Cleaning sightglass of raw water filter

[bostonhatteras]

Got to get a load of barnacles off of the inside of two groco arg sight glasses. I'm afraid of scratching them up or crazing the polycarbonate(?) with too strong a chemical. anyone got a method for this? Thanks

 

[bostonhatteras]

Called Groco directly and they recommend 'barnacle buster' by trac. Says they use it all the time at the factory and is completely effective and harmless to the sightglass. I think if it works this well it might be a substitute for the muriatic acid flush on the air conditioning raw water side and perhaps even the heat exchangers on mains and gensets.

 

[Walter P]

I've used Barnacle Buster by Trac for many years and I can attest to it's performance. Works great on of AC and site glasses of raw water strainers.... Never tried it on heat exchangers but it will probably work fine. It's a good bit safer than acid which is a major consideration.

Walt

 

[rwappleton]

We had stuff other than barnacles blocking viewing ours and leaks to boot. We took them apart,cleaned with household stuff and polished in and out with plastic cleaner which had a fine abrasive and followed with polish. Time for both was 12 hours. They look almost new!

 

[bobk]

Barnacle Buster is nothing more than high priced diluted phosphoric acid. Always read the MSDS sheet to see what you are buying. From their web site:

Hazardous ingredients : Phosphoric Acid 85%
Approx. concentration. (%) : 5% -20%
#CAS – NA or UN : 7664 – 38-2
DL 50 (specific type and way) : 3,500 mg/kg FLAMMABILITY : <0>
Limit of exposition : none REACTIVITY : <0>
HEALTH : <1>
SECTION II- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Buy phosphoric acid from Home Depot and dilute it 5 or 6 to one with water. Be sure to add the acid to water, not the other way around. I like to add some oxalic acid to the mix. This is how you should be doing any acid cleaning in the ER, not with hydrochloric (muriatic) acid.

Bobk

 

[bostonhatteras]

Barnacle Buster is nothing more than high priced diluted phosphoric acid. Always read the MSDS sheet to see what you are buying. From their web site:

Hazardous ingredients : Phosphoric Acid 85%
Approx. concentration. (%) : 5% -20%
#CAS – NA or UN : 7664 – 38-2
DL 50 (specific type and way) : 3,500 mg/kg FLAMMABILITY : <0>
Limit of exposition : none REACTIVITY : <0>
HEALTH : <1>
SECTION II- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Buy phosphoric acid from Home Depot and dilute it 5 or 6 to one with water. Be sure to add the acid to water, not the other way around. I like to add some oxalic acid to the mix. This is how you should be doing any acid cleaning in the ER, not with hydrochloric (muriatic) acid.

Bobk

I was going to research this so I'm glad you brought it up. I see the kleen strip prep and etch (@ home depot) appears to be less than 50% acid with the rest minor chemical additions and water. Naval jelly is only 30% phosphoric acid. reducing either of these at 5-6:1 would give a very weak mixture. Which product are you referring to when you say to purchase phosphoric acid? Thanks

 

[fissioneng]

I just got done flushing both engines and AC units using diluted Skyco OSPHO. I paid $25/gal for it. It is phosphoric acid too. Genesis posted instructions about how to do it in the FAQ section.

 

[bobk]

i was going to research this so i'm glad you brought it up. I see the kleen strip prep and etch (@ home depot) appears to be less than 50% acid with the rest minor chemical additions and water. Naval jelly is only 30% phosphoric acid. Reducing either of these at 5-6:1 would give a very weak mixture. Which product are you referring to when you say to purchase phosphoric acid? Thanks

ospho

 

[Tinman]

I learned of a non-acid product when in Stuart, Fl two years ago for cleaning a/c's, coolers, and heat exchangers. Label says Triton Marine cleaner/descaler, 100% acid free, caustic free,non- corrosive, safe on metals, removes calcium & sludge, 100% biodegradable. Does not list ingredients. I bought two 2gal. jugs and have used it on my a/c's, eskimo icemaker, steering cooler, and gear coolers. It works well and you can circulate it thru the system or leave it in place for a couple of days without any metal damage. I bought it from a marine tech who used it a lot on cleaning marine raw water systems of all types including heat exchanges without possible damage from acid products. Has worked well so far. Should do a good job on raw water sightglass too.

 

[bobk]

I learned of a non-acid product when in Stuart, Fl two years ago for cleaning a/c's, coolers, and heat exchangers. Label says Triton Marine cleaner/descaler, 100% acid free, caustic free,non- corrosive, safe on metals, removes calcium & sludge, 100% biodegradable. Does not list ingredients. I bought two 2gal. jugs and have used it on my a/c's, eskimo icemaker, steering cooler, and gear coolers. It works well and you can circulate it thru the system or leave it in place for a couple of days without any metal damage. I bought it from a marine tech who used it a lot on cleaning marine raw water systems of all types including heat exchanges without possible damage from acid products. Has worked well so far. Should do a good job on raw water sightglass too.

Interesting. The MSDS has no information. Does it bubble or froth as it works? Any odor?

Bobk

 

[Tinman]

Interesting. The MSDS has no information. Does it bubble or froth as it works? Any odor?

Bobk

Has a yellow tint and bubbles as it works and will dissolve an oyster shell if left in a bowl. The tech would recover and filter the fluid to reuse it. My initial interest was using it on my heat exchangers and coolers which can save a lot of $$ on 3412 cats plus the gen. I use it on any raw water circuit hat needs cleaning, just circulate it thru the circuit, leave it sit for up to several days as needed, drain fluid to a bucket and flush. The company he was with is Yacht Concierge Stuart, Fl a very capable maintenance company. http://yachtconcierge.net/

Triton's website, I was not aware of they had so many products.
http://www.tritonmarineproducts.com/

 

[fissioneng]

Hydrogen Peroxide?

 

[bobk]

Has a yellow tint and bubbles as it works and will dissolve an oyster shell if left in a bowl. The tech would recover and filter the fluid to reuse it. My initial interest was using it on my heat exchangers and coolers which can save a lot of $$ on 3412 cats plus the gen. I use it on any raw water circuit hat needs cleaning, just circulate it thru the circuit, leave it sit for up to several days as needed, drain fluid to a bucket and flush. The company he was with is Yacht Concierge Stuart, Fl a very capable maintenance company. http://yachtconcierge.net/

Triton's website, I was not aware of they had so many products.
http://www.tritonmarineproducts.com/

The bubbling sure sounds like the way an acid would work. I don't think hydrogen peroxide would dissolve an oyster shell, but I never tried it.

 

[Tinman]

The bubbling sure sounds like the way an acid would work. I don't think hydrogen peroxide would dissolve an oyster shell, but I never tried it.

They claim it has no acid. The msds claims proprietary trade secret? Also, the Navy and CG uses it. The tech claimed they used it because of discharge and disposal problems of acid based products with the possibility of damaging metal components. Being non-corrosive and biodegradable was most important to me.

 

[bobk]

They claim it has no acid. The msds claims proprietary trade secret? Also, the Navy and CG uses it. The tech claimed they used it because of discharge and disposal problems of acid based products with the possibility of damaging metal components. Being non-corrosive and biodegradable was most important to me.

Yep, I saw the MSDS. Not having a lab at my disposal since I retired is frustrating. But if assume the compound used is not called an acid, and factor in the very low toxicity reported, it could be monobasic sodium phosphate. Note, the word acid doesn't appear. But in fact it would behave as a weak to moderate acid in water solution, and should remove corrosion products. And it is a common food additive and blood buffer. Do we have any working chemists on the forum who could check how well NaH2PO4 would clean heat exchangers? It would sure be mild on the metals.

Bobk

 

[Tinman]

Yep, I saw the MSDS. Not having a lab at my disposal since I retired is frustrating. But if assume the compound used is not called an acid, and factor in the very low toxicity reported, it could be monobasic sodium phosphate. Note, the word acid doesn't appear. But in fact it would behave as a weak to moderate acid in water solution, and should remove corrosion products. And it is a common food additive and blood buffer. Do we have any working chemists on the forum who could check how well NaH2PO4 would clean heat exchangers? It would sure be mild on the metals.

Bobk

Would be good to learn the ingredients. I have a jug each of A/C and Engine flush, curious if they are the same? The MSDS did note not to mix with strong oxidizing agents. Excuse my ignorance but what does that indicate?

 

[bobk]

Would be good to learn the ingredients. I have a jug each of A/C and Engine flush, curious if they are the same? The MSDS did note not to mix with strong oxidizing agents. Excuse my ignorance but what does that indicate?

It suggests the stuff might be easily oxidized? Might erupt or something? That doesn't add any clues that I can think of.

 

[bostonhatteras]

Want to give a testimonial to the Ospho product. Was a total PITA to find it but eventually did from Hamilton marine in ME. Had the sight glasses in the barn at around 15-20 degrees F and simply poured the ospho into one of them. The Ospho didn't care about the extreme low temp and began bubbling immediately. Let it sit overnight and the next day I just poured it off into the next sight glass and washed out the sight glass I did first. The 'used' Ospho was just as effective in the second sight glass. I'm not sure how long it would take to deplete the power of the Ospho but two sight glasses isn't it. Was $23.00/gallon and well worth it.

 

[Paul45c]

I don't know what the concentration of the phosphoric acid for either product is, but personally I find the Kleen Strip "Prep & Etch" you find in Home Depot to be stronger and more effective than the Ospho brand. All my local hardware stores and boat stores carry Ospho, but it seems to take longer and more of the the product to do the same as P & E from the Depot.