soda ash precipitate in lines

[davidwillis]

I have my neptune dos adding soda ash for alkalinity. However the DOS is about 30 feet from my tank, and the lines are getting precipitate buildup in them. I am wondering if I should use a lower concentration? Or why is this happening? I use the one gallon mix, and put it in a one gallon jug. It mixes clear, and it stays in solution in the gallon jug. But I am getting some buildup in the Dos tank, and even more so in the lines....

Another thought I had, is can You add vinegar to the soda ash to help it dissolve? Or would you have to add too much vinegar in order to do any good?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You can dilute it, and that will solve the problem, but unless it is cold, it should be sufficiently soluble already. I would not add vinegar. That may initially reduce solubility.

Are you sure you aren’t letting solids into the line that settle out along the way?

 

[davidwillis]

Im not sure why it is settling out. Its in a closet, but not cold. However Now that you mention it, the closet is on an outside wall, so in the winter maybe it did get a little cool?

I have attached some pictures. You can see the line, the Dos container, and the mixing container. They are all in the same room at the same temperature, but last winter I did not keep the mixing container in the same room, so again the theory of it getting cold makes sense.

At one point I had a lot of it settling out in the dos container, but cleaned it out. So maybe it got cold at some time, and that filled the lines up, and I never cleaned them.

How would you suggest cleaning it all out (pump RO water through them)?

The Calcium side never had any problems, maybe it won't come out even when a little cooler.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Im not sure why it is settling out. Its in a closet, but not cold. However Now that you mention it, the closet is on an outside wall, so in the winter maybe it did get a little cool?

I have attached some pictures. You can see the line, the Dos container, and the mixing container. They are all in the same room at the same temperature, but last winter I did not keep the mixing container in the same room, so again the theory of it getting cold makes sense.

At one point I had a lot of it settling out in the dos container, but cleaned it out. So maybe it got cold at some time, and that filled the lines up, and I never cleaned them.

How would you suggest cleaning it all out (pump RO water through them)?

The Calcium side never had any problems, maybe it won't come out even when a little cooler.

FWIW, the calcium part of any two part is far more soluble than the alk part.

 

[davidwillis]

Thanks Randy! I think I will clean the lines out with ro water, and use about a 50% concentration (dose twice as much). That should fix it. The problem is probably just the cold. Hopefully that solves the problem.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks Randy! I think I will clean the lines out with ro water, and use about a 50% concentration (dose twice as much). That should fix it. The problem is probably just the cold. Hopefully that solves the problem.

Sounds good. Let us know if it comes back.

 

[davidwillis]

So Hot RO water was not cleaning the lines out very fast (not noticeable difference after an hour). So I used some vinegar, and that did it. Here is what came out. It also took the residue off the inside of the container (which Ro water would not do unless I scrubbed it off). I am not sure why it was so hard to dissolve, I never have this problem when I mix it up.

Anyway, the lines are clean now.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So Hot RO water was not cleaning the lines out very fast (not noticeable difference after an hour). So I used some vinegar, and that did it. Here is what came out. It also took the residue off the inside of the container (which Ro water would not do unless I scrubbed it off). I am not sure why it was so hard to dissolve, I never have this problem when I mix it up.

Anyway, the lines are clean now.

Any possibility you ran calcium through it (ever)?

 

[davidwillis]

Any possibility you ran calcium through it (ever)?

I don't think so. But it does have the calcium right next to it.... So I guess it is possible I put calcium in the wrong one? Or maybe I spilled some in? But I didn't on purpose, that is why I wrote on them with a marker. But you never know, I do dumb things sometimes.

If I did, maybe that would explain it better than the cold?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don't think so. But it does have the calcium right next to it.... So I guess it is possible I put calcium in the wrong one? Or maybe I spilled some in? But I didn't on purpose, that is why I wrote on them with a marker. But you never know, I do dumb things sometimes.

If I did, maybe that would explain it better than the cold?

Yes, and the fact that warm water didn't dissolve it while vinegar did (though that might be a time issue for warm water).

In any case, you've got it under control.

 

[davidwillis]

Thank you randy!