Is chlorine or acid causing rust? Where should I keep my chemicals?

[Rszimm]

So I've got a 100sf shed that I keep my pool chemicals, my tools, my bikes, some fertilizer and gardening stuff, and a bunch of other random things in. I know enough to keep the acid and chlorine on opposite sides of the shed. Recently I've noticed that everything steel in the shed has rusted. All my tools, all the exposed metal on my bikes, heck, even the nails on the walls that hold up my tools.

So my question is, do I need to remove the chlorine components or the acid? Also, when the stuff is in big sealed tubs (cal-hypo and pucks), or in sealed bottles (acid and bleach), how exactly is the stuff getting out to rust everything?

 

[mknauss]

Move the acid outside. Use a covered bucket or small plastic trash can to store the bottles in. The vented cap releases acid fumes.

 

[Rszimm]

so you think the chlorine is OK to leave in the shed?

 

[mknauss]

so you think the chlorine is OK to leave in the shed?

Yes. Most people store bleach in a laundry room. Bleach has no effect on other items.

 

[willygee]

My house came with Bioguard chlorine tablets that were stored in a wood cabinet..noticed hinges rusted ...could have been prior offenders...i dunno.

 

[mknauss]

My house came with Bioguard chlorine tablets that were stored in a wood cabinet..noticed hinges rusted ...could have been prior offenders...i dunno.

Tablets are very acidic. They need to be kept in a sealed container.

 

[Deb04]

Seriously, where do people from areas as far north as NH, or even further north keep their Muriatic Acid? we sometimes get over 100 inches of snow and temps below -10 degrees F for a week are not unheard of. I think a plastic container would probably crack. I usually don’t have MA left over at the end of the year, but this year I do. It’s the half strength stuff.

 

[Mdragger88]

My friend’s pool shed rusted like crazy- I don’t think he used Muriatic acid just pucks & trichlor powder.
Those things are fumey (fumy?)

 

[V___25]

The prior owners left a bucket of old tabs in the outbuilding. They were old enough that the plastic wrapper on the individual puck had started to disintegrate. When you opened that lid, the smell almost knocked you out. The spouse is convinced those open pucks caused some of his stuff to rust and those tabs were quickly sealed shut and moved outside once we realized it. I don't know what to do with them or how to dispose of them at this point.

 

[Eauclaire]

The neutral connector on my pool pump timer would rapidly corrode and become non-conductive, until I moved my Cal-hypo tubs outside the shed. Never had a problem since.

 

[gx22]

Those tubs are not air tight. Acid or chlorine vapor can escape and cause corrosion outside the tub.

 

[TexEdmond]

Before I got rid of all of my extra chems I kept a lot of trichlor and Cal-Hypo stuff in the patio storage box. It rusted the exposed parts of the pneumatic struts that hold the lid open. Everything else in there was either plastic or painted metal so no further corrosion that I've seen. That stuff is nasty. I keep a few tabs in a screw top lid bucket in the garage, fumes are unnoticeable out there. I keep my open jug of MA in a corner on the patio away from sunlight and unopened jugs in the garage. I don't keep Cal-Hypo anymore.

You might consider just doing a big cleanout on things and donate to a local non-TFP pool owner or try to sell on social media / craigslist. There will be plenty of fresh chems for sale in the spring and somebody else can pay to store them safely.