HELP! AG liner cave in. Now what?

[PyrateJim]

We have a 24' round above ground pool. The 3 year old liner had to be replaced. Did it myself with some help. Got the new liner in, centered the best I could and started filling. Had the top of the liner held to the wall top by using 2 clothes pins per panel. Temp outside was about 80*. With about 2" of cold, garden hose water, I climbed in, got on my hands and knees and smoothed out the bottom wrinkles. No problems. Adjust clothes pins as needed. Went to check out the pool filling about 1am, had about 2' of water in it and air temp had dropped nearly 20*. Saw that the liner seemed to be real tight on one side, so I went the clothes hanger to adjust. As soon as I removed it, I had clothes pins flying all over as the liner pulled away and 90% of it fell into the pool. Only one panel area remained attached. Needless to say, I now have water on both sides of the liner.

Does anyone have any ideas on might have caused this? Couldit have been the 20* temp difference, with cold water adn the liner shrunk that much?

More importantly, what is the best fix? Drain the water, reset and try again on a sunny day starting in the a.m.? Reset the sides (if possible), drain the water between the liner adn walls and continue filling? or just bit the bullet and write a check to someone who knows what they are doing?

Thanks.

[Backglass]

It sounds like you were doing it right. Are you sure you have the right sized liner? When I re-did my old 18' round several years ago I did did almost exactly as you describe except I used liner strip-clips instead of clothes pins (they snap on and lock the liner in place). You will need to clip on the liner and and secure the top rail sooner than later as it adds crucial stability and strength to the entire pool.

With water on the back side, I would drain and start again rather than try to get that water out as it would probably be easier.