Screws around light appear to be rusting

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Catanzaro

Catanzaro

Platinum Supporter
TFP Guide
Jul 30, 2014
3,508
Monmouth County, New Jersey
I was underwater today. and a stain appeared on the white light housing. I cleaned the light with Vitamin C and the stains appear to be gone. Although. the screws seems to be rusting, not on the outside, but where the screw driver tip grabs the screw.

Is this normal? Could the chlorine be rusting these screws? All the other screws on the returns (6 of them) are all in tact, without any rust.

There probably is not a warranty from the pool company. As these are under water, what would be my next step? Call the manufacturer? Or can these screws be removed and replaced under water, or do we have to drain the water and fix? Not sure.

Thank you.
 
zea3 said:
Kim is right, replace those screws with stainless steel screws. They are available at any hardware store. Replace one at a time. I don't think you will need to drain anything.
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Thank you for your quick response. I am assuming they will come out fairly easy with a regular screwdriver. Remove one and swap out quickly.

I read somewhere that these are the best:

Titanium or 316 Stainless Steel Screws are what I need & do not bother with the 304 SS. McMaster-Carr will sell these. I will check this out.

My first step is to call the Pool Company. Pool is not even 2 years old and already rusting screws.

Question: Will this affect the water chemistry over the next week or so, until the new screws come in?
 
I don't think it will mess with your chemistry but........don't know for sure.

If you are the one that takes the screws out make sure you are using the right size head on the screwdriver. Make sure it FITS snuggly in the slots-not too loose, not too big, just right. Put the screwdriver into the slot and use lots of pressure straight towards the screw as you take it out. You do NOT want to take any chance of messing up the head of the screw.

Kim
 
kimkats said:
I don't think it will mess with your chemistry but........don't know for sure.

If you are the one that takes the screws out make sure you are using the right size head on the screwdriver. Make sure it FITS snuggly in the slots-not too loose, not too big, just right. Put the screwdriver into the slot and use lots of pressure straight towards the screw as you take it out. You do NOT want to take any chance of messing up the head of the screw.

Kim
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Removed 1 screw and loosened the remainder so they will come out easy. Spoke to a tech and he stated that the plate will stay on without the screws. The pool store has 16 screws for $9.99, which is not bad but they will rust again. It appears the titanium are very expensive. Thank you for all your help.
 
Stainless steel screws should not rust at all. The screws that came with my AGB, such as the screws on the skimmer are 8 years old and still look brand new. I tried putting a regular steel screw on my Poolskim and it was rusty and corroded within a couple of weeks. I replaced it with a stainless screw from the hardware store and it has been fine the last 2 years.
 
zea3 said:
Stainless steel screws should not rust at all. The screws that came with my AGB, such as the screws on the skimmer are 8 years old and still look brand new. I tried putting a regular steel screw on my Poolskim and it was rusty and corroded within a couple of weeks. I replaced it with a stainless screw from the hardware store and it has been fine the last 2 years.
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They are only rusting there the screwdriver hits the screw head, not the whole screw. They did not use a screwdriver, but a cordless drill and probably stripped the inside. I was also told you can place underwater silicone on the heads to protect them (too be seen).
 
zea3 said:
Stainless steel screws should not rust at all. The screws that came with my AGB, such as the screws on the skimmer are 8 years old and still look brand new. I tried putting a regular steel screw on my Poolskim and it was rusty and corroded within a couple of weeks. I replaced it with a stainless screw from the hardware store and it has been fine the last 2 years.
Click to expand...

Some types of "stainless" will rust. Without a number, the term "stainless steel" is about as descriptive as "new and improved".
 
I am willing to bet that the rust is coming from the tool that installed them. If the installer used a power tool and "stripped" the slots as you indicated then the bit may have left some carbon imbedded in the stainless.
 

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Can someone chime in here please:

The pool company gave me replacement screws. I carefully removed one at a time and installed one at a time. A piece of electrical tape at the end of the screwdriver not to nick the screw. The pool company states that these are stainless steel screws. Now, the second time around, not even a week later, they are rusting.

I was told that the light niche that is screwed to the wall (all plastic), has a gasket, then the liner, then another gasket, white trim piece and then 12 screws that go into the niche and not the wall. This morning, I had a conversation with 2 people who built/build pools and they state that this should not be happening. Is it possible that this happened again, or something more serious is happening?

There are no water leaks? Chemicals are on track. Could muriatic acid affect this? I broadcast slowly around the whole pool and mix in as PH rises? Sounds to me like the leak is at the liner and coming through the screws. No other part of screws are rusting, but just the heads. E-mails and phone calls were made to the pool company. There is a 50 year warranty on structure and 20 on the liner, parts and labor, which helps.

My next step is to call the company in NJ that makes titanium screws. Strange part is that this is only happening around the light and nowhere else, which leads me to believe that it could be something else but the screws. Any thoughts?
 
Go to a hardware store and look for 18-8 stainless screws. They should have something similar to what you are using/need. Get one and put it in the pool and see if it rusts. I am willing to bet the Chinese manufacturer of the part used a poor quality stainless or possibly a 400 series stainless that will rust in the presence of salt and chlorine
 
danpik said:
Go to a hardware store and look for 18-8 stainless screws. They should have something similar to what you are using/need. Get one and put it in the pool and see if it rusts. I am willing to bet the Chinese manufacturer of the part used a poor quality stainless or possibly a 400 series stainless that will rust in the presence of salt and chlorine
Click to expand...

I will do this. McMaster Carr has e-mailed me back stating that they can not help (after pictures and measurements, plus a phone call) and they stated that I am looking for 3/4" - 10 Thread Size. You have recommended 18-8.

From what I measured:

7/16" head, 1.5" length, 10 threads per inch, 3/16" tip bottom (the other part not where the Philips screwdriver goes)
 
I THINK the 18-8 is the amount of stainless in the screw. There are different grades of stainless. I am willing to be they grade you have is not the highest so...........

WOW I will let you do the research. There is a lot of info. out there about kinds/grades to stainless. I will let you pick and read in your spare time. It goes WAY over my head! LOL

Kim
 
The 18-8 is an old layman's term for the amount of chrome and nickel in the metal matrix. These are the two elements that make the steel rustproof. In metallurgical terms the 18-8 stainless is referred to as 304 stainless. This is the most common material used in kitchen flatware (forks and spoons)
 
Update:

I actually removed screws and sprayed with a T-9 spray and put back with silicone over the heads of the screws and left 3 unexposed (removed silicone) for testing. Called Hayward & a few companies that sell high end screws. It appears that this could be "Galvanic Corrosion" in where the 2 metals are touching and coming into contact with pool water and rust is dripping onto the head or "Electrolysis in the water". I have even called the pool company at this point, because Silicone is not acceptable. I believe the screws are not the problem. Definitely stainless steel, based on what Hayward states.

During construction, I believe the pool was bonded properly. I took a lot of pictures and have gone back and all the bonding was secure before the concrete was poured. I believe, this all started after I used the 500 watt light at night (or could be a coincidence), who knows. The light is not currently being used for the next week or so and I will be removing one screw to determine if rust is on the back of the screw. Considering silicone was placed on the inside of the head, there should be no drip onto the head of the screw, but all the rust, if Galvanic Corrosion should be on the actual screw threads. I will give this a week without the light to determine what it could be.

This is a pool that had to pass many inspections for electrical, so with regards to bonding, I doubt that the pool was not bonded properly, but who knows.

Anyone ever had this situation, etc. I am trying to gain knowledge at this point to eventually resolve this issue. I can not have screws that rust as it is not acceptable, or keep silicone over the heads. Does not look right.
 
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