Best equipment (pumps, powerheads, wavemakers) cleaner? Citric Acid, Muriatic Acid or Vinegar?

[moreef]

Never had a problem with vinegar

 

[DancingWind]

Read that linked thread (damages plastic).

Not quite damages - it seems it can permeate some plastics and start working on magnets inside - magnet rusts, swells and bursts protective plastic layer.

 

[Duffer]

was using vinegar to clean all my equipment and after saw some warnings i switched to citric acid and what a difference, citric acid does a way better job with less effort

 

[S2G]

Not quite damages - it seems it can permeate some plastics and start working on magnets inside - magnet rusts, swells and bursts protective plastic layer.

That was more of a gentle nudge to go read the link than pin point accuracy

 

[redfishbluefish]

Here are my acid dilution recommendations:

VINEGAR: Only use on parts that do not contain metal components encased in plastic....no pumps, but tanks, skimmer bodies, etc would be safe. I like using straight or diluted up to 50 percent.

MURIATIC ACID: DANGER, this is hydrochloric acid and is dangerous to eyes, skin and anything it contacts. It will eat holes in your clothes, so handle with care. If concerned, use another acid. This is the one acid that is most dangerous. Dilution is 10 percent solution.....and it will still cause carbonate deposits to fizz away.

CITRIC ACID: A much more forgiving acid. My preferred dilution is one cup acid made up to one gallon with water. Note that weaker dilutions can work as well, as well as making smaller quantities with similar proportions. The reason I bring up smaller quantities is that citric acid is also a nice food for bacteria, and if you're going to allow it to sit around for a couple weeks, you'll most likely get a nice bacterial swill growing. To combat this, simply add 0.1% sodium benzoate. This can be had in some grocery stores (WalMart, as an example) or on line at places like Amazon or eBay. You don't need a whole bunch, so Walmart, that sells a pound bag, would be a lifetime supply. For those making up a gallon of solution, take out you kitchen scales and weigh out 3.8 grams of sodium benzoate and add to that gallon.

 

[Tastee]

MURIATIC ACID: DANGER, this is hydrochloric acid and is dangerous to eyes, skin and anything it contacts. It will eat holes in your clothes, so handle with care. If concerned, use another acid. This is the one acid that is most dangerous. Dilution is 10 percent solution.....and it will still cause carbonate deposits to fizz away.

One further point for Muriatic acid - always follow the rule of adding acid to water never the reverse. Adding water to strong acid can cause quite a violent reaction as the initial small amount of water hits the acid causing neat acid to be sprayed everywhere including you and your eyes.

 

[Mono]

Here are my acid dilution recommendations:

VINEGAR: Only use on parts that do not contain metal components encased in plastic....no pumps, but tanks, skimmer bodies, etc would be safe. I like using straight or diluted up to 50 percent.

MURIATIC ACID: DANGER, this is hydrochloric acid and is dangerous to eyes, skin and anything it contacts. It will eat holes in your clothes, so handle with care. If concerned, use another acid. This is the one acid that is most dangerous. Dilution is 10 percent solution.....and it will still cause carbonate deposits to fizz away.

CITRIC ACID: A much more forgiving acid. My preferred dilution is one cup acid made up to one gallon with water. Note that weaker dilutions can work as well, as well as making smaller quantities with similar proportions. The reason I bring up smaller quantities is that citric acid is also a nice food for bacteria, and if you're going to allow it to sit around for a couple weeks, you'll most likely get a nice bacterial swill growing. To combat this, simply add 0.1% sodium benzoate. This can be had in some grocery stores (WalMart, as an example) or on line at places like Amazon or eBay. You don't need a whole bunch, so Walmart, that sells a pound bag, would be a lifetime supply. For those making up a gallon of solution, take out you kitchen scales and weigh out 3.8 grams of sodium benzoate and add to that gallon.

Thanks for the info.

If you do make a gallon to keep on hand and add sodium benzoate, what's the shelf life? A month? a year?

Also, I noticed on my bag of food grade Citric Acid and expiration date. Since I'm only using this to clean, can I use this well past this date? or should I toss it?

 

[Mono]

Tastee, that's a good point.

I'm just going to leave the Muriatic Acid alone for a while. I have enough trouble handling bleach.

 

[Luis1992]

how long should you soak pumps in citric acid with a dilution of 1 cup per gallon

 

[lefkonj]

I found a good tooth brush and some time gets most of what I need removed. However I used vinegar in the past with mixed success. Having read the latest on the vinegar would go with Citric acid as muriatic is way too strong, I have to dilute it even for my pool

 

[t5Nitro]

Looking to get citric acid to clean pumps. Do you guys mix yours in tap water or best to keep everything rodi, as far as removing the pump from the water and placing it back into the tank.

 

[Kjames]

Looking to get citric acid to clean pumps. Do you guys mix yours in tap water or best to keep everything rodi, as far as removing the pump from the water and placing it back into the tank.

I like hot tap water to speed up the process. I rinse under warm tap water while brushing off the goop. You could simply dip it in a small amount of RODI after cleaning if you are concerned about your water quality.