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Advice on cleaning chiller?

Chromis

Chromis

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I have an Arctica chiller with titanium chiller element, and want to flush it and remove any calcareous deposits (whether from worms or precipitation*). Is it safe to flush with a little citric acid? How do you guys clean your chillers? Basically I have no way of knowing how many fanworms or sponges are living in there but don’t want massive die-off when the chiller turns on the first time in 6 months.

*edited because my spellchecker doesn’t use a reef vernacular
 
Chromis said:
I have an Arctica chiller with titanium chiller element, and want to flush it and remove any calcareous deposits (whether from worms or precipitation*). Is it safe to flush with a little citric acid? How do you guys clean your chillers? Basically I have no way of knowing how many fanworms or sponges are living in there but don’t want massive die-off when the chiller turns on the first time in 6 months.

*edited because my spellchecker doesn’t use a reef vernacular
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I clean it once a year by doing the following
1- circulate hot water through it for a minute using 2 buckets and a pump. Hot water will scrape thing and soften other things.
2- flush with diluted vinegar for 30sec or so
3- done.
 
i would use citric acid instead of vinegar. it has been known that vinegar would penetrate through plastic housing on MP40 wetsides to cause magnet erosion.
 
Even tho we have Costco bulk vinegar because we only clean the house with vinegar or baking soda I only use citric acid on my reef equipment ever since I blew a MP-10 wet side with vinegar because I didn’t know any better. Use citric acid to clean my Gyres now.
 
In the plumbing industry there’s a service to clean deposits out of tankless water heaters; I’m not sure what is used but it has to be safe since potable water runs through them.
Maybe asking a local plumbing business will lead to a safe and quick method to clean the heat exchanger.
 
So I finally got around to taking my chiller offline and flushing it with a mixture of citric acid and water for an hour. But I apparently did not flush it well enough with tap water afterward - check the scary pH drop after I hooked it back up:
791c282e98910783cd62555737eba1f1.jpg


Next time I’d probably flush with two buckets of tap water instead of one. Anyway just to share so no one else makes my dumb mistake.
 
So far coral polyps are out, urchins are cruising, just the fish seem a little more active than usual. Snails are not moving, but I don’t usually watch them so maybe they sleep this time of day anyway. The pH is coming back up since the lights turned on, also I set my Alk to dose a little earlier on schedule since the Alk level dropped like 0.7dKH as well. The other interesting thing was my ORP spiked high, does anyone know why that happens? Guess I need to brush up on pH processes - not sure if the pH should be expected to slowly rebound on its own, or does the alkalinity get permanently “used up” by the acid?
 
Chromis said:
So far coral polyps are out, urchins are cruising, just the fish seem a little more active than usual. Snails are not moving, but I don’t usually watch them so maybe they sleep this time of day anyway. The pH is coming back up since the lights turned on, also I set my Alk to dose a little earlier on schedule since the Alk level dropped like 0.7dKH as well. The other interesting thing was my ORP spiked high, does anyone know why that happens? Guess I need to brush up on pH processes - not sure if the pH should be expected to slowly rebound on its own, or does the alkalinity get permanently “used up” by the acid?
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The dip and its duration is not that bad. I doubt you will have issues. Good catch thu
 
Chromis said:
So I finally got around to taking my chiller offline and flushing it with a mixture of citric acid and water for an hour. But I apparently did not flush it well enough with tap water afterward - check the scary pH drop after I hooked it back up:
791c282e98910783cd62555737eba1f1.jpg


Next time I’d probably flush with two buckets of tap water instead of one. Anyway just to share so no one else makes my dumb mistake.
Click to expand...

Eff. Thanks for the heads up on that, and glad that it doesn't seem there was any harm done to your tank!
 
NanoCrazed said:
I am dreading cleaning my chillers... i have them hooked inline on some of my tanks... maybe i will put it off for another year... :D
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I mean, the inside of the chiller should be at least cleaner than the overflow box because they are hooked up to the return (well, unless you don’t use filter socks, then I don’t know). I just pictured a huge nutrient bomb from any encrusting critters living in the chiller on the first day of use in the summer, and sponges spewing into my tank like confetti, but actually the chiller didn’t seem to have too much growing inside it.
 
Chromis said:
I mean, the inside of the chiller should be at least cleaner than the overflow box because they are hooked up to the return (well, unless you don’t use filter socks, then I don’t know). I just pictured a huge nutrient bomb from any encrusting critters living in the chiller on the first day of use in the summer, and sponges spewing into my tank like confetti, but actually the chiller didn’t seem to have too much growing inside it.
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Lol. I "soooometimes" use socks. And even then, it's the meah type...

The inline ones should be ok though i would think since constant flow. Though admittedly i might not be getting the most efficiency since my flow rate will be faster than the chillers rating

But, my inline units aeem to keep the most stable temp
 
ofzakaria said:
I clean it once a year by doing the following
1- circulate hot water through it for a minute using 2 buckets and a pump. Hot water will scrape thing and soften other things.
2- flush with diluted vinegar for 30sec or so
3- done.
Click to expand...
One thing to add here -- recommended approach is to run the chiller in reverse when you are cleaning. Idea is that if things lodge and not move past a point in the coils, you might be able to unlodge it flowing backwards so it leaves the direction it came in. I also cycle the pumps every so often (off/on) to try to dislodge things as well. On some chillers' you'd be surprise what comes out (particularly if you run one inline with the return pump)
 
NanoCrazed said:
One thing to add here -- recommended approach is to run the chiller in reverse when you are cleaning. Idea is that if things lodge and not move past a point in the coils, you might be able to unlodge it flowing backwards so it leaves the direction it came in. I also cycle the pumps every so often (off/on) to try to dislodge things as well. On some chillers' you'd be surprise what comes out (particularly if you run one inline with the return pump)
Click to expand...
Weren’t you the one that found a dead rat in your chiller?

I wonder if running a mixture of baking soda through after would help neutralize any residual citric acid.
 
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