ladoladi
08-05-2012, 12:37 PM
Hello,
In March, we had our old pool resurfaced with a quartz aggregate and re-tiled. We also switched out some old equipment: filter and heater, and we switched over to a salt cell. We've been doing a good job of maintaining our chemicals and salt levels, taking a water sample every week to our local pool supply.
A few weeks ago we started noticing some rust-colored stains around the pool drain and thought that maybe we weren't putting in enough sequesterant, so we added more of that. But now the stains are everywhere, in the spa, along the seating area and the drain, and in the pool, around the drain and in other low spots... and we realized the 2 lights (one in the pool, one in the spa, both original to the pool) are completely rusted out!
We were thinking the lights were the cause of the problem, rusting out from the salt, but we've been reading through many of the very helpful forum posts about anodes and electrolysis and have just a few unanswered questions:
1. Our pool contractor put a zinc anode in our skimmer basket, but none at the pad/bonding wire. Should we hold him accountable for these stains on our 4 month old surface since he didn't properly attach the anode to the bond wire? BTW, the manual for the SWCG doesn't mention anodes at all, but our contractor has been doing pools for 30 years and this is not his first SWCG.
2. How long is a sacrificial anode skimmer weight supposed to last? I can't find this information on the product packaging or the internet. Would you expect it to already be useless after 4 months? This is what ours currently looks like: http://i.imgur.com/2rp81.jpg . It's mostly just covered in salt.
3. We're thinking the original pool builder never properly bonded the pool and spa lights--just left them grounded to the electrical system. Due to a lower ground potential than the rest of the pool equipment, they are rusting out before even the zinc anode in the skimmer basket. Is that a possibility?
Thank you.
In March, we had our old pool resurfaced with a quartz aggregate and re-tiled. We also switched out some old equipment: filter and heater, and we switched over to a salt cell. We've been doing a good job of maintaining our chemicals and salt levels, taking a water sample every week to our local pool supply.
A few weeks ago we started noticing some rust-colored stains around the pool drain and thought that maybe we weren't putting in enough sequesterant, so we added more of that. But now the stains are everywhere, in the spa, along the seating area and the drain, and in the pool, around the drain and in other low spots... and we realized the 2 lights (one in the pool, one in the spa, both original to the pool) are completely rusted out!
We were thinking the lights were the cause of the problem, rusting out from the salt, but we've been reading through many of the very helpful forum posts about anodes and electrolysis and have just a few unanswered questions:
1. Our pool contractor put a zinc anode in our skimmer basket, but none at the pad/bonding wire. Should we hold him accountable for these stains on our 4 month old surface since he didn't properly attach the anode to the bond wire? BTW, the manual for the SWCG doesn't mention anodes at all, but our contractor has been doing pools for 30 years and this is not his first SWCG.
2. How long is a sacrificial anode skimmer weight supposed to last? I can't find this information on the product packaging or the internet. Would you expect it to already be useless after 4 months? This is what ours currently looks like: http://i.imgur.com/2rp81.jpg . It's mostly just covered in salt.
3. We're thinking the original pool builder never properly bonded the pool and spa lights--just left them grounded to the electrical system. Due to a lower ground potential than the rest of the pool equipment, they are rusting out before even the zinc anode in the skimmer basket. Is that a possibility?
Thank you.