I have rust stains around my skimmer plates and can’t determine the cause. The stains are mostly near the water line on the outside of the skimmer plate, but also a little below the water line and a couple spots on the inside of the plates and a tiny bit around a couple screws too. I had the same problem a few years ago a few years after the pool was built. I lowered the water level and replaced both the inside and outside gaskets and touched up the rust on the adjacent pool wall and installed new cover plates. A couple screws had tiny rust spots, but the vast majority of the rust seemed to be from the pool wall. Now a few years later the stains are coming back again.
I attached a current photo (this is after it was cleaned up a little with CLR). Unfortunately I can’t find my photos from a couple years ago while I was replacing the gaskets. From what I remember though the skimmer body actually sits about flush with the pool wall and the gaskets were installed on each side of the vinyl liner and the gaskets/liner get sandwiched between the skimmer body and faceplate. Unlike the Hayward SP1085 instructions it appears the pool builder cut out the skimmer opening in the pool wall the entire permiter of the skimmer flange…pool wall does not attach to the skimmer. I would think this would seal better this way anyway without the pool wall between the gaskets/liner.
Other than winter when the pool is closed I follow TFP methods to maintain my saltwater pool. pH is around 7.5 and rarely needs adjusted. Since it is vinyl pool I don’t worry about hardness and it is usually pretty low. Finally, I watched the pool being installed from new and I know the pool was bonded.
Until a couple years ago I tended to get small water pockets behind the liner in a couple spots on the pool walls near the water line. Sometimes they would go away on their own, but I sometimes also had to pull the liner back and pump them out. This appeared to be related to poor drainage issues around the pool combined with clay soils and after drainage issues were corrected I have not had that problem. Also, none of these water pockets were located near the skimmers. However, I wonder if this past issue or ongoing minor unnoticed groundwater is the cause of the rust stains? Hayward uses fiber type gaskets on the skimmers. It wonder if the fiber slowly allows small amounts of moisture/rust to permeate the gasket from the outside in (instead of the gasket leaking pool water out)? Why are fiber type gaskets used? I would have thought a rubber gasket would seal better?
Thoughts or suggestions anyone? Thanks in advance.
I attached a current photo (this is after it was cleaned up a little with CLR). Unfortunately I can’t find my photos from a couple years ago while I was replacing the gaskets. From what I remember though the skimmer body actually sits about flush with the pool wall and the gaskets were installed on each side of the vinyl liner and the gaskets/liner get sandwiched between the skimmer body and faceplate. Unlike the Hayward SP1085 instructions it appears the pool builder cut out the skimmer opening in the pool wall the entire permiter of the skimmer flange…pool wall does not attach to the skimmer. I would think this would seal better this way anyway without the pool wall between the gaskets/liner.
Other than winter when the pool is closed I follow TFP methods to maintain my saltwater pool. pH is around 7.5 and rarely needs adjusted. Since it is vinyl pool I don’t worry about hardness and it is usually pretty low. Finally, I watched the pool being installed from new and I know the pool was bonded.
Until a couple years ago I tended to get small water pockets behind the liner in a couple spots on the pool walls near the water line. Sometimes they would go away on their own, but I sometimes also had to pull the liner back and pump them out. This appeared to be related to poor drainage issues around the pool combined with clay soils and after drainage issues were corrected I have not had that problem. Also, none of these water pockets were located near the skimmers. However, I wonder if this past issue or ongoing minor unnoticed groundwater is the cause of the rust stains? Hayward uses fiber type gaskets on the skimmers. It wonder if the fiber slowly allows small amounts of moisture/rust to permeate the gasket from the outside in (instead of the gasket leaking pool water out)? Why are fiber type gaskets used? I would have thought a rubber gasket would seal better?
Thoughts or suggestions anyone? Thanks in advance.
