cleaning powerheads

[Capt_Cully]

Coming up on the year anniversary of my tank. Not sure how often you guys clean powerheads, but mine are gonna need it. Aside from scrubbing, do you soak in vinegar? If so, how soon is it ok to put them back in the tank? Just air dry or good soak in water?

thanks

[Conesus_Kid]

I actually soaked mine in a dilute mixture of muriatic acid and water. It's stronger than vinegar, ergo works faster.

If I recall, I added one part muriatic acid to about 10 parts water.

(Remember: add acid to water, not water to acid!)

[reefnetworth]

i unassemble mine under cold tap water, using a Q-Tip to get inside the magnet hole to clean it, and an inkless papertowel to clean off the blades and the inside of the PH surfaces, as well as the impellar shaft.
the vinegar would help helpful if you keep a CaC12 above 450 ppm, dKH higher than 12, or if you you use Kalk. JME!!!

FWIW: 100% distilled, 5 % acidic, pure white vinegar.

[bjromaine]

Actually I have just put one in a bath of vinegar to soak it. Covered with coraline and the suction cups aren't working well either. Hope it cleans up.....

[SkiFletch]

Agree with Scott, diluted muriatic acid works great on them. I also use sulfuric acid on the really pesky stuff

[tmz]

I use vinegar about 50 -50 with tap water. I take the ph apart and let it soak overnite in a plastic coffe can.. A toothbrush and running water does the rest. I just rinse them off and use them. There isn't enough vinegar left on them to be a concern.

[Capt_Cully]

I was reading about my pH concerns and Randy Holmes-Farley actually used white vinegar to help lower pH. Although I'm no longer concerned about that, it appears that a little residual vinegar left on a PH wouldn't harm anything. I'll give them a good scrub and rinse just the same.

Thanks for the tips.

[Haffs09]

I use white vinegar as well. One time I intended on soaking my mag 9 for a couple of days. I ended up forgetting about it and a week or two later when I pulled it out, the rubber gasket had swelled right up. From now on, I always remove any gasket material prior to soaking.

[tmz]

Originally posted by Haffs09
I use white vinegar as well. One time I intended on soaking my mag 9 for a couple of days. I ended up forgetting about it and a week or two later when I pulled it out, the rubber gasket had swelled right up. From now on, I always remove any gasket material prior to soaking.

Very good tip. Thankyou

[wastememphis]

I use hot water and bleach. I leave the pump run in the bucket for a little while (After moving off large debris) then I go through the task of cleaning it off with water and qtip if needed... then sometimes I put it back through a bucket of hot water to clean it off.

[eugeneK]

try this:

dump gallon of 5% vinegar in a bucket and add some warm tap water (works faster if warm)

the place all your powerheads in there and turn them on,

30 minutes and they look as good as new ^^ I do it once a month to all my pumps if i am not feeling lazy

movement and temperature generated by powerheads speeds up the reaction a ton!

good luck

[KurtsReef]

I put white vinegar in a 5g bucket and put the power heads in the bucket then plug them in and let them run for 10/20 minutes every other month.

Do the same with my UV, except run the pump in the bucket and have the return going back into the bucket.

Simple/easy/cleans it very well.

Do not disassemble simply run them in the vinegar.