How can you repair your Doughboy Pool which has a leak in the area of the return where a piece of the liner was cut out and the metal under that opening edge has rusted?

Answer 1

If new replacement parts are available, you could simply replace the damaged/rusted parts. On the other hand, if parts are not available, or you want to do it yourself, then it will be necessary to restore the rusted parts to service. A few years ago, for a friend, I made a similar repair on another brand of pool. Being a do-it-yourselfer, I did not buy an "official" repair kit. Following is the process I used. 1. Drain pool, dissemble the flanged connector which is rusted and leaking, and allow all parts to dry thoroughly. 2. With a wire brush, remove the loose rust from all parts. It is not necessary to remove all rust down to bare metal. 3. Apply a product to the rusted parts which converts the rust to a stable compound, thereby inhibiting future rusting. I used a brush-on product called "Ospho," obtained at my local hardware store. 4. After the Ospho dried, per label directions I washed the white powdery residue from the parts to which the Ospho had been applied, and allowed all to dry thoroughly. 5. I then painted all of the treated metal parts with ordinary aerosol can spray paint, allowing it to dry thoroughly for a few days. 6. I then reassembled the connection using a clear silicone sealant which also is available at my local hardware store. I applied the sealant to both sides of the vinyl liner, and the mating surfaces of the flanges. My flanged connector parts threaded together in order to "pinch" the liner between, so to prevent "gluing" of the threads and thereby facilitate future disassembly, I very lightly coated just the threads with Vasiline lubricant. 7. After final tighening of the connector, I carefully wiped off the excess sealant which had squeezed out. 8. I then allowed the silicone sealant to cure[dry] for an additional 3 or 4 days before refilling the pool. Although I'm not sure as to exactly when this was done, the repair has not leaked or rusted for some 3 to 4 years.