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09-01-2011, 14:09
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Mexico
Boat: Shin Fa 458 Custom Cutter but looks like a Liberty 458
Posts: 370
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Muriatic Acid and Marine Heads
Over the last year or so, we have developed some calcium residue in one of the heads of our boat. Is it safe to use muriatic acid to clean them out? The bowl is porcelain but as with most heads, the rest is plastic.
I don't want to melt anything up the line plus I have a stainless black water tank, but I've heard from friends that it's the best stuff for cleaning out the buildup. Vinegar is good if used regularly but we're well past that.
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09-01-2011, 14:32
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Seattle area (Bremerton)
Boat: C&C Landfall 39 center cockpit "Anahita"
Posts: 1,077
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Rydlyme
Best, and safest, product to de-calcify your head and hoses is a product called Rydlyme. Not only will it do the best job it is safe to discharge overboard...will not harm the environment. Also best product to clean your engine heat-exchanger by circulating from water pump">raw water pump output hose to discharge hose disconnected from exhause riser.
You can't believe how it dissolves barnacles, etc.
__________________
"I don't think there'll be a return journey Mr. Frodo". Samwise Gamgee
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09-01-2011, 14:40
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Depends
Boat: Cabo Rico
Posts: 770
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I'm sure muriatic acid isn't environmentally friendly, but you do use a diluted solution for cleaning heads. It works - you can hear it working - it fizzles for a while. You won't "melt anything up the line" - It doesn't stay in long enough to corrode the metals, even though it is highly corrosive and emits poisonous fumes
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09-01-2011, 14:52
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#4
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Lived aboard & cruised for 45 years,- now on a chair in my walk-in closet.
Boat: Morgan OI 413 1973 - Aythya
Posts: 8,455
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The low pH (high hydrogen ion concentration) is not of great difference in the type of the acid as far as it's effect on the deposits in your head system or the environment. The best environmental choice is the weak acid such as the acetic acid in vinegar. We have been using the five year plan,- change the hoses and the joker valve,- soak the dismantled plastic head parts in a strong acid. It's true that the disciplined schedule of a dollop of venegar with each flush would prevent the problem, but we don't seem to be disciplined cruisers. Good luck!
__________________
Take care and joy, Aythya crew
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09-01-2011, 15:15
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#5
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,137
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Muriatic acid is 30 - 35% hydrochloric acid (HCl).
The common stainless steel types, 304 and 316 are considered non-resistant to hydrochloric acid, at any concentration and temperature.
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"
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09-01-2011, 17:48
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Bahamas - Maine
Boat: '88 Passport 41' Magic Moments
Posts: 197
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I have used a 4% solution for cleaning for 16 years with no adverse effect. It will be neutrilized after a short time in the pipe and needs to be repeated for heavy buildup removel.
A
__________________
.............< Alan >..............
><((((º> ¸.·´¯`·.¸¸><((((º>
........AD4HE & KD4LGZ........
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10-01-2011, 06:52
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Tampa Bay area, USA
Boat: Beneteau First 42
Posts: 3,961
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
Best, and safest, product to de-calcify your head and hoses is a product called Rydlyme. Not only will it do the best job it is safe to discharge overboard...will not harm the environment. Also best product to clean your engine heat-exchanger by circulating from raw water pump output hose to discharge hose disconnected from exhause riser.
You can't believe how it dissolves barnacles, etc.
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Bingo! Absolutely correct. A little costly but absolutely worth it.
Once the lines are cleaned out get in the habit of keeping a squeeze bottle with a mix of Saltaway and fresh water in the heads. A little squirt in the bowel and pumped into the lines once the bowel's been thoroughly evacuated will help prevent the built-up of salt/calcium carbonate.
FWIW...
__________________
"It is not so much for its beauty that the Sea makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from the waves, that so wonderfully renews a weary spirit."
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10-01-2011, 06:58
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#8
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Boat: Research vessel for a university, retired now.
Posts: 10,406
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What has been working for me for years is to occasionally put a little vinegar down the head and give the head a couple pumps so the parts soak in the vinegar.
__________________
David
Life begins where land ends.
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10-01-2011, 07:11
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#9
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Writing Full-Time Since 2014
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Deale, MD
Boat: PDQ Altair, 32/34
Posts: 9,567
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GordMay
Muriatic acid is 30 - 35% hydrochloric acid (HCl).
The common stainless steel types, 304 and 316 are considered non-resistant to hydrochloric acid, at any concentration and temperature.
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Also, though most plastics (poly ethylene, PVC) are perfectly resistant to acids, nylon is not. It will melt in front of your eyes (only a few minutes) if exposed to strong sulfuric, hydrochloric or even acetic acids. Some heads contain nylon parts, and I have heard that excessive acid exposure has been implicated in Marlon valve failures (no personal experience, but Marlon is glass reinforced nylon), so no concentrated acids.
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10-01-2011, 09:11
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: nyc/chesapeake
Boat: gozzard 44
Posts: 320
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Muriatic acid (1.3 pints to 3 gallons of water) is a regular maintenance procedure, for Raritan heads with a LectraSan type MSDs, performed once or twice a year.
Ronbo
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10-01-2011, 09:16
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Depends
Boat: Cabo Rico
Posts: 770
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ronbo1
Muriatic acid (1.3 pints to 3 gallons of water) is a regular maintenance procedure, for Raritan heads with a LectraSan type MSDs, performed once or twice a year.
Ronbo
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Good, solid advice Ronbo. It's the commmon treatment - Maybe these other things work, but for a long time people have used diluted muriatic acid.
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10-01-2011, 09:56
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#12
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cat herder, extreme blacksheep
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: furycame alley , tropics, mexico for now
Boat: 1976 FORMOSA yankee clipper 41
Posts: 18,967
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I USE VINEGAR. WORKS GREAT.
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10-01-2011, 10:08
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 19
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Yes it works very well. Because the ocean is an alkaline solution the acid is neutralized immediatley.
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10-01-2011, 12:10
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 166
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Quote:
Originally Posted by svHyLyte
... A little squirt in the bowel and pumped into the lines once the bowel's been thoroughly evacuated will help prevent the built-up of salt/calcium carbonate.
FWIW...
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Sounds painful though, maybe fiber would work better?
Cheers.
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10-01-2011, 12:54
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#15
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cruiser
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,129
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what about CLR or other home use CALCIUM/LIME/RUST remover?
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