially when it turns out to be something obvious like water running to waste or a crack in a skimmer. And in other cases, it can require several return visits to find all the leaks in a pool.  Every pool is different.

One problem that can arise when a pool leak is diagnosed quickly and easily is the customer’s feeling that they are now over paying for your services. Sometimes the customer will try to get the fee reduced on the basis that it didn’t take much time to find the leak.

For those times that leaks practically jump right out at you it can be beneficial to do a number of things before approaching the customer for payment.

First, do a complete visual inspection of the equipment area looking for any obvious problems or potential leaks. Even slight weeping at a pump seal or union should be noted in your findings.

Second, make sure to do a thorough check of the pool with a pool scope. A pool scope like the one developed by LeakTronics is the most effective and time saving method for detecting leaks in the pool itself and being able to conclude with some certainty that leaks are not present.

Third, supply the customer with a written report of your findings. Include as much detail as possible. This report should not only include a statement about the location or cause of the leak, it should also list all the systems that were tested and found not to be leaking. It might also make sense to offer recommendations about how to properly repair a leak.

Finally, if a leak can be fixed with a simple repair this can go a long way toward helping the customer feel like they are getting added value from their leak detection.

Sometimes customers need reassurance that if their pool continues to leak once repairs have been made, your willing to come back to find any leaks that might have been missed, without charging an additional leak fee.

Following these guidelines will help reassure the customer that your work was thorough and that your willing to do the right thing if any leaks were missed. This will help avoid arguments or objections raised by some customers about pool leak detection fees or how much time was required to find a leak.

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Why miss out?

Posted on September 22, 2010 by LeakTronics

Being in the pool leak detection business for the past 20 years, we find it interesting that many service companies that we have worked for have equipment that they don’t use. When we ask them why, they either say that their equipment is either too complicated or that it’s not reliable and just doesn’t work.

From builders to re-modelers to service companies, we all run into leaks often. Now is the time to turn leaks into money or save time and money by not having to sub-out your leak work!

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