The patient is an Intex above-ground pool with SWG, 3rd of 4th year of operation, presenting significant surface corrosion on the ladder section at the waterline.
Last year, I wire-brushed all the corrosion off and repainted with Rustoleum, but corrosion reappeared.
If this were a boat, I'd have a sacrificial Zinc Anode installed, but for a ladder in a vinyl pool, where the pump, filter, and SWG are all connected to the pool by plastic hoses?
I've got salt in the water at a low percentage appropriate for an SWG, I've got the steel tubes that make up the ladder, and I've got bolts (also steel) to connect the ladder parts.
I do not see how I have a problem that a zinc anode would solve, as I lack dissimilar metals, electric current, or any other aspect of "galvanic corrosion". Yes, the saltwater goes through the pump, filter, and SWG, but they are not showing any sign of corrosion, save the lugs on the circuit board inside the SWG. (Those circuit-board lugs [to which one connects the push-on spade lug connections to the power supply and the wires to the SWG cell] had quite a bit of corrosion, so they were cleaned, reassembled, and coated with excessive amounts of Vaseline to keep the air off them. Had I not caught this, the lugs would have needed replacing, which would have required soldering. Just a warning to others.)
Last year, I wire-brushed all the corrosion off and repainted with Rustoleum, but corrosion reappeared.
If this were a boat, I'd have a sacrificial Zinc Anode installed, but for a ladder in a vinyl pool, where the pump, filter, and SWG are all connected to the pool by plastic hoses?
I've got salt in the water at a low percentage appropriate for an SWG, I've got the steel tubes that make up the ladder, and I've got bolts (also steel) to connect the ladder parts.
I do not see how I have a problem that a zinc anode would solve, as I lack dissimilar metals, electric current, or any other aspect of "galvanic corrosion". Yes, the saltwater goes through the pump, filter, and SWG, but they are not showing any sign of corrosion, save the lugs on the circuit board inside the SWG. (Those circuit-board lugs [to which one connects the push-on spade lug connections to the power supply and the wires to the SWG cell] had quite a bit of corrosion, so they were cleaned, reassembled, and coated with excessive amounts of Vaseline to keep the air off them. Had I not caught this, the lugs would have needed replacing, which would have required soldering. Just a warning to others.)
