How to clean a power head?

[CoronaNLime]

What is the best way to clean a power head? It has crusty stuff all over it and would like to know what's the best solution to remove it.

TIA!

 

[150er]

I put the powerhead in Vinegar + water bucket. Let it soak for couple hours. The coralline will come off right away.

 

[inactive]

I put the powerhead in Vinegar + water bucket. Let it soak for couple hours. The coralline will come off right away.

I do the same.

 

[gparr]

Yes, dismantle and soak in vinegar. I don't dilute the vinegar. Be sure you pull the shaft out of the impeller so vinegar can clean deposits off of the shaft and the hole in the magnet. Rinse all parts thoroughly in tap water before re-assembling. Make sure small parts can fall down the drain.
Gary

 

[eggie]

This is a post i build for those wanting to know how to clean a power head, return loclines etc etc

Materials

1-Water
2-Vinegar
3-Tooth brush
4-Small Bowl

First we put water in the bowl to cover what we are going to clean in this case its one of my MP40. I add vinegar i use a small mix even do i hear some times a 50/50 mix is needed. I use for each cup of water 1oz of vinegar

I leave the pump for a coulple of hours in the mixture

Then when I see that I could scrape it with my finger nails its time to use the tooth brush to do the rest of the cleaning
Note: If you see its doesnt come out easy let it in the water a couple more minutes

At last after everything is clean a procced to wash it first with raw water then some distille water

Here you see everything is clean this is good for power heads its keeps them clean a problem free

Hope this helps

 

[Shawn D]

nice write up. In my experience I had a 5 gallon bucket filled half way with vinegar. I would disasemble my power heads and soak for 24 hours when they came out almost perfectley clean, rarely had to scrape off any coraline.

 

[eggie]

Thank you

Yes its a good idea but in some cases we want to put the power head back the same day. So this method will take a couple of hours only

 

[Shawn D]

Im just lazy. SO I keep an extra pump around. I use the extra for mixing saltwater or water changes etc....and then to replace the one being clean.

 

[barbianj]

I do the same thing, except I turn the powerhead on in the bucket. It gets everything loose much quicker. Then disassemble and clean.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Straight distilled white vinegar, diluting it raises the pH and also does not allow you to save and reuse it. I strain the big chunks out with a paint strainer or some paper towels and pour it back in the bottle, the stuff lasts about a year before the pH rises enough to make it useless. Its only like $1.50 a gallon at WalMart and is an excellent safe cleaner.
By not cutting it with water it works faster and requires little if any brushing and cleaning, just rinse it under running water and almost everything falls off. My only caution is don't leave the rubber parts like O-rings and suction cups in too long or the rubber swells and later hardens, by too long I mean days though and the power head will usually be clean in an hour or two at most.

 

[DML08]

I use a muriatic acid.. mix about 1/4g to a gallon of water, soak for 5 min clean with a brush, rinse with tap water then rinse in RO/DI water.. like new in 10min tops..

Tip: its acid, so use Gloves and safety goggles...

 

[Harry_Y]

Vinegar and a bucket

I throw then in and let them run for a couple of hrs

Then pull out disassemble and clean with a toothbrush

 

[AZDesertRat]

Thats the disadvantage with using acids and alkalines. I work around the stuff every day and don't want to go home to it so vinegar is much safer around the house. Same with recharging DI resins, its not worth the hassle.

 

[versach000]

I always used Vinegar

 

[CoronaNLime]

Thanks so much everyone.

 

[Brad Syphus]

I love threads like these. It inspired me to clean my vortechs today.