Vinegar to clean powerheads

[singold]

I've seen some pictures and discussion on using vinegar to clean powerheads. Was wondering what ratio of vinegar to water do people use and how long it takes when running powerhead in the mixed water with the ratio of vinegar/water mix for them to essentially clean themselves?

 

[mnml]

i do 50/50 if there's a lot of coraline on it. let soak for 1 hour then brush off with a tooth brush.

 

[Agu]

I have spare powerheads so cleaning one isn't a get it done issue.

Once a powerhead is replaced I tear it down, scrub all accessible parts with a toothbrush and put it in a 100% vinegar soak. 100% may seem excessive but I recycle the vinegar for several cleanings. If you don't have a spare powerhead a little effort can get the job done in ten or fifteen minutes.

 

[singold]

Thanks

 

[jenglish]

I generally let it run about half an hour in 50/50 with very hot water.

 

[drummereef]

I've cleaned them in 100% vinegar as Agu states as well. Works faster and won't hurt a thing.

 

[lombard0]

Some very stubborn "stuff" will still take time to take it off even if 100% vinegar is used IME. That's why I used a diluted glacial acetic acid (99+% acidity) with 50/50 ratio and with water. Works better for me so far. But I only use it with plastic and metal parts of the pump, and not the rubber parts.

 

[Whys]

I've read vinegar can ruin suction cups.

 

[jenglish]

I have used 5:1 muriatic acid..... I would advise that only for the toughest stuff as it is quite hazardous to work with and can pit metal impeller shafts.

 

[will16]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15253027#post15253027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mnml
i do 50/50 if there's a lot of coraline on it. let soak for 1 hour then brush off with a tooth brush.

I do the same exact thing. I usually also disassemble and scrub all the parts while I'm at it.

 

[waterworld2]

I have always used 50/50 on all except the most stubborn to remove debris and Iwill use straight on those. This also works well to soak your heaters in to remove scale build-up. The scale build-up insulates the heater from the water making it less efficient.
WW2

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15253764#post15253764 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Whys
I've read vinegar can ruin suction cups.

Suction cups? What are those? :lol: Suction cups wear out very quickly is saltwater anyway. Replace them with a magnet style holder.

 

[Tswifty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15181947#post15181947 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tswifty
Also, if anyone isn't familiar with how I clean my pumps and powerheads, here are a few pics:

I use white distilled vinegar and a small tank.

No large bottles were available, so I had to use smaller ones.

I usually clean them in 100% vinegar solution, but since I picked up smaller bottles, I added water to fill up the rest of the tank.

Let it mix for a few hours, with the pump on low. Then I scrub it with a toothbrush to get in between the grates, and any tougher coraline encrusted areas clean. Rinse and dry off... then pop it back in the tank.

Before:

After (forgot to take a pic when it was outside the tank):

 

[waterworld2]

Pictures are worth 1000 words. Thanks Tswifty

 

[snorvich]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15253046#post15253046 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Agu
I have spare powerheads so cleaning one isn't a get it done issue.

Once a powerhead is replaced I tear it down, scrub all accessible parts with a toothbrush and put it in a 100% vinegar soak. 100% may seem excessive but I recycle the vinegar for several cleanings. If you don't have a spare powerhead a little effort can get the job done in ten or fifteen minutes.

Likewise as he said above. Some of my pumps are cleaned by running them in a bucket with 100 percent vinegar. But like Agu, I recycle the vinegar and buy generic stuff from the super market.

 

[Toddrtrex]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15253764#post15253764 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Whys
I've read vinegar can ruin suction cups.

Back when I used suction cups, they would get ruined by soaking overnight in a 50/50 solution. Ended up being mis-shapened, and wouldn't hold any more.

But, like "Sugar Magnolia" said, they wear out quickly anyways, I haven't used any in years.

 

[Whys]

It was just a warning guys (that includes you Sugar ). I don't use sucky-cups either, but at $6 per magnetic clip, I assume some others still do.

All I'm saying is try not to soak the suction cups in vinegar.

 

[Whys]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15255464#post15255464 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tswifty

Tswifty, that's pretty small for an out board motor. Couldn't you find anything bigger?

Not to be place too close to computer equipment. I can't image what the magnetic field must be like on that thing.

 

[otrlynn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15256460#post15256460 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Toddrtrex
Back when I used suction cups, they would get ruined by soaking overnight in a 50/50 solution. Ended up being mis-shapened, and wouldn't hold any more.

But, like "Sugar Magnolia" said, they wear out quickly anyways, I haven't used any in years.

Well, Koralias have a sort of "suction cup", as well as mount magnetically. Anyway, I remove the rubber "suction cup" from the pump prior to soaking it in 50/50 hot water and vinegar. I usually disassemble them and let them soak overnight, which minimizes the elbow grease required. I have several in my tank, so I do half of them at a time, leaving the other half in the tank. I do the second half the following night using the same cleaning solution. I soak my Stealth heaters in the same solution, though I do not use hot water--just being cautions with that. I don't know if hot water would do any damage to them--probably not, but why take a chance.

 

[kevinr621]

I purchased a used reef tank and I am in the long process of cleaning it up - Question is if I fill it up with a 50/50 mixture of distilled vinegar and tap water and use my powerheads to circulate will the vinegar harm my new powerheads at all?