Metal Return Fitting and SWG

[mts37]

Hi all,

I’ve purchased and am in the process of installing an IC40 SWG.

Something I didn’t think of before the purchase:
The return fitting in the wall of the pool is metal (I think because my pool was built in the 70s from what I can tell from old house permits). Note: The eyeball fitting screws into plastic threads, but behind the threads is a metal fitting.

Is the salt water going to corrode the metal fitting and leave me with a big problem? I already know the fitting is a little rusty from inspecting during winerization.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[ajw22]

Does a magnet stick to the metal fitting?

What have you been using to chlorinate your pool?

Liquid chlorine/bleach contains salt that will accumulate in pool water. You can have 1000 ppm or more in a chlorine pool. So the 3000 ppm of salt a SWG requires may not be much more then what you have now.

You should get the K-1766 Taylor Salt Test and test your water before you add salt for the SWG.

 

[mts37]

Does a magnet stick to the metal fitting?

What have you been using to chlorinate your pool?

Liquid chlorine/bleach contains salt that will accumulate in pool water. You can have 1000 ppm or more in a chlorine pool. So the 3000 ppm of salt a SWG requires may not be much more then what you have now.

You should get the K-1766 Taylor Salt Test and test your water before you add salt for the SWG.

I don't know if a magnet sticks to the fitting in question. I will check here when I close the pool in the next week or two.

I do use bleach for chlorination (thanks TFP!) but based on the how much I add, I don't think there is much salt in the pool. I think it was 200ppm based on my total bleach additions for the year. I drain quite a bit of water every year when closing and also drain a lot due to rain/snow, so I know the salt is not accumulating that much (CYA typically goes from 50 to 10 from when I close until I open again).

I guess I am just wondering at this point can I really do more damage to this metal fitting by fully converting to SWCG (note: I installed the power supply but never actually installed the salt cell due to time constraints with having a newborn around the house).

Also - why would there be a metal fitting? I think my pool was built in the 1970s ( I inherited it with a home purchase). What happens if this fitting corrodes enough to break apart?

 

[mts37]

Does a magnet stick to the metal fitting?

What have you been using to chlorinate your pool?

Liquid chlorine/bleach contains salt that will accumulate in pool water. You can have 1000 ppm or more in a chlorine pool. So the 3000 ppm of salt a SWG requires may not be much more then what you have now.

You should get the K-1766 Taylor Salt Test and test your water before you add salt for the SWG.

Just following up again - I took some pics of the return without the eyeball fitting in it when I was closing the pool. See attached. Unfortunately I was not able to answer your question if a magnet sticks to it or not.

I guess the questions till remains...given what you see here...should I really be tempting fate and converting to salt water?

Secondly: what happens when the fitting breaks? The piping to and from the pump is that old style black tubing that I think was used before PVC was used. How would this fitting ever be replaced? Dig up the concrete decking on the outside of this area and dig down to the level of the return?

Is anything accessible from the pool side if those four bolts are removed?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

If that pool was built and plumbed in the 70’s there’s a very good chance those are copper pipes. They may have made a transition from copper to PVC tubing above ground at the equipment pad if a recent renovation was done, but the subterranean pipes could be copper.

I think you need to investigate the plumbing further before hooking up the SWG.

 

[wireform]

Just grab a magnet now that the water is below to see in actuality if it is indeed steel. Somehow I can't see that being metal.

 

[duraleigh]

+1 what wireform said.

 

[JamesW]

What plumbing do you have at the equipment pad?

Is it black poly pipe?

 

[mguzzy]

The salt water for a SWG is not very high salinity.. less than your tears. BUT that fitting looks like its already started to corrode pretty good, if what I am looking at in your pic is the pipe fitting you speak of.. is it like a metal pipe nipple? Whether you go SWG or not I think you need to get that thing replaced especially it its not stainless.. just my two cents. The pros around here will know better than I.

 

[mts37]

+1 what wireform said.

Sorry it’s been awhile and I forgot to post back to this thread when I got busy with work at the end of last year. I’ll tag some of you in one reply to keep things a little organized.

@duraleigh @wireform i did check it with a magnet and it is indeed magnetic.

@JamesW at the equipment pad I have black poly pipe coming out of the ground.

@JoyfulNoise Given that I have black poly pipe coming out at the equipment pad, is there anything else to consider for the plumbing before hooking up the SWG? I know the fitting in the pool wall is not copper since it was magnetic.

@mguzzy what all would go into replacing something like that at this point? Just draining the pool below the return then digging on the outside down to that level? Aside from some concrete work and the digging it seems relatively minor.