Dark Stains On Stainless Steel

[mgodwin]

We have a stainless steel overflow gutter that runs around the entire pool. A few weeks ago the PH went crazy and dark brown stains appeared on the stainless steel. I have tried CLR and a Bioguard product to remove but neither worked. Any ideas?

[quantumchromodynamics]

01) Can you be more specific than "went crazy"?

02) What is the specific grade of stainless steel?

03) If you hold a strong magnet to the steel, does it stick strongly or weakly?

04) Can you provide a full set of chemical readings? Please include readings for manganese, iron and copper.

05) Is the stainless steel "polished" or "brushed"?

06) Are there any stains in the pool?

07) What type of pool surface do you have?

08) The stainless steel may contain manganese; can you describe the exact color of the stain? Does it contain any purple?

09) Is this a salt pool?

10) Can you post any pictures?

11) How much surface area needs to be cleaned?

12) Was there any direct contact with any chemical that caused this?

Try using any the following on a test spot to see if any of them will remove the stains:

Baking soda, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), ammonia, borax and lemon juice, oxalic acid ("Bar Keeper's Friend" is oxalic acid), citric acid, vinegar, "Magic eraser" (Clorox, Mr. Clean etc.), club soda.

Wait 24 hours after doing the test spot to see what happens before doing more. Can this be done without getting cleaning solution in the pool?

Do not use chlorine, hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid), nitric acid or hydrofluoric acid. Do not use any abrasive on polished stainless steel. A scotch brite pad would probably work, but it can damage the surface and the stains could come back even worse.

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is Formaldehyde-Melamine-Sodium bisulfite copolymer

See this reference: http://www.citrisurf.com/products.htm

[quantumchromodynamics]

Just to be clear, when I said this:

Wait 24 hours after doing the test spot to see what happens before doing more.

I meant clean the spot, thoroughly rinse and then wait 24 hours to see if there is an adverse reaction. I can see how it could be misinterpreted as leave the cleaning solution on for 24 hours, which you do not want to do.