Cleaning dirty tubes and water chillers, best additeive?

Hi all,

I've got some dirty tubing and could do to flush my water chiller out too...chiller is this:



The chiller holds 5l of water internally which will now be also dirty so I was thinking of running it for a day or so through a spare rez with water and bleach or peroxide, but what concentrations?

I have regular plain toilet bleach, but was thinking of using peroxide instead but no idea of how much to use, any ideas/advice?

Thanks

I feel peroxide will be best as it breaks down to plain water.but like a hero dose

Fishbulb said:

I feel peroxide will be best as it breaks down to plain water.but like a hero dose

Click to expand...

Thanks, yes I use peroxide as when I'm growing too, so thats my prefered option, how much to use though?

The rez (my bath tub )I'll need to pump it through will need to have about 30L of water in it to keep the pump submerged.
I can see a 1L bottle of 12% peroxide online...would that be ok to just dump the whole lot in and run the pumps for a few days?

StarSan for beer brewing self foaming cleaner

Thanks,

This kinda stuff?


I'm worried about the internals of the chiller as it states: Not recommended on soft metals because of the acid nature of this product.
A blend of phosphoric acid, benzenesulfonic acid and isopropanol.

Its also quite expensive when a litre of 12% peroxide is half the price?

but open to further suggestions/advice

your chiller innards should be either stainless or titanium. which that brewery stuff is basically made for.

and i don't know if peroxide will help remove hard water deposits like calcium either?

OK, thanks.. Ive only had the chiller one season and not really used it as my grow was over winter, but I've trial run it so its got about 5L of 'rotten' water in it, it doesnt have internal pumps, and it says not to run it dry.

Yes according to the specs: "anti-corrosive evaporator made from pure titanium".

I dont think theres any hard deposits, I have very soft water and its not been used really.

But also I have a 10meter run of hose that I use to fill my rez, and drain my rez... it looks really nasty.. I could replace that hose for like £10-15 but If im gona buy some cleaning agent for the chiller I figured I could do that hose too, at the same time to save some money, and I dont like throwing away plastic...

This hose isn't used for growing, only to fill and drain the rez as the rez holds like 110 litres.

Maybe I'm overthinking this...but appreciate the advice...

no problem. i use that starsan stuff myself and the self foaming part really gets in ever nook and cranny. and it's safe to use.

Cool thanks, I ordered this:


I thought it sounded expensive but then I read the dosage is 10ml per 5L of water, so not so bad!

Star San is a sanitizer for already clean equipment. You would need to use a cleaner first and follow that with star san if you want to sterilize your equipment.

Drip clean is for cleaning drip emitters in hydro systems

Holy topic resurection, Batman!

So Ive got some chemsan home brew kit cleaner (phosphoric acid)...

But I've also found this https://www.doctorblooms.co.uk/athena-cleanse-1620689.html which contains hypochlorous acids it's VERY expensive though...

What's best for a pre-grow clean of water chiller and hoses...?

I use a hydrogen peroxide based treament during a grow to prevent bacteria/funghi if that's also worth consideration?

Hypochlorous acid is just bleach. It is a strong oxidizing agent and has the same effect as hydrogen peroxide.
Athena's stuff is expensive. That seems to be their selling point. There is nothing special about it.

I've never used phosphoric acid but I would he careful with it. The acidity can corrode metal (I don't know what surfaces of the water chiller are exposed) and phosphate reacts with calcium to form an insoluble mineral. That could lead to scaling.

Bleach water dude. House & Garden makes a good product called DripClean that is not just bleach water, it is phosphoric acid and potassium oxide solution. Works great as a maintenance product using it 24/7/365 @ 0.4 ml/gal. I have used it as low as 0.2 ml/gal without issue..

I'm soon to try the growace aircube ebb & flow system when I do I will be running H&G Aqua Flakes base nutrients with their Drip clean additive. As for medium I'm going to use Hydroton clay pebbles.

I put a pump in a 5-gallon bucket, connect the tubing to my chiller and add super hot water & hypochlorous acid. The 'out' tubing from the chiller goes back to the bucket so it's a recirculating system.

I let that run for several hours. I have also used bleach and added boiling water. Rinse and repeat until the water stays clear.

You would be surprised what will come out of a chiller! When I'm done, I also blow in the tubing to push out any residual water that's still inside the chiller.

calvin.m16 said:

Bleach water dude. House & Garden makes a good product called DripClean that is not just bleach water, it is phosphoric acid and potassium oxide solution. Works great as a maintenance product using it 24/7/365 @ 0.4 ml/gal. I have used it as low as 0.2 ml/gal without issue..

I'm soon to try the growace aircube ebb & flow system when I do I will be running H&G Aqua Flakes base nutrients with their Drip clean additive. As for medium I'm going to use Hydroton clay pebbles.

Click to expand...

Since I've switched to aero, I use the same products - H&G Aqua Flakes along with their Drip Clean. I hate replacing sprayers, so it is nice not to get any salt build up in them. My rezes stay really clean, too. Great products.