So, we had our pool partially installed fall 2012 then completed spring of 2013 and needless to say the process was a complete train wreck which I won't go into. However, by the end of the summer 2013 everything seemed to be running well and the had the pool closed for the winter. Now that we're opening it, there seems to be a couple issues. 1) The gasket between the top and bottom parts of our filter seems to have deteriorated to the point that it's in pieces. 2) the part that's set in the cement that holds the ladder on the side of the pool has also corroded and needs to be replaced 3) Last year I noticed "rust" on the ladder treads where the treads meet the side rail. The guy opening my pool said it seems to be way too soon for these types of items to break down and asked if the pool installer had also installed a "sacrificial" anode in the system(he had already left the pool and was asking these questions on the phone). He said it's normally between the heater and the filter itself. Can someone give me a little guidance as to what that is, what it might look like, is it really a part that should be there, etc? I'm really not looking forward to another season of pool issues.
Sacraficial Anode
- Thread starter Aspfam
- Start date
Here you go. It's that silver can looking thing, sticking up in the PVC pipe going to the heater...
Corrosion at that rate sounds like you have current running somewhere. An electrician is probably going to be in your future.
Sacrificial anodes are fairly rare. They are only really needed when aluminum is in direct contact with the water, which mostly only happens with some automatic pool covers.
Rust on ladders is almost always caused by the use of inferior quality bolts in the connection between the tread and the frame.
The part that connects the ladder to the deck is called a socket. These days sockets are normally made of plastic with only a little stainless steel hardware (the bolt and wedge that locks the ladder in). You still see aluminum sockets now and then, but they often have corrosion trouble so their usage has declined. Bronze is also used sometimes, and it doesn't generally have problems.
The gasket should last a decade or so. Something is going wrong for it to fail this quickly. It is important to never lubricate pool gaskets with petroleum products as that can sometimes cause the kind of deterioration you describe. Instead you should use silicone or teflon based plumbers lubricants.
Rust on ladders is almost always caused by the use of inferior quality bolts in the connection between the tread and the frame.
The part that connects the ladder to the deck is called a socket. These days sockets are normally made of plastic with only a little stainless steel hardware (the bolt and wedge that locks the ladder in). You still see aluminum sockets now and then, but they often have corrosion trouble so their usage has declined. Bronze is also used sometimes, and it doesn't generally have problems.
The gasket should last a decade or so. Something is going wrong for it to fail this quickly. It is important to never lubricate pool gaskets with petroleum products as that can sometimes cause the kind of deterioration you describe. Instead you should use silicone or teflon based plumbers lubricants.
You have an SWG pool so have salt water. Do you know the salt level of the pool? Salt increases corrosion rates, but unless your salt level is much higher than the usual 3000 ppm you shouldn't see corrosion as fast as you are seeing without other issues such as inferior materials as Jason mentioned.
Thank you for the quick response. I'll have to look tonight but I'm fairly sure I don't have one of those in my system. The electrician my pool installer used was completely incompetent so it wouldn't surprise me if there was an issue there as a previous poster mentioned. If that was in fact the issue, what are some of the common issues he would find in the electrical system that would cause an issue like this? The only reason I ask is that I'm not sure how much education I would have to do with any electrician that would come out.
The anode for me, was installed by the pool builder, not the electrician. I don't think you were referring to that when you mentioned the incompetent electrician, but just in case.
The salt level last season was right where it needed to be given the test kit I purchased from this site although at this point I don't remember the actual number.
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No I was just referring to the long list of issues we had with the electrician and if there were another issue I wouldn't be surprised.
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No I was just referring to the long list of issues we had with the electrician and if there were another issue I wouldn't be surprised.
Electrically, the bad things to do are to connect dissimilar metals next to each other as that promotes galvanic corrosion. The worst though is to put a positive electrical voltage on the bonding wire, say from a stray voltage from one piece of equipment connected to that bonding wire. If you have a voltmeter, you can measure the voltage between the bonding wire (especially near where you see existing corrosion) and a neutral ground. Or measure between the metal where there is corrosion and a neutral ground. If you find the voltage on your corroding equipment is positive (higher than ground), then you've got a problem.
A sacrificial anode buried in moist soil and connected to the bonding wire is just a way to put a small negative voltage onto the wire and all equipment connected to it. A negative voltage inhibits the electrolysis that causes metal corrosion. However as Jason noted, it usually isn't necessary except for likely corrosion issues such as aluminum in contact with salt water. For materials normally designed for swimming pools such as high-quality stainless steel (316L/316Ti vs. 316 vs. 304/305 or worse) and cupro-nickel or titanium heat exchangers, there should not be issues.
A sacrificial anode buried in moist soil and connected to the bonding wire is just a way to put a small negative voltage onto the wire and all equipment connected to it. A negative voltage inhibits the electrolysis that causes metal corrosion. However as Jason noted, it usually isn't necessary except for likely corrosion issues such as aluminum in contact with salt water. For materials normally designed for swimming pools such as high-quality stainless steel (316L/316Ti vs. 316 vs. 304/305 or worse) and cupro-nickel or titanium heat exchangers, there should not be issues.