immovable iron stain

[duraleigh]

A friend had a round BBQ grill grate fall into his pool over the winter (undetected) and it has left a nice 24" round imprint of the grate on his pool floor in the form of an iron/rust stain.

I suggested some vitamin C to see what affect it would have. He reported that, held onto the stain for more than 3 minutes, the Vitamin C had no affect whatsover....Nada.

I am at a loss as to what to suggest next.....any ideas?

 

[Butterfly]

What is the pool surface?

Is he using one Vit C tablet or some crushed? If he is using the (more expensive?) Vit C tab with the slick outer coating, it may take longer to dissolve/have an effect.

I read about the slick outer coating in one of geekgranny=alice's posts and it does make sense.

 

[duraleigh]

I'm sorry, it's a vinyl pool.

Steve told me he crushed up half a bottle of tabs and the whole bottle was only $3.00.........sounds like the cheap ones but I'll confirm about the coating.

What surprised me most was he said it had NO visible effect. I have used tabs to remove rusty nails stains and it was about 85-90-% effective so I fully expected these to make SOME difference. I am stumped.

 

[JohnT]

Dave, I dropped a fender washer off my dive stand in the pool last fall, and didn't notice it for a couple of weeks. Left a big stain. I took a 2" PVC coupling and placed it over the stain and dropped the Vitamin C tabs into the coupling. Gone the next day. For a larger stain, the coupling could be moved as the stain faded.

 

[geekgranny]

What is the pool surface?

Is he using one Vit C tablet or some crushed? If he is using the (more expensive?) Vit C tab with the slick outer coating, it may take longer to dissolve/have an effect.

I read about the slick outer coating in one of geekgranny=alice's posts and it does make sense.

I just looked in cabinet. The C tabs I'm talking about are "Ester C" "non-acidic stomach friendly" "coated tablets".

No wonder they didn't do anything to the stain being "non-acidic stomach friendly". :lol:

Our Vet wanted us to give these to the puppies. DH studies up on them and decided we needed to be taking Ester C too.

gg=alice

 

[257WbyMag]

You know it's a metal stain. That's a given. That being said, I would still try the vitamin C thing. I would either use industrial grade AA or I would find the cheapest most non-coated, hardest on the stomach, Vitamin C tabs that I could find, crush them up, and reapply.

 

[duraleigh]

Yeah, I think to retry with a stronger, longer concentration may be worth it.

 

[JasonLion]

A BBQ grill grate might have also have a fair bit of grease and ash on it, which could also be involved in the mark. I would try a magic eraser to see if it has any effect.

 

[duraleigh]

Steve says the grate was used for a different purpose than grilling so no grease on it. He is thinking about more vitamin C in a sock but this time using a weight to hold it on the stain for perhaps overnight. I have no knowledge that that will be harmful.....any opinions?

 

[Melt In The Sun]

DLO just did something similar; here's their thread (with good pictures):
http://www.troublefreepool.com/orange-brown-stains-on-the-bottom-of-the-deep-end-t22929.html

 

[duraleigh]

MITS,

That's a great thread and totally applicable. I have forwarded it to my friend.

He and I have played volleyball for years. He knew I was somehow involved with pools so he asked me how to get this stain out of his pool and I said, "Try Vitamin C tablets". Here was his look........

It was identical to the reaction I get when they ask at the grocery store what all the bleach is for??