Flushing sea water pump with Muriatic acid

[Chip_MX]

Hi,
We flush our Mermaid 12000 btu HVAC and Mermaid 5200 btu HVAC systems with Muriatic acid, about 20 percent to water I think. This seems to work good.
This time we want to flush our sea water strainer up through the March sea water pump and hose to HVAC and the out to the bucket.
Will the Muriatic acid hurt our sea water pump?
Thank you,
Chip

[Sailmonkey]

What type of March pump do you have?

Is it a sealed mag drive impeller? Or a much larger bronze centrifugal pump with a mechanical seal?

[ranger58sb]

There are two purpose made flush products for that application, Rydlyme and Barnacle Buster, each a different acid (I forget which is which)... but if you check their MSDS info I think one of 'em is essentially the same stuff as muriatic acid. Should be some info there about dilution...

I've used both for our AC pump, at different times, didn't see much difference in the outcome... didn't see any impact on the pump...

-Chris

[Chip_MX]

Hi,
LC-3CP-MD Mag Drive Pump
Unit 60HZ 50HZ
System US Metric US Metric
Max Flow 8.5 GPM 32.2 LPM 8.2 GPM 31 LPM
Max Head 19 FT 5.8 M 14.1 FT 4.3 M
Power .05 HP .037 KW .05 HP .037 KW
Electrical 115V 50/60HZ or 230V 50/60HZ
Submersible Yes

Thanks,
Chip

[Chip_MX]

Hi,
It ia a LC-3CP-MD Mag Drive Pump

[Sailmonkey]

There’s nothing in a mag drive pump that should be harmed by flushing with a dilute acid.

[GordMay]

Rydlyme contains 5 - 9% Hydrochloric Acid (AKA: Muriatic acid).
Barnacle Buster contains 5 - 20% Phosphoric Acid

[Chip_MX]

Hi,
We are in Mexico but found Barnacle Buster, we are using it. Actually found a Mussel in the sea strainer.
Thanks,
Chip

[mjgriffin007]

I did this with a pool pump, but didn't dilute the mix enough, and the acid ate up the rubber gaskets. So watch the strength!

[MJH]

Originally Posted by Chip_MX

Hi,
We flush our Mermaid 12000 btu HVAC and Mermaid 5200 btu HVAC systems with Muriatic acid, about 20 percent to water I think. This seems to work good.
This time we want to flush our sea water strainer up through the March sea water pump and hose to HVAC and the out to the bucket.
Will the Muriatic acid hurt our sea water pump?
Thank you,
Chip

I used Barnacle Buster Concentrate last year for the first time in the recommended percentages. Before use I called them about leaving the mixture in the engine and exhaust system over night. The tech said that was NOT a good idea as it might start to eat some of the metal and to stay with the at least "six hour" recommendation which I did. I did not notice any difference in engine performance or water flow.

This raises the question, has anybody bothered to check "before and after" the use of such a product to determine if it really does what these various manufacturers say it is suppose to do. As this would require tearing into the engine twice I seriously doubt there are any boaters volunteering to do this. I've brought the question up to Practical Sailor Magazine in the hopes they will undertake the investigation and provide some findings and recommendations.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[jharding]

I had problems with my A/C system while in Texas. I flushed it with barnacle buster and it did nothing, fluid came out clean. A good A/C tech explained that barnacle buster works good on hard shell problems but did nothing for the slime and mud we get in this marina. I always hooked up the dock waterline to system while cleaning strainer and let full pressure flush system, and flow seemed good. The tech advised that I need to flush backwards, his explanation seemed ok, so I tried it, WOW could not believe the junk that came out when flushed backwards. It solved my problems.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by MJH

....

This raises the question, has anybody bothered to check "before and after" the use of such a product to determine if it really does what these various manufacturers say it is suppose to do. ...

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

I flush our AC unit Annually with Barnacle Buster. Before hand, I "counter-flow" the system with fresh water from a garden hose to clear out as much debris as possible that might have accumulated in the cooling coils on our unit and usually find quite a good deal of material in the collection bucket. I continue the back flow until the water runs clear and no additional debris is removed. With that, using a Track Ecological Flushing Cap on our Groco raw water strainer, I recirculate a solution of Barnacle Buster through our system for 2-3 hours. Usually, over the course of a year, some small barnacles will collect on the face of the glass in the raw water strainer. After 2 to 3 hours, these are usually completely dissolved at which point I again back flow a few 5 gallon buckets of fresh water through the system before reconnecting the input and drain hoses and returning the unit to service.

I am fairly confident in the results as the water through-put of the system is substantially improved after a treatment; and, as I noted above, the "seed barnacles" on the glass of the raw water filter are completely removed (and wouldn't be of the material didn't do as advertised).

FWIW I also do an annual treatment on the heat exchangers on our main engine and generator in the same manner as described above and with the same results.

[BobFord]

Mate , I suggest that 10% Acid only . Make a mix and spot on to concrete ( Calcium ) and watch it bubble slowly not vigorously.

[Ramona]

Originally Posted by MJH

I used Barnacle Buster Concentrate last year for the first time in the recommended percentages. Before use I called them about leaving the mixture in the engine and exhaust system over night. The tech said that was NOT a good idea as it might start to eat some of the metal and to stay with the at least "six hour" recommendation which I did. I did not notice any difference in engine performance or water flow.

This raises the question, has anybody bothered to check "before and after" the use of such a product to determine if it really does what these various manufacturers say it is suppose to do. As this would require tearing into the engine twice I seriously doubt there are any boaters volunteering to do this. I've brought the question up to Practical Sailor Magazine in the hopes they will undertake the investigation and provide some findings and recommendations.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

I use a local product that is just phosphoric acid and I use it at 20% to water. Before this I did plenty of experimenting with seashells in glass jars with other acids and phosphoric acid at different ratios and that's how I settled on 20%. I also used the same mixture on old engine parts letting them soak overnight and there was no damage. I watched a lot of Barnacle buster youtube videos and have now made up a 12v pump and tank setup to circulate the acid through my engine. Pump the mixture backwards through which is a help. Diaphragm pump off eBay is about $20. The acid I use is about 1/6th the price of barnacle buster.

[CarinaPDX]

Muriatic acid is dilute hydrochloric acid. The muriatic acid I bought in Europe was very dilute (5%?) and I used it for cleaning up. Returning to the States I re-discovered that our muriatic acid is sold in a more concentrated form (15%?) and requires more care in use. Also, remember to always add acid to water and not the other way around, although this probably isn't as critical for acids that we would use.


Greg