Liner Problem

[waste]

John, from what you and Carl said, I'm thinking that the screws that hold the top rail down are oxidizing and what you are seeing is rust that has dribbled down the wall. The ascorbic acid (vit C) will liberate the stain, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser also has been known to work. I'm not a large fan of the pool store tile line cleaners - I just use a paste made out of baking soda on a green kitchen 'scrubbie' to remove the oils and dirt that accumulate at the water line (though sometimes a weak acid solution is needed)

I sincerely hope that this is helpful to you and that you get to enjoy the pool more than you have to work on it (in CT - we are starting a 4 day heatwave with temps over 90 - maybe now the condo association will let me put in a pool )

[jrv331]

Well heres what I've tried so far:
Magic erase alone - had no effect
PH Decreaser - no effect
Proteam Vinyl Cleaner - no effect.

I gonna try the vitamin C and paste mixture tomorrow. Its been warm her in ohio, we hit 92 yesterday. 88 today and high 80's tomorrow. The pool water is only 62 though. I just put the solar cover on today.
Thanks
John

[jrv331]

Well I tried using Vitamin C, Borax and Baking Soda. All had no effect on the stain. Any other suggestions?
Thanks
John

[jrv331]

Im hoping I can get a few other to chime in here. So far I have tried everything I can think of except straight muratic acid and nothing will take this stuff off. I pulled the top rails off and its not stain from rusting screws. It has not gotten any worse since pool opening.

Could this be it: last year I used a floating chlorinator and at times it sat in one spot over night stuck under the solar cover. Could the damage be from excessive clorine contact?

Other than looking unsightly the liner seems ok and I am not experiencing any water loss. Im not replacing it until I have to.
Thanks for all the help
John

[CarlD]

I dunno...it looks like scaling but the center definitely looks bleached. I wish I had a better answer for you.

[chem geek]

By any chance, did you have Trichlor pucks in a floating dispenser in the pool? If the dispenser parked itself in one place, then the acidity and high chlorine level could bleach out and even weaken the liner in that area. [EDIT] Ignore what I just said. You said that this affected area is ABOVE the water line and I can now clearly see that from your pictures. [END-EDIT]

[EDIT2] Well, if I actually READ every post, I might learn something! You actually said you did use a floating dispenser so that would in fact produce very acidic (low pH) and highly chlorinated (high FC) water in the vicinity of the feeder when the pump was off. The only thing is that this would explain bleaching in the area where the water contacts the liner, but I don't see how that would bleach the area above the waterline. If the water level did ever get near the top (from rains?), then that would explain it, but you said the water level never got that high. [END-EDIT2]

Richard

[hrsdennis]

Hi, the picture looks to me like early stages of dry rot. It always happens above the water line. It takes many years before any serious damage will be done. Eventually the liner will become dry and brittle and start to fall apart. Many years down the road. The only cure is to keep the sun off it.

Later, Dennis