Rust on My Pool Rails

[crokett™]

the top rails of my above ground pool are metal.  Some of them are rusty.  The one under the ladder is the worst.  My wife painted them last year, the rust seems to be coming back.   I don't know what prep she did or what paint she used.    I want to work on fixing them this summer.  Whatever products I use,  it will have to be brush-on. I don't want the overspray getting in the pool or on the deck.   My prep will be to sand off any loose rust and then recoat.  I need something that will stop the rust and then hold up to a fairly corrosive environment - chlorinated salty water.   Is rustoleum going to do this or do I need something else?  Can I get truck bed liner that can be colored white and rolled or brushed on?  Would truck bed liner be too rough of a surface for bare feet, etc?

[Cooler]

Years ago I worked for a company that sold plastic pails to a pool chlorine manufacturer.  The pails were sold with blue and red silk screened printing on the outside.  

Their truck was making a delivery out west and was driving through Death Valley.  When it came time to make the delivery they opened the back of the truck and all the pails were in blank pails--no paint.

Apparently one of the pails burst open and enough hydrocloric acid was created within the hot truck to erase all the printing.  

A tough environment.

I would try a high solids enamel with zinc flakes in suspension. It is called a "zinc-rich paint" and it offers the best protection I know about, but this is a tough environment.

https://galvanizeit.org/corrosion/corros...rich-paint

Rustoleum sells a couple of zinc rich paints.  There might be better ones out there.   The paint has to be stirred frequently while painting as the zinc powder will settle to the bottom of the pail.

Zinc painting, commonly referred to by the misnomer “cold galvanizing,” is the application by brush or spray of zinc dust mixed with organic or inorganic binders. Prior to application, the steel must be cleaned by sand blasting to near white metal (SSPC-SP 10), commercial blast cleaning (SSPC-SP 6) or white metal (SSPC-SP 5). The zinc dust must be mixed with a polymeric-containing vehicle and constantly agitated during application to produce a homogenous mixture and proper adhesion. 

[crokett™]

Zinc painting, commonly referred to by the misnomer “cold galvanizing,” is the application by brush or spray of zinc dust mixed with organic or inorganic binders. Prior to application, the steel must be cleaned by sand blasting to near white metal (SSPC-SP 10), commercial blast cleaning (SSPC-SP 6) or white metal (SSPC-SP 5). The zinc dust must be mixed with a polymeric-containing vehicle and constantly agitated during application to produce a homogenous mixture and proper adhesion. 

I can't sand blast these parts unless I took them off the pool and that's not easily done.    I will look at rust encapsulators and then something like rustoleum.

[Bluepine]

Eastwood carries several rust "encapsulators".

www.eastwood.com/eastwood-black-rust-encapsulator-paint-over-rust.html

[Phil Thien]

It is a shame someone doesn’t manufacture plastic covers to snap over the rails.

[crokett™]

I've thought about some kind of plastic over the rail where the ladder is, but it would have to be wide enough that water didn't easily get under it.

[Robert Adams]

Wire brush and sand the rust off then treat remaining rust with phosphoric acid. Once dried paint with a rust preventative paint. The rustoleum stuff isn't bad actually but the professional line is better. The rusty metal paint has fish oil in it and is meant to go over porous rusty metal. There are paints like POR 15 that are very good on rusty metal but never spray them as they contain basically super glue.

[Cooler]

This guy capped his rails:

https://incrediblepool.cf/tag/top-rail-c...ound-pool/