Anyone heard of this? (oxidation with Liquidator)

[RobbieH]

Since installing my Liquidator, I have noticed everything in the pool equipment room and the garage getting oxidized. Copper is green, steel is rusting.

My pool equipment is enclosed in a room off the back of my garage. Sometimes we will notice a heavy odor that's not really the same as chlorine or chlorimines, but it is obviously pool water related. All my gear that's steel or copper is heavily oxidized, and this is a real concern considering my 67 Firebird project in the garage. For example, the rotors rusted in a matter of a week! Does this sound possible?

My choices are to run tubing through the brick wall to the outside and store the Liquidator outdoors, or go to SWCG and do away with the Liquidator. I'm open to either solution. I would be upset though if the SWCG caused the same issue as the Liquidator though.

Thoughts?

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

The cell is the way to go. It's sealed. The Liquidor is not. Chlorine escapes and since the room doesn't have very good ventilation (needed) and the area around it is at an elevated temp (from the pump motor) the chlorine in the bleach tank is escaping anyway, despite the layer of water on top. Good ventilation is required for the safe use of liquid or tab feeders.

Scott

 

[RobbieH]

Thank you, I figured this was the issue. Lately the room has been really cold, but the fumes remain. Without me digging back through the posts (I realize this gets asked a lot), any suggestions on the best cell for my 44,000 gallon pool?

I was going to hold off on switching to salt because I was going to resurface this spring, but the water restrictions we are under here forbid draining and refilling pools and probably will through the summer.

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

I would use either a Pentair or Auto Pilot rated for 60,000 gallons.

Scott

 

[chem geek]

Just to make sure, you aren't storing Muriatic Acid in your pool equipment room / garage, are you? Usually the kind of more rapid oxidation you are reporting comes from Muriatic Acid since the bottles are vented and HCl is quite corrosive. Yes, something similar can happen from chlorine, but it's not normally as destructive or as rapid. In the past, I've stored both chlorine and acid in my fairly (passively) well-ventilated pool equipment shed and noticed some corrosion starting over many months, but when I moved the Muriatic Acid out to a pool box outside and far away from the shed, the corrosion issues nearly stopped.

I've used moistened litmus paper as well as moistened chlorine test strips placed near the bottles and by far the Muriatic Acid seems to have the greatest effect, though the chlorine leakage is also measurable. With The Liquidator, the water above the chlorinating liquid or bleach does get somewhat concentrated, certainly enough to outgas, and the lid is not air-tight. Nevertheless, if The Liquidator were the culprit, I'd expect to hear about this problem from more people using that system.

 

[RobbieH]

I'm out of muriatic acid. I was storing it in there, but I haven't had any in months. That does make sense though, because the smell wasn't what I'd expect from chlorine.

I just figured I was one of the very few people with a Liquidator indoors.

 

[RobbieH]

The more I think about this, the more I'm in agreement that the half-full bottle of MA I had in there is what caused the problems.

 

[JohnT]

Mine is indoors. Probably a little better ventilated than a garage, but not open air by any means. No issues after several years. I have an adjustable wrench hanging on a nail over it that isn't rusty.

Anything non-standard with your wiring that could have current running through your water causing some kind of vapor to be released?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Muriatic acid will definitely fume and cause corrosion of everything metal around it. It will also affect paint finishes. It's best to store it in a vented non-metallic enclosure.

 

[RobbieH]

Nothing odd with my wiring. My pool is EXTREMELY straight-forward due to when it was built.

Have decide to go to salt anyway, hauling chlorine bottles for the 44,000 gallon pool in Texas was just too much of a chore last year. The Liquidator made it a weekly chore instead of a daily chore, but still there are all those bottles...

I almost kept it, but after thinking about it all this time, simply decided to go salt. I am giving my Liquidator to a friend who has trouble keeping his pool chlorinated properly.