Leaking sand filter

[wayno]

I have a leak from my sand filter (Triton 530) which is a little strange.
The filter is installed in a tight space that makes access very difficult so inspections have been done with mirrors, torches and cameras but I am still uncertain of where this leak is coming from.
I have an idea but was hoping some knowledgeable and experienced pool plumbers may be able to give their opinion.
The leak appears to be in the underside of the fiberglass body of the filter somewhere in the area obstructed by the plinth. I cant see any water running down the outside of the plinth but it seems to seep from under the plinth itself. I have looked at the parts manual for this filter and excepting the drain point (which is definately not leaking) there does not seem to be any penetrations through the filter body underneath in the area hidden by the plinth.
The other thing I thought of was that perhaps the fiberglass has "rubbed through" due to expansion and contraction over it's 14 year + life.
Has anyone ever seen this kind of thing happen before? - short of local delamination or splitting I cant think of any other cause of a leak in this region. this is the most protected part of the filter and all the rest of the fiberglass seems in good nick.
It will be an expensive exercise to remove all the plumbing ( there is oodles of it) to gain access to lift the filter body to physically check if that is the issue - it is also coming in to summer so whatever course of action I choose will need to be quick as the aussie sun turns pools nasty without pretty quickly without chlorination and filtration so I need the system down for as short a time as possible.
Has anyone else faced this kind of situation before?
Thanks for any suggestions,
Wayne

[wayno]

Well, I had to act and the filter does indeed have a fine crack in the underside where it sat on the plinth.
Instead of cutting up the piping I took out the rear wall of my shed - quicker and allowed access to the sand drain so it was a lot easier than vacuuming the sand out like I done last time.
Have to chop the pipes now anyway as the new filter will most likely be a top multiport and not side multiport like I had.
Not happy! - I suppose it had a good life but now I have to replace a 36" filter - not cheap!

[allclearpools]

Have you thought about one of the sand filters?

I'm really not trying to spam. This was just easy and quick for me to refer to. It is a side mount and should last another 10-15 years. FYI we usually change out the tanks when put new sand in these filters because of the chance of them splitting. Exspically the black tank Triton sand filters. lol They always split right away or within a week after.